Pidcock pipped on line as Pogacar retains yellow
Pidcock, right, won a stage of the Tour in 2022 on Alpe d'Huez
- Published
Britain's Tom Pidcock was pipped on the line as France's Anthony Turgis won the ninth stage of the Tour de France.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider was narrowly beaten in the final sprint at the end of a frantic 199km stage in Troyes that included 14 gravel sections.
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar retained the leader's yellow jersey and animated the stage with attacks on several occasions on a day that tested the credentials of all the general classification riders.
Pogacar, of UAE-Team Emirates, leads Remco Evenepoel of Soudal-Quick Step by 33 seconds overall, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike in third, one minute 15 seconds further back.
While Pogacar and Evenepoel sought to get up the road at various times prior to Monday's rest day, the Dane was less adventurous and content to neutralise their moves having had to swap bikes with Jan Tratnik after an early mechanical issue.
On the one occasion he was caught out, with about 20km remaining, his American team-mate Matteo Jorgenson superbly dragged him back onto the wheel of Pogacar as all the general classification riders came back together at the end.
"I ride with my heart and today was a day to do it," said Pogacar, who appeared bemused by Visma-Lease a Bike's strategy.
"They only look at me and they underestimate the others. It could backfire," added the 25-year-old, who is attempting to complete the first Giro d'Italia-Tour de France double since 1998.
While there was little movement towards the top of the overall standings, Canada's Derek Gee - who was also in the breakaway with Pidcock and Turgis - was rewarded by moving inside the top 10 by finishing third.
Adam Yates, who is riding in support of Pogacar, is the highest-placed British rider overall, sitting almost five minutes behind his team-mate.
Prior to the start of the stage the Uno-X Mobility team led a moment of applause in memory of Andre Drege, the Norwegian cyclist who died aged 25 in a crash at the Tour of Austria on Saturday.
The race now travels west to Orleans in the heart of France and continues on Tuesday with a 187.3km run into Saint-Amand-Montrond.
Tour de France stage nine results
Anthony Turgis (Fra/Total Energies) 4hrs 19mins 43secs
Tom Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) Same time
Derek Gee (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) "
Alex Aranburu (Spa/Movistar) "
Ben Healy (Ire/EF Education-EasyPost) "
Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana Qazaqstan) "
Javier Romo (Spa/Movistar) +12secs
Jasper Stuyven (Bel/Lidl-trek) +18secs
Biniam Girmay (Eri/Intermarche-Wanty) +1min 17secs
Michael Matthews (Aus/Jayco AlUla) Same time
General classification after stage nine
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) 35hrs 42mins 42secs
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick Step) +33secs
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15secs
4. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1mins 36secs
5. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 16secs
6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates) +2mins 17secs
7. Carlos Rodriguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +2mins 31secs
8. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal-Quick Step) +3mins 35secs
9. Derek Gee (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) +4mins 02secs
10. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Visma-Lease a Bike) 4mins 03secs