2023-07-09 18:06:48
Tadej Pogacar has reduced the gap in the overall standings of the 110th Tour de France to defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. The two-time champion shook off his immediate opponent a bit in the last kilometer of stage 9 up the legendary Puy de Dôme, finishing eight seconds ahead of the Dane and just 17 seconds before the first rest day. Canadian Michael Woods won the stage.
Ex-athlete Woods won following the 13.3-kilometer climb with an average gradient of 7.7 percent ahead of Frenchman Pierre Latour and Slovenian Matej Mohoric. East Tyrolean Felix Gall finished 21st, just under ten minutes behind Woods and improved to 16th place in the overall standings. Gall is also the best driver of his AG2R team following the ninth stage, because Ben O’Connor is now second seats behind him. However, in the battle for the mountain jersey, Gall lost ground to Neilson Powless and is now 18 points behind.
As part of the escape group, Powless scored a total of ten points for the mountains classification, while Gall missed the moment of the attack. “In the constellation in which the group then left, I would have liked to have been in it. But it went damn fast and was not to be expected in this form,” said the AG2R driver, who was nevertheless satisfied: “I have I felt really good. It’s another good confirmation that the knuckles are still there and the shape is right.”
The last time the Tour was in 1988 was at the Puy de Dôme, where the Dane Johnny Weltz won his only stage. Compatriot Vingegaard was a long way from a day’s success with a deficit of 8:27 minutes, but he was able to keep the gap to Pogacar within limits in the last meters. The two top riders stayed in the peleton until just before the end of the stage.
One and a half kilometers before the finish, Pogacar launched one of his dreaded attacks on the up to 18 percent steep climb. Vingegaard fought doggedly to catch up – and kept the damage within limits. Pogacar has once once more shown himself to be in strong form following being outplayed by Vingegaard in the Pyrenees. The Slovenian finished 13th in the daily standings, just ahead of the Dane.
In the fight for the day’s victory, Matteo Jorgenson looked like the sure winner for a long time. Around 53 kilometers from the finish, the 14-man lead group shrank to five professionals following an attack by Jorgenson. The American attacked once more a few kilometers later and made his way towards the volcano on his own. He finally started the final climb with a lead of one minute.
Initially carried by thousands of spectators at the side of the track, but later completely on his own, Jorgenson paid tribute to his high speed. Due to incidents in the past, fans were no longer allowed on the last four kilometers. In the end, however, the Americans ran out of strength. Woods caught Jorgenson in the final kilometer and secured his first Tour stage win ahead of France’s Pierre Latour and Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric. Jorgenson was only fourth in the end.
After the first rest day on Monday, the tour will continue on Tuesday with the tenth stage over 167.2 kilometers from Vulcania to Issoire. With five medium-difficult mountain classifications, there is constant ups and downs in the Massif Central, which should accommodate a breakaway group.
1688927787
#Pogacar #closes #gap #return #Puy #Dôme
