July 9, 2023
Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme – 182.5 km
Team Israel Premier Tech’s Michael Woods won stage 9 to the Puy de Dôme from a breakaway that went from the gun.Woods, a Canadian, is now the first non-European to win a stage at the peak.
The competition between Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard took place in the last 1.5 km of racing. The Slovenian reclaimed 8 seconds but Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey.
Speaking after the stage, Woods who is 36, said “To win a Tour de France stage was my ultimate goal and I could see the window closing on to me. That was the goal. I wish I could say this victory today was planned but how the cards played, I was the most marked man…It’s a dream come true. The great people I have around, starting with my wife and kids, made it possible.”
The Deets
Fourteen riders took off quickly at the start of stage 9, and among them was Michael Woods: Clément Berthet (AG2R-Citroën), Guillaume Boivin (Israel-Premier Tech), Matteo Jorgenson and Gorka Izagirre (Movistar), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Pierre Latour and Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies), David De La Cruz and Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto-Dstny), Jonas Abrahamsen and Jonas Gregaard (Uno-X).
The peloton chased hard for a while but gave up at km 20 when they brought Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) back. The time difference was 6’ at the intermediate sprint of lake of Vassivière (km 30.4) where Abrahamsen anticipated his breakaway companions.
Jorgensen Moves Ahead
A time gap of 10’50’’ was posted on top of côte de Felletin (km 74.8) where Powless passed first. The American was back on his mission to win the polka dot jersey. It was 11’40’’ when Boivin was the first rider to escape from the front group.
After four kilometers alone in the lead, he was reeled in. Skirmishes followed, Jorgenson rode away 47 km before the end. Mohoric, Burgaudeau, Powless and De La Cruz chased him down. They were fifteen seconds behind when De La Cruz had to stop and get a new bike because of a mechanical.
Pogacar Gains 8 seconds
With 3 km to go, Jorgenson was 1’20’’ ahead as Mohoric distanced his two companions. Woods made it across by himself and passed the Slovenian before the American. He rode the last 450 meters by himself to become the first non-European winner at Puy de Dôme.
Pogacar sped up with 1.5 km to go. Vingegaard reacted but the white jersey managed to distance the yellow jersey 600 meters before the line. Pogacar reclaimed eight seconds but Vingegaard retained the overall lead by 17 seconds before the first rest day.
