TdF stage 9: Martin’s licence to thrill as Froome survives Skyfall

Stage 9: Saint-Girons to Bagneres-de-Bigorre, 168.5km

The name is Martin, Dan Martin. In a stage which was action-packed from start to finish, Movistar succeeded in isolating Chris Froome from his black-clad Sky army but were unable to apply the killer blow, leaving the race leader with his advantage intact to die fight another day. It was left to Martin to outfox Jakob Fuglsang in a two-up sprint to become only the fifth Irish stage winner at the Tour.

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TdF stage 9 preview

Stage 9: Saint-Girons to Bagneres-de-Bigorre, 168.5km, high mountains

This stage picks up where yesterday’s stage left off – the boys have five climbs to get over, four of those cat 1s, and there’s no messing around. The first climb – and the only cat 2 in this stage – kicks off immediately, with the summit coming at 28.5km into the stage. It’s a day when a breakaway is likely to disappear up the road and never be seen again. Continue reading