Ben O’Connor wins at Tignes after a daunting ninth stage

The Tour de France peloton will have no respite on Sunday July 4, the day after a Dantesque first alpine day, during which the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) disgusted the competition. On paper, the route of this ninth stage between Cluses (Haute-Savoie) and Tignes (Savoie) was already dizzying with five listed difficulties, including the Col du Pré (out of category, 12.6 km at 7.7%) . We had to add the cold and the rain – like almost every day since the big departure from Brest.

Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroën) wins his first Tour de France solo. The Italians Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious), completed the podium of the day – respectively second at 5:07 and third at 5:34. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) retains the lead in the overall standings, after having cleaned up the competition a little more.

O’Connor will have long been virtual yellow jersey this Sunday. Pogacar, after his mind-boggling performance the day before, seemed to be procrastinating. His team worked hard at the front of the peloton to control the gap, and for a while we wondered if their goal was not to give up first place overall while staying in contact. But the Slovenian, who was for a time 9 minutes behind the breakaways, finished sixth in the stage, 6:02 behind the Australian.

The Colombian duo Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic) and Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo) will have been in the lead all day, closely followed by Ben O’Connor… At the start of the climb to Tignes, it is is running out of fuel for the first, dropped. Then it was Sergio Huiguita’s turn to lose track 17.5 kilometers from the finish. Nairo Quintana will finish eleventh at 6:38 a.m.

A Tour now without Roglic and Van der Poel

Grimacing faces, frozen fingers, soaked clothes… The riders fought to overcome this second alpine day – like the world champion, Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), shivering, who stopped for a few minutes to put on dry clothes and had to rely on his staff to help him put on his gloves.

They will only be 172 to cross the finish line: the Belgian Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix), winner of the third stage between Lorient and Pontivy (Morbihan), the French Nans Peters (AG2R-Citroën), the Belgian Jasper De Buyst (Lotto-Soudal) retired during the stage.

It was already a private peloton of two of its leading figures – Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) – which started Sunday from Cluses. “VDP” has passed “An incredible week” on the Grande Boucle, but it had warned: his goal for the year is the gold medal in mountain biking at the Tokyo Olympics. Raymond Poulidor’s grandson, who gave up his yellow jersey the day before the arrival at Le Grand-Bornand, has therefore decided to throw in the towel: “We made the decision this morning with the team”, he explained.

The Dutchman has largely fulfilled his “contract” for his first participation, dominating the general classification for six days – since the second stage, Sunday June 27, between Perros-Guirec and Mûr-de-Bretagne (Côtes-d’Armor) – and thus succeeding where his ancestor had failed.

“There is no point in continuing like this”

The Slovenian Primoz Roglic, he spent a hellish week: “There is no point in continuing like this”, summed up the leader of the Jumbo-Visma, second in the Tour in 2020. Victim of a fall, Monday June 28, about ten kilometers from the finish of the third stage between Lorient and Pontivy (Morbihan), he was since barely pointing Saturday night at the 51^e place in the provisional general classification 39 min 45 s from the yellow jersey Tadej Pogacar. “Now is the time to recover and focus on my new goals”, argued the former ski jumping champion who will also be lined up for the Olympics, in the road race and the time trial.

Roglic, who had spent several weeks in Tignes as part of his preparation for the Tour, was however awaited by a crowd of massed spectators, with a large reinforcement of Slovenian flags and “Rogla” banners, in the rise of Tignes, the last one. difficulty of the day (category 1).

Tomorrow, Monday: day of rest – well deserved – for the peloton and the followers. Before the resumption of the Grande Boucle, Tuesday July 6, with some 190 kilometers of flat between Albertville (Savoie) and Valence (Drôme). The day before the double ascent of Ventoux.