Tour de France 2020 Stage 9 - As it happened
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Updated 06/09/2020 at 21:24 GMT
Find out how Marc Hirschi almost pulled off a coup as Tadej Pogacar won Stage 9 ahead of the new yellow jersey, Primoz Roglic.
Team Sunweb rider Switzerland's Marc Hirschi rides ahead during the 9th stage of the 107th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, 154 km between Pau and Laruns
Image credit: Getty Images
Can Mitchelton-Scott now control the race and keep hold of the maillot jaune for Adam Yates amid inevitable pressure from Primoz Roglic and Jumbo-Visma?
Roglic in yellow!
He may have lost out to his compatriot for the win but Primoz Roglic is now the new yellow jersey. Hirschi's third place means Bernal missed out on the bonus seconds after he came fourth ahead of Landa.
Victory for Pogacar!
What a finish! Hirschi leads it out from the back and comes through. But he doesn't quite have enough as Pogacar and Roglic just come past either side of him to make it a Slovenian one-two. Poor Marc Hirschi shakes his head after an unlikely third place.
Last kilometre
Roglic on the front and flicks the elbow - but no one comes through...
1.5km to go - Hirschi caught
The Swiss is rolled over and now sits on the back in a bid to regain some energy ahead of the sprint finish. He's tightening up his shoes - what a legend. It would be brilliant to see him win the sprint, but given what he's done, that would be unlikely.
3km to go - Just 12 seconds
The chasers can see Hirschi now, who has started to look over his shoulders - which is never a good sign. He's beginning to roll and toil now. Sean Kelly doesn't think he's going to make it. "His legs are just burning with lactic acid right now."
5km to go - Hirschi TT
The Swiss lone leader is in time trial mode here as he continues his pursuit of stage glory. Just five klicks to go - but those are going to feel like an eternity for the Sunweb rider. He still has 27 seconds on the chasers, but they will be after the bonus seconds and stage spoils. The next group on the road is at 40 seconds while the Yates group at 1'30".
8km to go - regrouping behind
The Yates group has got bigger - the likes of Dumoulin, Lopez, Valverde, Mas, Caruso, Carapaz and some others are there with the yellow jersey.
10km to go - Hirschi heroics
The lone leader has to shout at the TV camera bike, which he catches on a straight ahead of a bend. It's yet another heart-in-mouth moment in this wondrous descent of his - throwing everything at it. He has about 30 seconds. Will it be enough?
13km to go - Porte back with Mollema
The Australian was tailed off from the Roglic-Pogacar-Bernal-Landa group after those sparks for the summit bonus seconds. He's back with Trek teammate Mollema in the chase group, which also includes Guillaime Martin, Bardet, Uran and maybe Lopez - although the latter could be back with the Yates group. In any case, Yates will be out of yellow today - but who will be in? With bonus seconds up for grabs, it's not necessarily going to be that man Roglic...
15km to go - tension mounts
Hirschi needs to spare some energy while pushing to protect his lead. It's going to be hard for him with the flat ride into the finish after this descent - his lead is just so tiny. Just 12 seconds in fact from the Bernal group with the Uran-Martin group at 31 seconds and the yellow jersey at 1'05".
18.5km to go - Hirschi over the top
Start the clock! Hirschi crests the summit after doing up his jersey. Oh! Flash point! There's a sprint behind for the remaining bonus seconds at the sprint - and Pogacar almost hits the deck after touching wheels with Roglic! It's the Jumbo rider who comes over for second place ahead of his compatriot - and they both apologise to each other for that misunderstanding, which happened after Bernal opened up the sprint. The gap is just 20 seconds for Hirschi.
19km to go - Hirschi on the brink
The gap for Hirschi was actually back to the yellow jersey. Our lone Swiss rider has just 40 seconds on the Roglic chase group. Bardet ups the tempo behind, while Yates digs deep 1'20" back with Valverde and Caruso. Brilliant from Bardet, who manages to bridge over the to the Roglic group. Behind Quintana leads the chase with Martin, Mollema and Uran.
Quintet forms
Quintana, Martin, Bardet, Uran and Lopez are all distanced as Porte reaches the leaders. So it's the Australian with Pogacar, Roglic, Landa and Bernal. They're 1'30" down on Hirschi now with just over 1km of the climb left.
20km to go - Yates dropped! Roglic isolated! Bernal attacks!
Adam Yates has been distanced. And after his big pull, Dumoulin drops back leaving Roglic as the only Jumbo rider left. They draw level with Pogacar with Landa and Porte - and then Bernal puts in an attack!
Pogacar attacks!
The first of the moves comes from Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar. The UAE Team Emirates rider opens up a small gap but Dumoulin is digging deep to drag the chasers back. But that acceleration has whittled things down in this chasing group.
21km to go - Buchmann and Pinot dropped
Emanuel Buchmann was dropped earlier in the climb - and is currently with Dan Martin - but Pinot has just been tailed off. He did well to fight back but he's clearly running on empty. Bardet is still in the mix, as is Porte, Mollema, Uran, Higuita, Valverde, Mas and some others.
23km to go: Kelly's concern for Hirschi
"Hirschi deserves to win today because he's ridden a magnificent stage. But we're going to see fireworks soon and I'm concerned about Hirschi..." Unlike Voigt, Sean Kelly doesn't rate the chances of our lone leader... The latest domestiques to be shed are Van Baarle and van Aert. Pinot is back in this main pack after his problems earlier. Sepp Kuss has taken it up now for Jumbo. They have three riders on the front - Kuss, Bennett and Dumoulin - for Roglic, who has Yates on his wheel, the Pogacar, then the likes of Bernal, Landa, Martin, Quintana and Lopez.
25km to go: Col de Marie Blanque
We're onto the Cat.1 climb which is 7.7km long at 8.6%. Robert Gesink has peeled off the front, his work done for Jumbo, as has Chris Juul-Jensen for Mitchelton-Scott. Astana have power in numbers, too, for Lopez. The Colombian is only 13 seconds down so perhaps he will have a say in things today. Hirschi's lead had dropped below the three-minute mark now.
27km to go - Voigt opting for Hirschi
Speaking via an echo-chamber of his own kitchen, Jens Voigt has just told Eurosort Germany that he thinks Marc Hirchi will hold on for the win today. This is where it matters for the Swiss: his lead has come down to 3'30" now as Jumbo up the tempo behind. Hirschi will need a minute going over the final climb if he wants to win - a big ask considering the comparative freshness of those behind him.
34km to go - Point for Gaudu
David Gaudu takes the remaining KOM point over the top of the Ichere just ahead of the Jumbo train. They trail Hirchi by 4'10". This descent could be key. And look at that - Hirschi cuts the corner by bunny-hopping over some road furniture after coming through a tunnel. Quality, confident stuff. Every little helps.
38km to go - Hirschi over the top
More KOM points for the Swiss tyro, whose lead is still above four minutes. A victory for Hirschi today is not probable, but eminently possible. Behind, both Roglic and Yates have five teammates around them, while Bernal, too, has four or five. The calm before the storm.
40km to go - Mitchelton Scott regrouped
Jumbo may be drilling things but Adam Yates has support again from his Mitchelton-Scott team. Andrey Amador's Tour takes another turn for the worse after he's dropped from the pack. His tiime will come, hopefully for Ineos, in the third week in what is a marathon, not a sprint. The Costa Rican crashed in the first stage and has been off the boil since.
42km to go - Col d'Ichere
It's all over for the chase group who are swept up by the Jumbo-led pack at the start of the Cat.3 Col d'Ichere (4.2km at 7%). Kamna was the last-man standing having given it one final dig. Pinot is back on this peloton, as is Sergio Higuita, who was also dropped. Hirschi meanwhile has 4'25" on the field. He's going strong but this climb - and the next - will be a real test of his mettle.
52km to go - Trentin in the green mix
The pack comes through the intermediate sprint 4'20" down on Hirschi, who, needless to say, won the intermediate sprint at Arette. Matteo Trentin, who is currently sixth in the green jersey standings, zipped clear to take the points for eighth place. A Bora rider, on marshalling duty for the green jersey Sagan, came next before van Aert led the pack over to add a few more points to his own tally. The Belgian clearly isn't prioritising the green jersey, but his two stage wins and consistency has seen him move up to third place in the points classification - within 30 now of Sagan's slender lead over Sam Bennett.
60km to go - Jumbo taking no risks
The Jumbo-Visma team of Roglic are decked out in black rain capes and are taking no risks on this descent as Hirschi's lead over the yellow jersey group stretches over the four-minute mark. Thibaut Pinot, meanwhile, has come to within 40 seconds of the main pack so he could yet get back. Reichenbach has been caught by the pack.
67km to go - Reichenbach dropped
The Swiss champion is doing his best to ensure it's not a case of, ahem, Reichenbach falls on this descent. He's been tailed off from the chasers. Hirschi, meanwhile, has to correct himself on one tight bend - but he's now out of the mist and that will make things a bit easier. His lead is 2'45" on the chasers and 3'30" on the yelloe jersey group. But the big climb of the day, the Marie Blanque, is still ahead.
75km to go - Hirschi over the top
More KOM points for Marc Hirschi who crests the summit of the Soudet in pole position. He begins the long descent to Arette and the intermediate sprint with a gap of almost two minutes on the chasers. Gaudu, you'll be pleased to hear, has recovered from his tumble to take the point for second place. Behind, Damiano Caruso shakes his head after missing out on a jacket from his Bahrain-McLaren soigneur as he comes over the top just ahead of the yellow jersey pack, which is almost three minutes down. Tough man Hirschi has no jacket on - he's talking this chilly descent in short sleeves...
76km to go - CRASH!
Poor David Gaudu - the Frenchman isn't paying attention on the climb and strays off the road and into a ditch in a heap with a fan wearing a polka-dot cape. He's okay but that was hardly ideal!
List of chasers
These are the guys in the chase group, by the way: Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic), Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates), Sébastien Reichenbach (Groupama-FDJ), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Daniel Martínez (EF Pro Cycling), Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) and Omar Fraile (Astana).
78km to go - Col de Soudet
Hirschi is onto the next climb, the Cat.3 Col de Soudet (3.8km at 8.5%). He still has 1'30" on the chasers and 2'25" on the pack. The Pinot group is another minute back. It's interesting to see Spaniards Castroviejo and Fraile in the break behind - potential bridges for Bernal and Lopez later on. Barguil is there for Quintana, too, and Martinez for Uran. Jumbo don't need any bridges because they have six men in the yellow jersey group.
Testing conditions
This is what the riders have to deal with on this short descent...
Aru has abandoned
We're hearing the news that Fabio Aru has called it a day. The UAE Team Emirates rider was off the back early on today so that's no surprise. What a rotten race he's had.
84km to go - Hirschi takes KOM points
The fourth youngest rider in this race goes over the top of the Hourcere to take the maximum 10pts for the polka dot jersey standings. It's really misty and dank on the other side. He's about 1'15" ahead of his pursuers, who have been joined by Spain's Omar Fraile (Astana) who takes the points for second place. The pack comes over about 1'35" down. It's down to about 40 riders with Pinot chasing back at 2'40".
85km to go - Jumbo in control
The riders in yellow and black have six on the front of the pack for their yellow jersey elect, Primoz Roglic, with the actual yellow jersey, Adam Yates, just on the back of this line ahead of a few Ineos riders. Today's stage is ideally suited to Roglic - but Hirschi's doing his best to tear up the script.
86km to go - Into the mist
Dani Martinez tried to bridge over to Hirschi but his foray didn't last long. It's a strong chase group but there's no cohesion and they're sniping around a little. You'd think there would be more order what with two Bora riders and two Groupama riders there, but alas, no. They are 55 seconds down on Hirschi, who has entered the mist and moistness as he approaches the summit.
The pack is 1'20" down and Pinot another 45 seconds back. What's up with him? He's been a jack-in-the-box today. But at least he's trying to fight back. His compatriot, Alaphilippe, is in the gruppetto alongside teammate Sam Bennett - that's how much his level has fallen.
Pinot pedalling squares
Despite trying his best to get in the mix today, Thubaut Pinot has now been dropped by the main pack and is all over the place. This may be the last day we see him in this year's Tour. This says it all...
88km to go - Hirschi on a mission
The young Swiss youngster has dropped Lennard Kamna of Bora, who has been joined by Barguil, Gaudu, Reichenbach, Castroviejo, Martinez and Formolo. They are about 25 seconds behind the lone leader with the yellow jersey group another 20 seconds back.
91km to go - Hirschi ahead
It's really ebbing and flowing out thehre on this climb. Pinot had Reichenbach and Gaudu with him and looked to be in a good position as he joined forces with Barguil and Rolland in a French-flavoured move. Behind, Jumbo-Visma kept the pace up because Bauke Mollema - just two minutes down on GC - was among the cluster of riders trying to bridge over. Also, Yates, the yellow jersey, is completely isolated and so they want to keep the pressure up on the Briton. Now Hirschi is off the front with Kamna trying to come over ahead of Pinot and the others.
93km to go - Barguil in the lead
It's the winner of the polka dot jersey from 2017, Warren Barguil, who heads the race with Seb Reichenback, Van Baarle, Rolland and van Aert just behind and the pack very much breathing down their necks. Pinot is now riding across to the break, which also has a third Groupama rider in Gaudu. It's about 10 strong for now with a gap of around 15 seconds on the main pack, which has Jumbo-Visma on the front.
95km to go - Col de la Hourcere
This Cat.1 climb is now under way. It's 11.1km long at 8.8% and there are riders all over the place. Adam Yates, the yellow jersey, found himself out of position and needed to rejoin his rivals. And it's a very good select group off the front now with the likes of Van Aert, Kamna, Gaudu, Van Baarle and Barguil here - but the pursuers not far behind. Frenchman Anthony Turgis crashed just ahead of the climb on a bridge, but he's back on his bike.
95km to go - Pinot in the move!
A cluster of riders come over to those two Sunweb riders, including Thibaut Pinot and his teammate Madouas. Bora have two in the mix as well, with Movistar involved. Ineos have sent Pavel Sivakov ahead, while Wout van Aert is there for Jumbo. It's all strung out again as this climb gets going with the break yet to formally form.
98km to go - Sunweb on the attack
Luke Rowe (Ineos Grenadiers) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) both had a dig before six riders - including two from Sunweb - momentarily joined Cavagna on the front. But it came back together before those two Sunwebbers went clear again. One of them is Benoot. A few are trying to bridge over as they approach the second climb of the day.
102km to go - Cavanga out ahead
Somehow Remi Cavagna of Deceuninck-QuickStep manages to edge clear. The Frenchman has about seven seconds on the pack which is showing signs of easing up. The pace is so high that no one has been able to pick up any fresh water bottles. Cavagna is looking over his shoulder because he has no desire doing this along - he wants company. And here come the cavalry in the form if a trio trying to bridge over. But it looks like they're not going to get any joy...
104km to go - Aru in a world of pain
Fabio Aru is four minutes in arrears. He's so far back he's behind all the team cars and has to resort to taking a gel from the doctor's van, which is driving just ahead of the broom wagon. I'd be surprised if he comes through this stage.
107km to go - CCC Team motivated
A big pull from Greg van Avermaet forces a small gap for him and a handful of other riders - including another CCC rider. Could this be the move that gets away? Aru is over three minutes back we're hearing. Bahrain-McLaren have a man in this move - but it looks like it's going to come back despite the Olympic champion's best efforts. Valentin Madouas of Groupama is in the mix as well.
115km to go - Broom wagon behind Aru
The Tour can be so cruel. Poor Fabio Aru may not even make it to the first big climb at this rate...
120km to go - Aru in more trouble
Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) and Tiesj Benoot (Team Subweb) had a pop after Trentin's move was snuffed out. Mitchelton-Scott's Jack Bauer is chasing this one down - on patrol duties for the yellow jersey Adam Yates. Next up giving it some front-of-house welly is Niklas Eg of Trek-Segafredo but he cracks quite quickly. At some point, the right move with the right riders will go - but for not, nothing's happening. Meanwhile, Fabio Aru continues his lone pursuit of the peloton - gesticulating wildly at the camerman who gets up close to capture his pain.
125km to go - Still no break
Matteo Trentin is the latest rider trying to ride clear. The Italian rider from CCC Team has a handful of riders in pursuit. Earlier, Ireland's Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) had a little foray off the front, but it came to nothing.
The Tintin of the Tour
If you're up for a fantastic and poignant tale from the archives then I'd recommend the latest episode of Re-Cycle. I may be a bit biased - it's the narration of a feature I wrote for Eurosport a few years ago, following a chapter I did for the Cycling Anthology - but I promise you won't regret this story about the pioneering radio reporter, who lose his life during the 1957 Tour de France.
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Alex Virot - by Phil Galloway
Image credit: Eurosport
Pocagar the man to watch?
I'll tell you who had a good day yesterday - Tadej Pogacar. The Slovenian debutant had ridden a flawless race until he got caught out in the crosswinds on Friday and dropped from third outside the top 10. But he attacked yesterday and managed to claw himself back into contention. He's now just 48 seconds down in ninth place. While he seems to have next to no support from his UAE Team Emirates teammates - Italians Aru and Davide Formolo have been disappointing, Spain's David de la Cruz crashed badly in Nice - he's the kind of rider who operates nicely on his own. Watch him today. Everyone goes on about Roglic, but the strongest Slovenian could well be the other Slovenian...
130km to go - No joy for Alaphilippe
The Frenchman's move smacked of desperation and it didn't last long. He had another pop - this time with a Deceuninck-QuickStep teammate - but that, too, didn't work. Groupama's David Gaudu was in the mix, and now Marc Soler of Movistar is there. Movistar have had a terrible race - their best rider, Enric Mas, now one minute down on GC. It's all strung out now because of all these attacks. And Fabio Aru, whose Tour has been pretty much a disaster so far, has been tailed off from the back of the snake-like peloton.
135km to go - No luck for Roche
After teammate Hirschi was swallowed up, Nico Roche rode clear. He's been trying to open up a gap for the last five kilometres but to no avail. He's caught and it's now Niccolo Bonifazio trying to do something before Simon Geschke takes it up - with that man Julian Alaphilippe in pursuit. And the Frenchman has opened up a gap...
140km to go - Hirschi back
Switzerland's Marc Hirschi, who came second behind Alaphilippe last Sunday in Stage 2, has a dig after the summit of the climb. He almost loses it on one early bend - overcooking it and needing to unclip to regain his balance and avoid ploughing into a roadside campervan. The Sunweb rider then opens up a gap before being reeled in. Ineos and Jumbo have men trying to force something now - Andrey Amador and double stage winner Wout van Aert respectively.
143km to go - Cosnefroy takes KOM point
The polka dot jersey zips clear to take the solitary point over the top, which now gives him a five-point buffer over compatriot and teammate Nans Peters, who won yesterday's stage. It will be interesting to see if Ag2R-La Mondiale play the Peters card from hereon - he's probably the stronger climber. I wonder whether Pinot or Alaphilippe will switch their focus to the polka dot jersey too, given their respective yellow catastrophes yesterday.
145km to go - Cote de Artiguelouve
We're already on the first climb, the Cat.4 Cote de Artiguelouve (2.3km at 4.5%). It's De Gendt who is setting the tempo trying to whittle things down. Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott) picked up a flat before the climb so faces a battle to get back on - and he'll have to dodge his way through all those who have already been tailed off, including the toiling Elia Viviani of Cofidis, still looking for his first win at the French team. He won't get it today.
150km to go - De Gendt sniffing around
The bestubbled Belgian is riding on the front and keeping alert to all potential moves. He clearly wants a bite of breakaway action today. We're hearing that Italy's Diego Rosa of Arkea-Samsic has not started today because of a broken collarbone - a blow for Nairo Quintana, who is one of four Colombians just 13 seconds off the summit (including Bernal, Miguel Angel Lopez and Rigoberto Uran).
153km to go - They're off!
If I had a pound for every time Christian Prudhomme waved his white flag from the sun roof of his red Skoda this year, I'd now be one quid short of a tenner. And with that latest flourish from the Tour director, this second 153km stage in the Pyrenees is underway.
Jersey recap - Who's in what
Yellow: Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)
Green: Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Polka dot: Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2R-La Mondiale)
White: Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
Green: Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
Polka dot: Benoit Cosnefroy (Ag2R-La Mondiale)
White: Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
In the neutral zone...
The riders are currently rolling through this long 9km neutral zone ahead of the official start. Thomas De Gendt is primed on the front - and you'd think this was a good stage for him. The Belgian breakaway specialist had a dig on Friday but was out-De Gendt'ed by Peters yesterday. It's a cooler day, just 18 degrees, both cloudy and overcast in Jurancon.
Here's what's on the menu today with five categorised climbs, an intermediate sprint, a bonus sprint and a fast downhill run into the finish at Laruns.
Bonjour le Tour!
Hello everyone - and how much difference a day makes... This time yesterday, France still had their two yellow hopes - Thibaut Pinot and Julian Alaphilippe - very much in the thick of the GC picture ahead of the Pyrenees, but today both riders find themselves outside the top 20. Alaphilippe is 12 minutes down and Pinot is 19 minutes down after both riders blew up on the first HC climb of the race, the Porte de Bales.
That said, Frenchman Nans Peters won the stage and compatriot and fellow Ag2R-La Mondiale rider Romain Bardet is still flying the flag for the French in the overall standings... According to L'Equipe, it was a case of "Glory and purgatory" in the Pyrenees.
Top five on GC
Here's how things look now:
1. Adam Yates
2. Primoz Roglic +3
3. Guillaume Martin +9
4. Romain Bardet +11
5. Egan Bernal +13
2. Primoz Roglic +3
3. Guillaume Martin +9
4. Romain Bardet +11
5. Egan Bernal +13
Wiggins analysis
- Check out the latest Bradley Wiggins Show podcast: 'Van Aert is phenomenal, he amazes me every day' - Wiggins
Bradley Wiggins says that Mitchelton-Scott’s Adam Yates could hold on to the yellow jersey all the way to Paris, but he isn’t favourite yet.
Adam Yates survived a string of attacks in Saturday’s Stage 8 in the Pyrenees at the Tour de France, and Eurosport’s Bradley Wiggins was so impressed by the performance that he believes the Englishman has what it takes to potentially win the Tour.
“I think he could go all the way, but it’s going to depend on how the other guys are going really,” Wiggins said.
“He’s not the favourite for this Tour de France, but the way he rides and the calmness and the coolness of the team and Matt White (Mitchelton-Scott director) means there’s no reason he can’t end up on the podium for sure.”
Stage 8 recap
Nans Peters won Stage 8 of the Tour de France as Adam Yates defended yellow in gutsy fashion.
Peters won from the breakaway after a tough day in the Pyrenees, finishing almost a minute ahead of the chasing Tom Skujins (Trek Segafredo). Carlos Verona of Movistar was third and Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team) placed fourth.
Further back down the road in the heat of the general classification battle, an isolated Adam Yates succeeded in defending the yellow jersey despite a maelstrom of attacks from his rivals.
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Peters ends AG2R's three-year wait for Tour de France stage win
How to watch on TV and livestream details
Stage 9 will be broadcast live on Eurosport 1 from 12:00pm and you can also watch an uninterrupted feed on Eurosport Player and right here on eurosport.co.uk.
Dan Lloyd, Bradley Wiggins, Orla Chennaoui and the team will bring you all the best post-race analysis and reaction on The Breakaway, which will be available to watch on Eurosport Player before 7pm.
And don't forget, we are bringing you daily podcasts from the Bradley Wiggins Show - check in with your podcast platform of choice this evening...
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