Malemort to Usssel – 155.5 km – Photos – A.S.O.
Attackers narrowly got the better of the peloton on a surprising stage 9 of the Tour de France 2026 that eventually brought Mathieu Van der Poel power to victory in Ussel, after 154.6 km of exhilarating battle from Malemort.
On the roads of Corrèze, he was instrumental in getting the breakaway established. He then split the front group on the final ascent of the day. And he eventually dominated Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) to take his third stage win in the Tour.
Van der Poel continues his team’s streak in the race: Alpecin-Premier Tech have now won stages in every edition of the TDF since their debut in 2021. After Monday’s rest, the race will resume with a demanding stage in the Massif Central for climbers and puncheurs to bring fireworks on Bastille Day.
The Details
Today’s route has been adjusted due to an exceptional heatwave, but the challenge remained the same for those vying for victory: 155.5 kilometers and around 3,000 meters of elevation gain on a route typical of the undulating stages that have produced particularly dynamic scenarios in the past.
This was the case during the most recent finish in Corrèze, back in 2020. Marc Hirschi claimed victory in Sarran, passed the climbs of Suc au May and La Croix du Pey – which the riders encountered again on the route to Ussel.
Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was one of them, and he had all the qualities needed to get his team’s annual tally off the mark; they have always won at least once on the Tour de France since joining the race in 2021.
The attackers set off as soon as the flag dropped for the 176-man peloton. There are many contenders for the breakaway. But Lidl-Trek controlled them all the way to the intermediate sprint in Beynat (km 13.9), where Mads Pedersen took full points ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN). Attacks were flying en route to Côte de Naves, the first categorized climb of the day. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quic-Step) led the way at the summit (km 46) but attackers still made the break.
After a series of attacks and counter-attacks in which he played a leading role, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) took off again at km 57. A group of 16 riders emerged at the front with the latest additions of Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-W36.5) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United).
Johannessen and Simmons attacked from that group ahead the Suc au May ascent (cat. 2, 3.8 km at 7.7%). Pidcock and then Van der Poel set off in pursuit, making it an eight-man front group led by the Brit at the summit (km 98.5). Van der Poel and Johannessen were up there, as well as Derek Gee-West, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) and Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost).
Relentless action all the way to Ussel
UAE Emirates-XRG set a strong pace in the bunch. The gap never got higher than 1’25’’, at the summit of the Suc au May ascent. Netcompany Ineos brought more manpower to the chase with just over 40 kilometers remaining.
Van der Poel attacked on the final ascent of the day, the cat. 4 Mont Bessou (summit at km 24.5). Johannessen, Pidcock and Baudin followed his move to make it a four-man lead group into the last 20 kilometers. Behind them, Simmons and Gee-West wait for the bunch to try and set a bunch sprint for Pedersen.
The four leaders work well together until the final kilometer. Van der Poel was at the front. He controlled his rivals as well as the gap to the peloton and eventually powered to victory ahead of Johannessen and Pidcock. Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) is the first rider from the bunch, crossing the line just 6 seconds behind Van der Poel.
One can only wonder why the Maillot Jaune group did not move sooner to close the gap. They were within eyesight of the finish when Van Der Poel succeeded in the final sprint. Many fans are happy, but was it just another giveaway by Podacar, after a strong word from Christian Prudhomme in the ear of the UAE Directeur Sportif, to please allow someone else to win a stage in this year’s TDF?
Frankly, it has been no secret that the fans are grumbling that the Tour this year is no longer exciting if one man comes and cinches it at every stage. Audience participation was assuredly lagging. Here was one opportunity to let the attackers go—held cautiously at a little over a minute ahead through most of the stage, only to narrowly see them win at the end.
