photo credits @ ASO
Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech) took a surprising solo victory on the Puy de Dôme in stage 9 of the Tour de France today, after the Canadian rider chased down Matteo Jorgensen (Movistar) during the final few hundred meters of the climb to snatch the victory from the American rider, who at one point looked poised to win after being out front for almost 50 kilometers.
Woods was part of the original 14-man breakaway group that rode clear during the first few kilometers of the stage, but spent the majority of the day in the main chase group.
By contrast, Jorgensen managed to ride clear of the lead group in a long-solo move that ultimately came to not, as the young Neo-pro’s hopes were dashed by Woods just before the summit.
Meanwhile, Woods was followed by Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies), with Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) also sneaking onto the podium just ahead of Jorgenson – overtaking him during the final 50 meters.
In the final kilometer, Tadej Pogačar managed to drop Jonas Vingegaard, but the Jumbo-Visma captain dug deep to minimize his losses and came across the line eight seconds down.
The defending champion now enters the race’s first rest day with a lead of just 17 seconds.
Race Highlights
Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny) lit the fuse after the drop of the flag, provoking a move of 14 riders that included Jorgenson, Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Canadians Woods and Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech), Mohorič, Clément Berthet (AG2R-Citroën), Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), David de a Cruz, Alexey Lutsenko (both Astana Qazaqstan), Uno-X Pro Cycling’s Jonas Abrahamsen and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X), as well as Mathieu Burgaudeau and Latour (both TotalEnergies).
Despite chasing efforts by teams such as Lidl-Trek and Soudal-QuickStep, the escapees went on to establish a slim advantage of around one minute.
Jorgenson later experienced an unwelcome sting from a bee or wasp that flew into his helmet, but the American continued on.
With just over 63 kilometers to go, Boivan attacked, but to no avail. Campenaerts and Mohorič then tried their luck along the climb of the Côte de Pontaumur, but they too didn’t get far, with Powless grabbing the KOM points at the summit.
From there, a series of attacks flew, with Jorgenson eventually riding clear with 48 kilometers remaining, causing a split in the break that saw Powless, De la Cruz and Burgaudeau joining in the pursuit, while the rest of the breakaway riders slipped back.
Mohorič continued to attack his companions, disrupting their progress in trying to chase down Jorgenson, who had now opened up a lead of 1:07 with 25 kilometers to go.
De la Cruz was later plagued with a mechanical problem, forcing him to stop and change bikes, while the remaining trio was still trailing at a minute behind Jorgensen at the start of the Puy de Dome.
Jorgenson continued keeping a steady pace, tapping out a rhythm that kept him more than a minute out front.
Further back, Jumbo Visma, Ineos Grenadiers and Bora Hansgrohe had been busy driving the pace prior to reaching the climb, with DSM-Firmenich taking them onto the lower slopes to try to set things up for Roman Bardet.
Back up front, Jorgenson’s advantage had increased to 1:20, with Powless then slipping back behind Burgaudeau, while in the meantime Woods had bridged his way to Mohorič just before the final kilometer.
Wood later made the junction to Jorgensen with 450 meters to go, passing the Movistar rider to seize the stage honors. To further add to his agony, Jorgensen was then passed by Latour and Mohorič just seconds before the line.
Behind, the group of GC contenders had been whittled right down to Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), Vingegaard, Pogačar, Tom Pidcock, Carlos Rodríguez (both Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla), while Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) was amongst those who had been dropped but just before he joined back on.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
