One of those Tour de France stages where nothing really happens and then everything happens at once … near the end. And crazy stuff happened today in Stage 9 in the green jersey competition and the King of the Mountains jersey competition. We had a worthy winner on a cold, wet day in Ben O’Connor (Ag2r Citroen Team), who not only wasn’t even supposed be in the break but ended the day second in the GC! And we had Ineos giving Tadej Pogacar a launch pad from which to put even more time into his rivals and stay firmly in yellow.
Stage recaps
Here’s a handy emoji recap of the stage … and the official highlights reel
It was tough, Stage 9๐
๐งโ๐ธ๐ฎ๐๐ณ๐ฑ๐๐ฉ๐ด๐จ๐ดโโ๏ธ๐ด๐๐ดโโ๏ธ๐ดโ๏ธ๐๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฅโ๏ธ๐ฅ๐ด๐ช๐ธ๐โ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฅ๐ ๐โ๏ธ๐๐ด๐จ๐๐ด๐ดโโ๏ธ๐ค๐ป๐ค๐ป๐๐๐ณ๐ฑ๐ฅโ๏ธโ๏ธ๐ฆโ๏ธ๐๐ซ๐๐๐๐จ๐ด๐ฅโ๏ธ๐ซ๐ท๐ฅถ๐งฅโ๏ธ๐ฆ๐บ๐งค๐๐๐จ๐ด๐ฅโ๏ธ๐ด๐จ๐ดโโ๏ธ๐บ๐ธโก๏ธ๐ณ๐ฏ๐คท๐ผโโ๏ธ๐ฅบ๐ฐ ๐ดโโ๏ธ๐ดโ๏ธ๐ดโโ๏ธ๐จ๐ดโ๏ธ๐ ๐ฆฉ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐บ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐น๐ฅ๐ฎ๐น๐ฅ
๐โ๐ง๐ช๐ซ๐ท๐ง๐ชโฑโ๐ซ๐ท๐ง๐ช๐ซ๐ท๐ฟ๐ฆ๐ซ๐ท๐ฎ๐น๐ฅ#TDF2021ย #couchpeloton #cycling
— AnnaMac (@AnnamacB) July 4, 2021
Ben’s Big Day Out
He wasn’t supposed to be in the break. But when you see an opportunity in the Tour de France, you’ve got to take it.
Huge effort from @ben_oconnor95 ๐ฅต#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/RhMuRgPkrn
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 4, 2021
"When you start to think about winning a stage of @LeTour it does all sorts of things to your heart, your head & your lungs. It stopped my heart for a second" ~ @ben_oconnor95 @AG2RCITROENTEAM The 36 stage win for an Australian cyclist at le Tour.
@sbstdf #couchpeloton #TDF2021— Dr Bridie OโDonnell (@Bridie_OD) July 4, 2021
๐ซ๐ท @LeTour
๐๐๐๐ @ben_oconnor95 ๐๐๐๐#AG2RCITROรNTEAM #RoulonsAutrement #RideDifferently #TDF2021 – ยฉ KBLB pic.twitter.com/JyJgie6bOf
— AG2R CITROรN TEAM (@AG2RCITROENTEAM) July 4, 2021
โI wasnโt even supposed to be in the break todayโ – Ben OโConnor, TdF Stage 9 winner #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/WA3y0ceKT0
— Laticia Waclawik (@sdbeachgirl9) July 4, 2021
"Iโm sitting 14th on GC now. I definitely wonโt be in the top five unless some miracle happens." Ben O'Connor talking to me about his goals for the race this morning when he said he might be able to finish top 10 in Paris. Also said he'd prefer a stage win to top 10… #TdF2021
— Peter Cossins (@petercossins) July 4, 2021
If you don’t follow members of #CouchPeloton, you must. They’re a dedicated bunch of Aussie cycling fans who stay up late and post up sassy tweets to amuse us all. They deserve a wild win every so often!
Ben's big day out:
Stage win
Most combative award
2nd on GC
Kept Australians up to crazy hours & upset many neighbours of cycling fans. ๐ฅณ#CouchPeloton #TDF2021— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) July 4, 2021
#CouchPeloton pic.twitter.com/EtDjpdnVrP
— Kirsty Adderley (@kirsty_sarcie1) July 4, 2021
Any boss who sacks anyone in W.A. for not turning up today is a bum! Allez @ben_oconnor95! #sbstdf #couchpeloton #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/mxMcDVGkvK
— Dr Bridie OโDonnell (@Bridie_OD) July 4, 2021
Lovely win, that. O'Connor was taken pretty far out of his comfort zone by moving to Ag2r, but certainly looks like it's paying off.
— Freddie Shires (@fshires) July 4, 2021
Ineos – the new Movistar?
All day, UAE were on the front of the yellow jersey group, letting the various breaks get all kinds of minutes racked up. But as anyone who was a threat was in that group – or behind it, in the gruppetto – things were fairly steady. Until, after some hard riding by UAE to make sure that Ben O’Connor got out of the virtual yellow that he was, they stopped riding – maybe thinking not a bad idea to lose the yellow for a few days because Pogacar would always get it back – so Ineos Grenadiers decided to go for it on the front.
Why? Theories abound …
Good to see @INEOSGrenadiers taking lessons in how to ride from @Movistar_Team . Chasing someone for some reason to benefit someone else.
— Conor McGrane (@ConorTMcGrane) July 4, 2021
Do they want to keep Pogacar in yellow to force UAE to keep working? Or are they trying to expose his team to set something up for later this week?
— Dave (@TheBromleyA) July 4, 2021
— (((Lukas Knรถfler))) (@lukascph) July 4, 2021
There were people who believed in what Ineos were doing.
Racing for podium and gained time on lutsenko and kelderman – why not? They know to win pogacar needs to not finish and Carapaz be sitting waiting in 2nd
— Joe Sheridan (@joeshez) July 4, 2021
Fist bumps and … Dick Dastardly! pic.twitter.com/fBJyeFRy86
— VeloVoices (@VeloVoices) July 4, 2021
Uncanny, isn’t it.
I like that Ineos tried to put pressure on Pogi but they picked the completely wrong time. ๐ #TDF2021
— Chris Carlson (@Kiss_my_Panache) July 4, 2021
Pog just drifts off the front, looks around and then decides if he can be bothered riding away from the mere mortals. The answer is yes. Again.
— John Galloway (@VelocastJohn) July 4, 2021
The official explanation
It's seventh for @RichardCarapazM who tried to animate the closing stages to make some gains on the GC group.
He's now fifth overall heading into the rest day #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/pEXKBjeLtQ
— INEOS Grenadiers (@INEOSGrenadiers) July 4, 2021
Pogo keeps yellow, Ineos has him right where they want him.
— nyvelocity (@nyvelocity) July 4, 2021
Then there were fans that were unhappy that Ineos were riding Ben O’Connor out of the virtual yellow.
INEOS, you're my boys, but pls, I want to see Ben in yellow #TDF2021
— Issie ๐ (@IssieAtch) July 4, 2021
As PR moves go, this isn't it guys #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/lkrIZDr5az
— Issie ๐ (@IssieAtch) July 4, 2021
INEOS just so you know I'm frowning at you. #couchpeloton
— Belinda (@reallyspoketome) July 4, 2021
Ineos spoiling everyoneโs fun since forever
— Journal Velo (@JournalVelo) July 4, 2021
And what the real Movistar did …
Mas attacks. His group. Not Kwiato. You know, just to be clear. #couchpeloton
— Jamie Naragon (@TdF4077) July 4, 2021
Quintana goes quickly
Nairo Quintana said he would be targetting the polka dot jersey. I scoffed.
Yep, that aged well.
— VeloVoices (@VeloVoices) July 4, 2021
Nairo Quintana going undercover ๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/QV6RUd4I4j
— Nairo Quintana Fanclub (@NairoInGreen) July 4, 2021
But he went for it
๐จ๐ด @NairoQuinCo catches ๐ณ๐ฑ @WoutPoels just before the summit, and it's a close sprint betwen them for the KOM points! โช๐ด
๐จ๐ด Nairo Quintana rattrape ๐ณ๐ฑ Wout Poels au sommet du Col des Saisies. Les deux coureurs sprintent pour les points de la montagne ! โช๐ด#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/uQMcQI3KeX
— Tour de Franceโข (@LeTour) July 4, 2021
And then it looked like he was going to go for the stage win, riding with Michael Woods for a time, before O’Connor bridged up, and then Quintana nearly came to a standstill by the side of the road.
Did he? Oh man
— Journal Velo (@JournalVelo) July 4, 2021
Quintana is having a lot of Quintana moments today? Good, bad, good, bad #TDF2021
— Issie ๐ (@IssieAtch) July 4, 2021
But the fight goes on
Nairo Quintana in the KoM jersey –โItโs a day of happiness in which weโve worked for the polka dot jersey. Once the break went, we looked for the goal of the day, which were the KOM points. The polka dot jersey is the goal we have this year and weโll keep fighting for itโ pic.twitter.com/IbgfMmlVQC
— British Cycle Sport (@VeloUK) July 4, 2021
This is really rather touching
๐ฝ๏ธ๐ฅฐ@NairoQuinCo @emmanuelhubert3 #TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/MY6NaSrZDZ
— Team Arkรฉa Samsic (@Arkea_Samsic) July 4, 2021
Going for green
Sonny Colbrelli was in the break and had a plan. Maximum points because he wants green. Michael Matthews was there as well, but Cavendish and most of the other sprinters were already out the back.
'There was a touch of ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ about that move!' ๐
Sonny Colbrelli takes maximum points in the intermediate sprint. ๐ฎ๐น
He may have a few words with Michael Matthews… ๐ฟ#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/hK81FP5Hyj
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) July 4, 2021
And then he just kept right on riding out in front.
Cobrelli gesticulation watch started.
— nyvelocity (@nyvelocity) July 4, 2021
And this happened. Really. It did.
No, you didn't see that wrong – that was Sonny Colbrelli coming in third on a massive mountain stage ๐คทโโ๏ธ#TDF2021 pic.twitter.com/DlR7try2AZ
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 4, 2021
sonny colbrelli 3rd in a tough mountain stage. i've seen everything now.
— Boลกtjan Sirnik (@bsirnik) July 4, 2021
With practically all the other sprinters in the gruppetto – and the time limit so tight – it looked like Colbrelli might get green by default. If the large gruppetto had come in outside the time limit, they probably would have been able to stay but Cav would have lost all his green jersey points. Luckily for him, he came in inside the time limit. Get the tissues out, it’s more tears.
This ๐๐ฝ https://t.co/GIPs7PyL9I
— Stefan Wyman (@StefanWyman) July 4, 2021
Other riders were not so lucky
#TDF2021 – Riders over time limit: Demare, Guarnieri, Delaplace, De Bod, Dlamini, Vliegen, Coquard
— La Flamme Rouge (@laflammerouge16) July 4, 2021
This particular clip is quite moving. We’ll see you again, Nic!
Nic Dlamini (Qhubeka) participated in his 1st Tour de France. He finished the 9th stage at 1 hour and 24 minutes from Ben O’Connor, far from the deadlines at 37’20”. The 25-year-old South African fell in a descent. But he wanted to finish, it was 7pm.
Nic Dlamini (Qhubeka) participait ร son 1er Tour de France. Il a terminรฉ la 9e รฉtape ร 1 heures et 24 minutes de Ben O'Connor, loin des dรฉlais ร 37'20". Le Sud-Africain de 25 ans a chutรฉ dans une descente. Mais il a tenu ร terminer, il รฉtait 19h. #TDF2021pic.twitter.com/ebJ0JW9Cu4
— Le Gruppetto (@LeGruppetto) July 4, 2021
๐ฒ๐ซ #TDF2021
"I wanted to honour my dream to ride @LeTour".
Unfortunately after crashing today @nich_dlamini ๐ฟ๐ฆ was unable to regain contact with the group but was determined to finish despite being out of the time limit.
Ubuntu – I am because we are#BicyclesChangeLives pic.twitter.com/vwxcI0mmbW
— Team Qhubeka NextHash (@QhubekaAssos) July 4, 2021
What we’ve learned
What we learnt today:
๐ Quintana has a polka dot dream
๐ Vingegaard is new Jumbo leader
๐ Van Aert's only goal is a stage win
๐ Pogacar's attack was as easy as pie
๐ Colbrelli still has eyes on ๐
๐ Ben O'Connor is rock 'n roll ๐
๐ Le Tour isn't over, is it?#TDF2021— Domestique (@Cyclingvision) July 4, 2021
The last word
Can you tell it was a hard day. @Toshvds pic.twitter.com/vwbt2aqJFB
— Thomas De Gendt (@DeGendtThomas) July 4, 2021
The final word
Results
Stage 9 Top 5
1 Ben O’Connor (Ag2r Citroen Team) 4:26:43
2 Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep) +5:07
3 Sonny Colbrelli (Bahrain Victorious) +5:34
4 Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) +5:36
5 Franck Bonnamour (B&B Hotels) +6:02
General Classification Top 10
1 Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 34:11:10
2 Ben O’Connor (Ag2r Citroen Team) +2:01
3 Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) +5:18
4 Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +5:32
5 Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) +5:33
6 Enric Mas (Movistar) +5:47
7 Wilco Kelderman (Bora-hansgrohe) +5:58
8 Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Premier Tech) +6:12
9 Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) +7:02
10 David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +7:22
10 Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) +6:41
All the Jerseys
๐ซ๐ท #TDF2021ย ย ย ย ย ย
Jerseys after Stage 9๐๐ Tadej Pogaฤar ๐ธ๐ฎ
๐๐จ Mark Cavendish ๐ฎ๐ฒ
๐ดโฐ๏ธ Nairo Quintana ๐จ๐ด
๐ค๐ถ Tadej Pogaฤar ๐ธ๐ฎ pic.twitter.com/k6PwS9KbDj— pro cycling trumps (@procycletrumps) July 4, 2021
Leaders jersey : Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates)
Points jersey: Mark Cavendishย (Deceuninck-Quick Step)
KOM jersey : Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic)
Best young rider jersey :ย Tadej Pogacarย (UAE Emirates)
Most combative rider : Ben O’Connor (Ag2r Citroen Team)
For full stage review, go toย cyclingnews