Tour de France 2023: Michael Woods claims first stage win on summit finish for stage nine
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Tadej Pogacar (right) made a move near the Puy de Dome summit to close the gap on Jonas Vingegaard before the first rest day of this year's Tour
Michael Woods claimed a breakaway victory on stage nine of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar took more time out of race leader Jonas Vingegaard.
Canadian climber Woods made up around two minutes on American Matteo Jorgenson on the steep final section of the dormant volcano, the Puy de Dome.
Jorgenson and Woods were among 14 escapees early on the 182.5km stage from Saint Leonard de Noblat.
Pogacar's late attack saw him make up eight seconds on Vingegaard.
Two-time winner Pogacar finished 13th on the day, a place ahead of Denmark's Vingegaard, more than eight minutes after the 36-year-old Woods.
The Slovenian now sits just 17 seconds behind his main rival for the yellow jersey.
"It would be nicer to have stayed with him and have lost no time but as I've said before the first week didn't suit me," said Vingegaard.
"In my opinion there are stages that suit me more, so being in yellow after that first block of racing is good for me. I'm looking forwards to the Alps."
British pair Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock were the next riders to reach the summit finish, with the Ineos Grenadiers man moving up two places to seventh of the general classification standings while Yates is sixth, now five seconds adrift of his twin brother and early race leader Adam, who is fifth.
Delight for Woods, despair for Jorgenson
Movistar rider Jorgenson, known for this time-trialling capabilities and ability to climb, went clear around 47km from the finish.
And he enjoyed a healthy advantage as he hit the most punishing section of the famous climb, making its first appearance in the Tour for 35 years.
At that point he was around 80 seconds clear of a group led by Matej Mohoric, with Israel-Premier Tech rider Woods a further 30 seconds adrift in a third group on the road.
But that lead was gradually reduced over the final four kilometres, where the gradients ramped up to 12%, and Woods, a pure climber, reeled in those in front of him before catching and passing the 24-year-old American in the final 500 metres.
It was an agonising conclusion to the stage for Jorgenson, who was denied a place on the podium altogether, as Pierre Latour and Matej Mohoric both passed him in the final 50 metres.
In contrast Woods, who has previously won two stages of the Vuelta a Espana, was able to celebrate a famous triumph.
"I'm still having a pinch-myself moment," he said.
"I can't believe I did it. I'm really proud of myself, I'm really proud of my team, it's special. I'm 36, turning 37 this year, I'm not getting any younger. I've always talked about winning a stage at the Tour de France and I've finally achieved it."
Stage nine results
1. Michael Woods (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) 4hrs 19mins 41secs
2. Pierre Latour (Fra/TotalEnergies) +28secs
3. Matej Mohoric (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) +35secs
4. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Movistar) Same time
5. Clement Berthet (Fra/AG2R-Citroen) +55secs
6. Neilson Powless (US/EF Education-EasyPost) +1min 23secs
7. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana-Qazaqstan) +1min 39secs
8. Jonas Gregaard (Den/Uno-X) +1min 58secs
9. Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra/TotalEnergies) +2mins 16secs
10 David de la Cruz (Spa/Astana-Qazaqstan) +2mins 34secs
General classification standings
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 38hrs 37mins 46secs
2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +17secs
3. Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +2mins 40secs
4. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +4mins 22secs
5. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +4mins 39secs
6. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla) +4mins 44secs
7. Thomas Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 26secs
8. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +6mins 07secs
9. Sepp Kuss (US/Jumbo-Visma) +6mins 45secs
10. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +7mins 37secs