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O’Connor wins from breakaway to move to second
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Untouchable Pogacar retains leader’s yellow jersey
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Cavendish beats time cut to keeps his Tour alive
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Thomas bounces back to help team-mate Carapaz
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Quintana takes lead in mountains classification
It is difficult to think of a Tour de France which has featured as many tears in the opening week as this one. From Mark Cavendish weeping with joy after winning his first Tour stage in five years into Fougeres last Tuesday, to Dylan Teuns dedicating his stage win in Le Grand-Bornand on Saturday to his recently-deceased grandfather, to the poor riders who missed the time cut at the end of another brutal stage, their faces contorted in misery after five hours in the wind and rain only to be told they were going home.
“What a day!!!!” wrote the Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Lotto-Soudal) on Twitter of stage eight, which finished beneath leaden skies in the ski resort of Tignes. “4200+ meters of altitude, rain all the way and a crazy fast race. I don’t remember seeing a bunch riding so fast!” This from a man who is a certified masochist, having once finished a Tour stage with a broken kneecap.
The peloton have certainly earned their first rest day on Monday. Some of them by the skin of their teeth. Cavendish was one. Having only got his Tour invitation at the last minute, the 36-year-old had done virtually no climbing prep this year. In fact, until Saturday Cavendish had not raced up a mountain in anger since stage 11 of the 2018 Tour when he abandoned on the same day Geraint Thomas took yellow at La Rosiere.
The Manxman did brilliantly to make it home inside the cut, crossing the line with just over a minute to spare, chaperoned by his trusty Deceuninck-QuickStep team mates Tim Declercq and Michael Morkov. Naturally he broke down in tears, wet and bedraggled as he was. “This was one stage I was terrified of,” he admitted. “I’m emotional I got through it. I’m delighted I’m still in the race… But the worst part is there are many days like this to come. As much as I missed the Tour, I didn’t think of these mountain stages.”
Cavendish has at least earned the right to sprint into Valence on Tuesday, assuming the race comes back together. Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) and Bryan Coquard (B&B Hotels p/b KTM) were two of the seven riders who missed the cut and will not be there. Nor will Anthony Delaplace (Arkea-Samsic) or Nicholas Dlamini (Qhubeka-Nexthash), the latter crashing on Sunday but refusing to climb off his bike, eventually crossing the line at 7.01pm local time before collapsing into the arms of a soigneur. As much as the Tour is about the race for yellow, these stories of agony and despair, are just as much a part of the narrative, part of the reason fans fall in love with it.
One thing is for sure: with Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) having already crashed out of the race and Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) abandoning on Sunday, the sprinting field is thinning out. If Cavendish can continue to make these time cuts on the mountain stages – there is another monster day on Wednesday when the peloton takes on a double-ascent of Ventoux – he could have some great chances to add to his two stage victories in this race.
He can count on some team mates to support him at least. “In the last couple of years, watching the race on TV, I was a bit jealous that Deceuninck-QuickStep always [sent someone back] to take care of their sprinter while, in my last participation, I was left to my own devices,” he noted. “Today I could count on Tim and Michael to support me. I’m so humbled and physically broken.”
He was not the only one. Even Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) described conditions as “really bad” and “super cold”, saying he had suffered. It looked at one stage as if Pogacar might surrender the yellow jersey to Australian Ben O’Connor (AG2R-Citroen) who attacked solo from the breakaway and got nine minutes up the road at one point. But Pogacar, thanks in part to Ineos riding on the front, trying to probe his defences, eventually reeled O’Connor in to stay in yellow by 2-01.
Ineos will have been delighted to see Geraint Thomas back helping out, though. Having finished in the grupetto on Saturday, the Welshman said he felt “10 times better” as he continues his recovery from last Monday’s crash in Brittany. “I’m still swinging, don’t get me wrong,” Thomas said. “But I felt OK once we got on the long climbs.”
04:15 PM
Cavendish finishes within the time limit . . .
. . . with 1min 37sec to spare. Mark Cavendish will be back in action on Tuesday after the British sprinter overcame a huge challenge today. Cavendish embraces Deceuninck-Quick Step team-mates Tim Declercq and Michael Morkov just beyond the line after what was, surely, a very difficult day in the saddle for a rider whose race programme this season has centred around the flatter Belgian races.
03:47 PM
Cattaneo takes second, Colbrelli third
Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-Quick Step) takes second and, er, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) is third. I cannot explain how a ‘sprinter’ finishes third on a stage like this. I know his climbing has improved recently, but that is ridiculous. By the way, those wanting to avoid the time cut must finish the stage within 37min 20sec of Ben O’Connor’s winning time of 4hr 26min 43sec. There will be a number of sprinters that will, probably, be getting kicked out of the Tour today, but will one of those be the maillot vert?
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who finished the stage in sixth position, gains 32sec on Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and leads Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citroën) on general classification by 2min 1sec, while Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-Nippo) moved up to third and is 5min 18sec down on the Slovenian who looks unbreakable.
03:40 PM
Pogacar smiling as he turns screw on rivals
Smiling like an assassin, Tadej Pogacar rides solo through the crowds up towards the summit of the Montée de Tignes and nobody can match the Slovenian. Nobody. Pogacar may have lost time to stage winner Ben O’Connor today, but the UAE Team Emirates rider will, once again, be landing a huge blow to the noses of his rivals’ hopes.
03:37 PM
O’Connor wins stage nine at the Tour!
Take a bow son, take a bow. What a brave ride from Ben O’Connor who not only wins his first stage at the Tour de France, but also climbs to second on general classification.
03:36 PM
1.4km to go | Pogacar attacks
And the Slovenian is, as Sean Kelly says, untouchable. Nobody is able to follow him and he is gaining on his general classification rivals.
03:35 PM
1.5km to go
Over the top of Montée de Tignes goes, and Ben O’Conner is moments away from claiming the biggest win of his career: a stage at the word’s biggest bike race.
03:33 PM
2.5km to go
Ineos Grenadiers are breaking the heart of Ben O’Connor. The work being done by them is ensuring Tadej Pogacar will keep the maillot jaune. Ben O’Connor will, though, be winning a brilliant stage at the Tour de France while propelling himself up the general classification standings – he should climb to second.
03:31 PM
3.5km to go
Ben O’Connor is around 1.5km fro the summit. He is, surely, going to win this stage but can he take the leader’s yellow jersey? What a story that would be.
03:29 PM
4km to go
Ben O’Connor’s lead has dropped, but not by much. The Australian has 7min 45sec on the maillot jaune who started the day 8min 15sec ahead of the Ag2r-Citroën rider. Absolutely thrilling watching.
03:26 PM
5km to go
Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-Quick Step) rolls off the front of the maillot jaune‘s group, the Italian chasing a top 10 position on general classification. Geraint Thomas is sharing the work with team-mate Jonathan Castroviejo on the front of the group with Tadej Pogacar, the Ineos Grenadiers riders working for Richard Carapaz.
03:24 PM
6km to go
That injection in pace from Ineos Grenadiers has led to Ben O’Connor losing 10sec or so and, perhaps, the opportunity to go into yellow
03:23 PM
6.5km to go
Ineos Grenadiers shift to the front of the maillot jaune‘s group. Interesting. Are they trying to damage Richard Carapaz’s rivals, or perhaps attempting to make sure Tadej Pogacar keeps hold of the maillot jaune?
03:21 PM
7km to go | O’Connor is the virtual leader
The gap has grown out to 8min 16sec, meaning if the stage were to end now Ben O’Connor would lead the Tour de France by 1sec. Remember, there are time bonuses up for grabs at the finishing line.
03:19 PM
8km to go
Nairo Quintana has managed to ride past Sergio Higuita, but the Arkéa-Samsic rider trails stage leader Ben O’Connor by around three minutes. The Colombian will, I’m sure, be thinking about taking more points at the summit of Montée de Tignes – the are 10 up for grabs to the stage winner, and eight for the runner-up.
03:15 PM
9km to go
Just 20 sec stand between Ben O’Connor and the virtual yellow jersey. Just as we saw yesterday, Davide Formole, the talented Italian climber, is grimacing on the front of the maillot jaune‘s group, burying himself for team leader and race leader Tadej Pogacar.
03:13 PM
10km to go
Ben O’Connor is 30sec off Tadej Pogacar. I think we can safely say, nobody had predicted the powerful Slovenian would lose his leader’s yellow jersey today. To be honest, I don’t think it will happen, but I’m regularly wrong about these things so I probably should refrain from speculating how this day will play out.
03:07 PM
13km to go
Ben O’Connor is riding fairly smoothly on the front, while Sergio Higuita appears to be struggling a little bit 1min 45sec down the road. Is the Colombian paying the price for those efforts and attacks on the descent earlier in the stage? O’Connor is also gaining on the maillot jaune, now around 50sec off becoming the virtual leader in the race. The young Australian must not blow up here, he needs to eat, take on the liquids and not over exert himself and ‘go into the red’. Once that happens, it’s good night Vienna.
03:02 PM
14.5km to go
Ben O’Connor is gaining more and more time on Sergio Higuita and the Ag2r-Citroën rider currently leads the stage by 54sec. I’ve not mentioned Geraint Thomas today, not since the pre-amble to the stage at least, but can now report that Ineos Grenadiers rider is in the same group as race leader Tadej Pogacar. That will, I’m sure, come as a huge morale boost to the Welshman and his many followers.
03:01 PM
15km to go
Ben O’Connor takes some food from a Ag2r-Citroënteam car. The Australian has gained around 30sec on Sergio Higuita.
02:57 PM
17km to go
Rui Costa and Davide Formolo have also got their jackets off, riding on the front of the maillot jaune‘s group doing their best for UAE Team Emirates team-mate Tadej Pogacar. Back at the front of the race, Ben O’Connor has attacked and dropped Sergio Higuita. He’s a lovely rider O’Connor, very powerful and more than capable of sustaining a decent rhythm on these long climbs, but there’s an awful long way to go in this stage.
02:54 PM
Here’s this final climb . . .
02:49 PM
20km to go
Tadej Pogacar, quite dramatically, tears off his rain jacket. Is this the moment the maillot jaune lays down yet another marker? Ben O’Connor and Sergio Higuita, by the way, have lost around 1min 30sec on Pogacar who looks ready to set off up the road.
02:42 PM
22.5km to go
UAE Team Emirates are on the front of their group and riding hard as they approach the beginning of the Montée de Tignes. Nairo Quintana, meanwhile, has cracked. Incredible. The 31-year-old has been dropped by Ben O’Connor and Sergio Higuita who now lead the stage. Providing Quintana completes the stage within the time limit, then he will take the polka dot jersey off the shoulders of Wout Poels. Speaking of time limits, Mark Cavendish is currently 24 minutes down on the stage leaders. I think – think – he can afford to lose another 14 or 15 minutes between now and the finishing line so it may be touch-and-go if the Manxman can continue the Tour when racing resumes after Monday’s rest day. A nervous time for Cavendish fans.
02:36 PM
25km to go
Apologies, I somehow missed the fact that Ben O’Connor had been dropped by Sergio Higuita and Nairo Quintana. I guess that’s academic now though as the Australian who last years was almost without a team when NTT almost folded has managed to get back on and is still the Tour’s virtual leader, though only by around 10sec.
02:32 PM
De Buyst abandons
Jasper De Buyst (Lotto-Soudal) has abandoned the race.
02:32 PM
30km to go
Following that unfortunate spill from Brandon McNulty, UAE Team Emirates and Tadej Pogacar have slowed a little allowing Ben O’Connor to regain top spot in the virtual general classification. Surely Pogacar is not going to give up his maillot jaune without a fight today? Or is he?
02:26 PM
32km to go
The old master that is Nairo Quintana keeps his cool, in more ways than one, and bridges over to the young pretender that is Sergio Higuita. Further back Brandon McNulty, who was sat on the front of a posse of UAE Team Emirates, goes off road. The young American was peering over his left shoulder, presumably looking out for team leader Tadej Pogacar, though unfortunately lost his line and went off over the side. Thankfully it looked like a soft landing.
A timely reminder for all about the importance of staying concentrated which is easier said than done while racing through the mountains in these sort of rotten conditions.
02:20 PM
35km to go | Quintana dropped
Sergio Higuita has dropped Nairo Quintana on this worryingly wet descent. Fairly straight, but with a few bends, the road has lots of resting water and Higuita is attacking this fearlessly. Quite surprised to see Quintana being dropped on this terrain, but that’s what has happened. There’s still that very long 21.1km ascent of Montée de Tignes to go though so anything can happen yet. Anything.
02:13 PM
43km to go
Ben O’Connor loses the wheels of Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita on this wet and treacherous descent. Meanwhile, further back UAE Team Emirates appear to have increased the pace a little and Tadej Pogacar is closing that gap, second by second, on Ben O’Connor.
02:07 PM
51km to go
Over the top of the Cormet de Roselend and it is that man Nairo Quintana who take maximum points on the summit, so the Colombian adds another five points to his tally ahead of the long, fast and very wet descent. These stick-thin climbers weigh 60kg wet through and so once the wind chill factor kicks in they will be very cold indeed right now. Sergio Higuita is second, Ben O’Connor third while Michael Woods is fourth a couple of minutes later.
01:58 PM
54km to go
The leading trio is around 3km from the summit of the Cormet de Roselend and Ben O’Connor has had a little struggle getting his long-fingered winter gloves on. There’s a long descent once over the top which leads in to the final climb of the day, the 21.1km long Montée de Tignes. Working well together O’Connor, Sergio Higuita and Nairo Quintana are gaining on both the maillot jaune and the other groups on the road. One rider that will not be too happy with the pace being set on the front is Mark Cavendish who will be, along with his team-mates, doing his best to avoid the time cut. Until the stage is finished and we know the average speed for the stage we cannot work out what time differential is afforded to the British sprinter – it will basically be 15% of the stage winners’ time.
01:51 PM
56km to go
Ben O’Connor must be getting very excited, he is the virtual leader of the Tour thanks to him being in the leading three-man group at the head of this stage alongside Colombians Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita. The maillot jaune trails by 8min 25sec but as we saw yesterday, when Tadej Pogacar puts the hammer down the Slovenian can eat up six minutes over this type of terrain over just 30km.
01:43 PM
60km to go
UAE Team Emirates has their full complement of riders on the front, led by Marc Hirschi, of the maillot jaune‘s group which trails stage leaders Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita by around eight minutes.
01:39 PM
63.7km to go
This is vintage Nairo Quintana. The pint-sized Colombian goes over the top of the col du Pré to add another 20 points to his account in the mountains classification. A short descent follows, before the road kicks up for the ascent of the category two Cormet de Roselend.
01:35 PM
65km to go
Nairo Quintana rolls off the front, the Colombian is in no mood for another sprint for the points on the summit. He’s dropped Michael Woods, Sergio Higuita and Ben O’Connor and is off in pursuit of 20 points which will certainly help his assault on the polka dot jersey.
01:32 PM
65.5km to go
Lucas Hamilton has been dropped by the leading group, as has Wout Poels, while Nairo Quintana, Michael Woods, Sergio Higuita and Ben O’Connor push on towards the summit of this hors catégorie climb which has 20 points up for grabs in the mountains classification on its summit in 1.7km time. Must say, Quintana is looking strong.
01:29 PM
66km to go
Ben O’Connor, the Australian who has had a very impressive first year with French team Ag2r-Citroën, started the day in 14th place on general classification, 8min 13sec down on Tadej Pogacar and is just 45sec away from taking top spot in the virtual general classification. One suspects Pogacar will not be in any mood to give up his maillot jaune going into Monday’s rest day, I get the impression the young Slovenian enjoys the attention the jersey brings with it.
01:22 PM
Peters and Merlier pull the parachute
Nans Peters (Ag2r-Citroën), a stage winner at last year’s Tour, has abandoned the race as has Tim Merlier, the Alpecin-Fenix sprinter who won stage three earlier this week, has also called time.
01:16 PM
70km to go
Wout Poels has bridged over to Nairo Quintana et al which is impressive. The leading group are not hanging around having put another minute into the second group on the road. Tadej Pogacar and the maillot jaune is in the third group on the road at 7min 15sec, while the grupetto has formed and includes Mark Cavendish at almost 13 minutes. The Briton has three team-mates with him – Tim Declercq, Dries Devenyns and Michael Morkov – and that quartet of Deceuninck-Quick Step riders will be desperate to beat the time cut today. This is a huge test for Cavendish who had not planned on racing the Tour and so, by his own admission, had not trained for the mountains bar a week or so in Tuscany ahead of the grand départ.
01:06 PM
73km to go
Probably worth mentioning the leading protagonists in today’s stage are very much onto the the 13.1km long col du Pré which is the first hors catégorie climb of this year’s race. Wout Poels was dropped by this group a few minutes ago and, as it stands, trails Nairo Quintana’s little firm of climbers by 16sec.
12:59 PM
75km to go
Nice moment from the Colombians in the leading group as Sergio Higuita hands Nairo Quintana a bidon and, I think, a bar or gel.
12:53 PM
80km to go
Nairo Quintana, a rider that has historically races well in the wet and the cold, dropped Wout Poels on the descent and gained around 10sec on the Dutchman. The Colombian, however, has now been caught by Poels who has Michael Woods, Lucas Hamilton (BikeExchange), Sergio Higuita (EF Education-Nippo) and Ben O’Connor (Ag2r-Citroën) for company. There is a group of around 30 riders that includes Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) one minute down the road; the maillot jaune a further 5min back.
12:44 PM
90km to go
Wout Poels and Nairo Quintana are into the descent and it is looking very sketchy. With 4,500 metres of vertical climbing today there is also a lot of descending which is, as anybody that has ridden a bike knows, one of the most technical aspect of the sport. It is also one of the most dangerous aspects requiring nerves of steel, a Zen-like state of mind, and a deep understanding of how gravity works.
12:39 PM
95km to go
Just under 650 metres from the summit of the category one col des Saisies, Colombia’s Nairo Quintana rises out of his saddle before chasing down Wout Poels for the 10 points up for grabs at the very wet and cold looking summit. Poels, however, sensed a looming Quintana and in the end the pair sprinted for the line with the Dutchman coming out on top. In the absence of any genuine battle for the general classification, perhaps we can all pretend it is the 1980s again and get excited about the race for the maillot à pois – it certainly is looking like a competition some big names are taking seriously this year. Michael Woods is third, but Poels extends his lead by four points over the Canadian.
12:30 PM
98km to go | As it stands . . .
Afternoon all. As you will have guessed, today’s stage is under way and the first ascent of the day, the category two côte de Domancy, has already been crested with Pierre Latour (TotalÉnergies) opening his account in the mountains classification by taking five points atop the short and steep climb. Harry Sweeny (Lotto-Soudal), the Australian neo-pro who is making his Tour de France debut and got into an early two-man breakaway with Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck-Quick Step), was second over the top ahead of Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic) and Michael Woods (ISN) who were third and fourth respectively. Quintana, incidentally, has reportedly said he is targeting the polka dots he last won on his Tour debut in 2013.
Shortly after that first climb, Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) went wheel-to-wheel with Michael Matthews (BikeExchange) at the intermediate sprint in Praz-sur-Arly, with the Italian national champion taking the 20 points up for grabs in the race for the green jersey. There were a few questions over the legality of the sprint line taken by Matthews, but as yet the Australian has not been relegated.
Enric Mas (Movistar), the Spaniard who started the stage eighth on general classification, has already been on the deck after crashing in the rain. Incidentally, Primoz Roglic became the second Jumbo-Visma rider to abandon this year’s Tour. The other non-starter today was Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) who after losing the maillot jaune yesterday withdrew as his focus switched to the mountain bike race at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Now onto the second climb of the day, the category one col des Saisies, Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) leads the way ahead of what was a 40-man group of strong riders, though that posse has started to split up. The maillot jaune is over four minutes down the road.
06:55 AM
Bonjour!
Hello and welcome to our live rolling blog from stage eight at the Tour de France, the 144.9-kilometre run from Cluses to Tignes.
Spare a thought for the peloton this morning who will awake in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, down in the south east of the country, fatigued, some aching from falls earlier in the race and also during Saturday’s barnstorming stage, and a little shellshocked too. Although Dylan Teuns (Bahrain Victorious) won the stage, it was Tadej Pogacar who took the headlines with a ride that saw the 22-year-old crush the entire field with an exhibition of power and strength not seen since the days of Eddy Merckx or Bernard Hinault.
After starting Saturday’s stage, the first mountain test in this year’s Tour, 3min 43sec down on overnight leader Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), the UAE Team Emirates rider gained a massive 5min 12sec on general classification in the final 30km of the 150.8km stage from Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand. While taking the leader’s yellow jersey, off Van der Poel surprised nobody – the Dutchman was always expected to struggle hauling his large frame over three category one climbs – the nature in which the Slovenian laid waste to those hoping to challenge for the general classification was savage.
Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Pogacar’s nearest challenger, may be only 1min 48sec adrift in the standings but the Belgian national champion can expect to lose more time during Sunday’s stage when the Tour, for the first time this year, goes above 2,000 metres in altitude. Likewise Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) who although a very capable climber may struggle at high altitude. Which leaves those you may consider to be Pogacar’s challengers.
Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-Nippo), who arrived as a dark horse for a podium spot having shown some good form at the recent Tour de Suisse, is closest to Pogacar at 4min 46sec, while Jumbo-Visma’s talented young Dane Jonas Vingegaard is next in line of the challengers. However, after crashing on Saturday his 5min deficit may feel like an eternity once the Tour hits the col du Pré, the first hors catégorie climb of this year’s race, later today. To his credit, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) was the only rider able to go with Pogacar, albeit briefly, on Saturday before the UAE Team Emirates rider made mincemeat of the Ecudorian who now trails top spot by 5min 1sec. The bset of the rest – Wilco Kelderman (Bora-Hansgrohe, 5min 13sec), Enric Mas (Movistar, 5min 15sec) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ, 5min 52sec) cannot realistically expect to challenge Pogacar which is, let’s be honest here, a little dispiriting.
It was a brutal stage in which a huge grupetto of over 70 riders featuring Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) rolled over the line in Le Grand-Bornand a whopping 35min 1sec down on stage winner Teuns. As a result, Thomas and Roglic who had hoped to challenge Pogaacar prior to them both crashing in the brutal grand départ in Brittany now sit 45th (36min 3sec) and 51st (39min 45sec) respectively. Their races now over.
While the general classification may, barring any more serious crashes, be all but over there are, thankfully, other races going on at the Tour. There are, of course, 13 more stages up for grabs and three jerseys other than the maillot jaune, the leader’s yellow garment, including the maillot à pois, the polka dot jersey, that Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) holds as leader in the mountains competition.
There was very little change of note in the points classification and so Mark Cavendish (Deceuninck-Quick Step) will wear the maillot vert, the green jersey, for the fifth day at this year’s Tour.
As overall leader of the race, Pogacar also top the young rider classification, although Vingegaard will wear the Slovenian’s maillot blanc, the white jersey awarded to the best youngster, as even the rider some call ‘Pog’ cannot wear two jerseys at the same time.
For anybody that missed yesterday’s quite ridiculous stage, you can relive the exhibition ride from Pogacar / horror show right here . . .
So, what’s on today’s menu?
With over over 4,500m in vertical elevation over five categorised climbs, it is another massive day in the mountains that concludes on the Montée de Tignes which is the climb that was removed from stage 19 in in 2019 edition of the race following a landslide.
Here’s a look at the all-important numbers from those climbs . . .
. . . and a breakdown of what points can be won in the mountains.
But what about those who only have eyes for the green jersey?