Avermaet still in yellow
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) won the crazy stage nine of the Tour de France, sprinting to victory from a three-man breakaway. It’s his first big win since the unfortunate crash at the Giant-Alpecin training camp two years ago. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) came second and Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors) narrowly third. The 156km route included 15 cobbled sectors, which proved to be a big challenge for the peloton.
“It wasn’t easy, because there are riders here who are specialists and they have a lot of strength, and their bodies really help them. But we saved the day, we’ve managed to avoid troubles, and now we’re getting closer to the mountains,” said Nairo Quintana, who carried himself through the stage surprisingly well.
Unfortunately, Richie Porte (BMC) crashed early in the day and was forced to abandon the race with a suspected broken collarbone. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) lost around a minute and a half on his rivals, but things weren’t easy for them either. Both Mikel Landa (Movistar) and Chris Froome (Team Sky) crashed during the stage, and Landa only caught up with the group of GC contenders before the line.
“The first 50 kilometres were nuts. It was horrendous. I hated cycling for 50 kilometres. It was like heading to a bunch sprint for 50 kilometres in a row. Not fun,” Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) said.
How will the climbers do on the first mountainous stage tomorrow? We can’t wait to find out.
Tour de France stage 9
1 John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) in 3:24:26
2 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team)
3 Yves Lampaert (Quick-Step Floors)
4 Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) + 19s
5 Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
6 Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo)
7 Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors)
8 André Greipel (Lotto Soudal) + 27s
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data)
10 Timothy Dupont (Wanty-Groupe Gobert)
General Classification after stage 9
1 Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) in 36:07:17
2 Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) + 43s
3 Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) + 44s
4 Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) + 50s
5 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) + 1-31
6 Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 1-32
7 Jakob Fuglsang (Astana Pro Team) + 1-33
8 Chris Froome (Team Sky) + 1-42
9 Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) + 1-42
10 Mikel Landa (Movistar Team) + 1-42
Split!
What a prize!
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