Mathieu van der Poel wins Tour stage nine after Tom Pidcock gear issue
Mathieu van der Poel sprinted to victory on a weather-shortened stage nine of the Tour de France as Britain’s Tom Pidcock saw his chances ruined by a late mechanical failure in Ussel.
The Dutchman perfectly timed his effort from a four-man breakaway to secure his third career stage win at cycling’s most prestigious grand tour.
He edged out Tobias Johannessen for the line honours, while Pidcock was forced to settle for a frustrating third place.
Pidcock’s mechanical heartbreak
The Yorkshireman’s gear-shifting issues began with roughly 25 kilometres remaining of the gruelling route through the Massif Central.
Extreme heat warnings in the region had already prompted race organisers to reduce the stage distance by 30km down to a concentrated 155km test.
Despite the malfunctioning equipment, the Ineos Grenadiers rider remarkably managed to hold his position within the leading group until the final acceleration.
“My shifter stopped working. I couldn’t change gear. I could only change on the top.”
Tom Pidcock
The 24-year-old revealed he was entirely unable to shift gears when the decisive sprint was launched, forcing an awkward finish on the hoods.
“My bike was perfect the whole race and then today when the win was there it doesn’t work.”
Despite the bitter disappointment of missing out on a second career Tour stage victory, the British star remained philosophical about the finale.
“Anyway, Mathieu is a difficult one to beat in a sprint situation like that. It would be difficult anyway, so I’m happy for a good day’s racing.”
Alpecin celebrate as GC remains unchanged
The result brought immense relief to the Alpecin-Premier Tech squad as they head into the first rest day of the three-week race.
Their primary sprinter Jasper Philipsen had endured consecutive days of frustration prior to this timely triumph from their versatile one-day specialist.
“The start of the Tour was not so great for our team but I think always we stayed calm. We have a really nice group, we kept believing it will turn around.”
Mathieu van der Poel
Further back down the road, the general classification battle remained locked in a tense stalemate.
UAE Team Emirates set a fierce tempo in the peloton to ensure the breakaway’s advantage never exceeded 90 seconds.
Race leader Tadej Pogacar safely maintained his two-minute and 42-second advantage over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.
The Slovenian yellow jersey holder’s team-mate Isaac del Toro continues to occupy third overall, sitting a further 45 seconds adrift.