Postpublished at 101km to go
UAE Team Emirates take control on the white roads of the Hautes Forets...
Summary
Stage nine: Troyes - Troyes, 199km
GC battle under way on route containing 14 gravel sections
Tadej Pogacar wears the leader's yellow jersey
Postpublished at 101km to go
Postpublished at 102km to go
Image source, EPAMaxim van Gils gets his chain sprayed presumably with some sort of lubricant, which is a must given all the dust on the gravel sections.
Postpublished at 108km to go
The gap from the leading group to the chasers is stretching out again now that Primoz Roglic has returned to the GC group.
Postpublished at 114km to go
Primoz Roglic is almost back with the GC group...
The Slovenian is on the front of a huge group of riders dragging them across. What an effort.
Just how much will that have taken out of him for later in this stage?
Postpublished at 115km to go
The Primoz Roglic group is coming back slowly...
Up at the front there is very little interest in the intermediate sprint and Anthony Turgis crosses just in front of Javier Romo.
Postpublished at 124km to go
Geraint Thomas is in the fifth group on the road a minute behind the Roglic group.
Postpublished at 125km to go
Primoz Roglic is currently around 30 seconds behind the peloton and has two teammates, Jai Hindley and Matteo Sorbrero, to help him close that gap.
Postpublished at 129km to go
Visma-Lease a Bike accelerate put the hammer down and Primoz Roglic is distanced as the main bunch splits.
Postpublished at 130km to go
Absolute chaos in the main bunch as they hit the second gravel section.
There is a crash which holds up dozens of riders and Simon Yates and Felix Gall are among a number of riders who are off their bikes,
Postpublished at 134km to go
Neilson Powless is called back by his team to help his fellow EF Education-EasyPost rider Ben Healy bridge across to the front group.
Good news for Tom Pidcock as both get across.
Postpublished at 141km to go
Tadej Pogacar takes a comfort break and almost sees Felix Gall go flying into him.
The Austrian climber has a soft landing onto the grass.
Chris Harper, the Jayco–AlUla climber is also on the grass as he tumbles into a field while cornering. The Australian is up sharpish and looks to be fine.
Postpublished at 142km to go
Tom Pidcock and Ben Healy are stuck in 16 seconds off the front with the time gap going out...but they are on a descent and the British rider is one of the best in the business when it comes to that particular skill.
Postpublished at 145km to go
Alex Aranburu and Axel Zingle nip over to the leading group to make it a fighting force of 12.
Postpublished at 148km to go
First climb of the day is incoming as Davide Ballerini attempts to get up the road. He is followed by Ben Healy, Tom Pidcock and Arnuad de Lie.
Alex Aranburu and Axel Zingle are in the second group on the road just up ahead.
Postpublished at 150km to go
Neilson Powless is putting the hammer down at the front of the race as the dust flies up off the first gravel track.
At the back of the main bunch several riders looked like they were pedalling in quicksand.
Postpublished at 152km to go
The first taste of gravel incoming on the 2km stretch of the Chemin de Bligny a Bergeres...
Postpublished at 155km to go
Derek Gee, Anthony Turgis and Jasper Stuyven head up the road in the group of 10 riders.
Just behind Tom Pidcock and Mark Cavendish are on manoeuvres and zip off the front but there's not a huge amount of conviction in that move.
Who is wearing what?published at 158km to go
Image source, Getty ImagesThere are four competitions in the Tour de France - the best young rider, the King of the Mountains (KOM), the points classification and the general classification (GC) and here is who is wearing what.
- White jersey (best young rider) - Remco Evenepoel
- Polka dot jersey (KOM) - Jonas Abrahamsen
- Green jersey (points race) - Biniam Girmay
- Yellow jersey (GC) - Tadej Pogacar
Postpublished at 162km to go
Oh hello...a huge number of riders bridge over to the leading group of five.
Mathieu van der Poel now bridges over. There are about 25 riders involved here. Surely this won't hold.
Postpublished at 165km to go
Image source, Getty ImagesIneos Grenadiers rider Tom Pidocock is expected to be in the mix today given he is a former cyclo-cross world champion and has enjoyed Olympic and world success in mountain biking: "I think it does (belong in), the winner of a Grand Tour is the best all round rider. They create a spectacle for fans and a challenge for the teams. It keeps us on our toes and out of the mundane.
"I have not been on the wrong side of that maybe I would have a different opinion if that happened but you have to look after your bike and there are always risks.
"This is nothing like the Strade Bianche apart from the gravel. It is flat. Okay the middle part has a few climbs which might open the race up but to be honest it could even become a sprint stage. All the stages have played out in different ways."