Tim Merlier claimed the Stage 9 victory of the Tour de France in a bunch sprint, pipping Jonathan Milan on the line, despite a dominant day from Mathieu van der Poel.
Merlier’s victory came from nowhere, as Van der Poel led the race from the outset and was only caught with 700m to go.
The bold strategy made for some fast and intense racing throughout the day, which saw Merlier top the podium ahead of Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and become the only rider (who is not called Mark Cavendish) to win in Châteauroux this century.
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A relatively flat day on the roads for the second day in a row was always going to promise some excitement, especially for the sprint fans, but Stage 9 did not disappoint.
The route saw riders head east from Chinon, with no categorised climbs to attack; it was a race to Châteauroux, a town which has hosted the Tour four times before, last in 2021.
Jonathan Milan entered the day as a favourite to take the victory, after a dominant uphill finish into Laval on stage 8, with Tim Merlier also on everyone’s minds to take the stage – and rightly so, with the world’s best sprinters battling it out from start to finish.
But not even the race organisers predicted a day as fast as this, as Van der Poel went out hard along with teammate Rickaert, injecting a killer pace for the whole race, until it was heartbreakingly but inevitably taken in the final moments.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
Considering the route from Chinon stretched for 174.1km, the fact that from 170km to go, the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo of Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel were already a minute in front seemed like a bold strategy.
But it seemed even crazier after 15km at the front and still 155km to go, they had now extended their lead to over three minutes.
The first intermediate sprint fast approached, and with such an advantage, the pair breezed through to take the top points for the team, as Rickaert allowed Van der Poel to bag the full 20 points and move him closer to the green jersey.
Milan led a five-rider group to secure the next set of points at the sprint, with Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty) closely behind.
The lead of the duo at the front of the race continued, riding at an average speed of 47km/h, increasing their gap to over five minutes with 143km to go.
As tensions rose in the peloton, riders began to fall with 133km remaining, as Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Sam Watson (Ineos Grenardiers) and Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) all fell victim, but managed to get back into the race.
After a further 30km of Van der Poel and Rickaert dominance, the peloton finally switched on, as they started to rein in the breakaway pair, not by much, but managing to get their advantage down to just over 5 minutes and 10 seconds.
Lidl-Trek and Uno-X Mobility led the charge to reduce the deficit, with Soudal Quick-Step taking their turn at the front of the bunch with 82km to go, and within 10km, the gap had reduced to 3 minutes 40 seconds.
As the race moved closer to its climax, the peloton intensified, now with a revitalised ardour to catch the breakaway, and over the next 50km, managed to bring their advantage down to only a minute and a half.
The headwind hit with 30km to go, and Tim Wellens and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) took to the front of the peloton, increasing its average pace further to just under 50km/h, and leading the peloton to split in half, leaving 40 riders off the back.
And for the first time in over 140km, the lead of Van der Poel and Rickaert was now under a minute, and crumbling fast, as the peloton was hit with the tailwind, fracturing it further as the pace continued to rise.
The broken peloton became frantic as the GC riders tried to ensure they did not get caught up in a split section, but Wout van Aert, who was seemingly having a difficult day on the bike, was dropped.
But after the peloton had eased up, the breakaway continued to push on, despite Rickaert clearly riding on fumes after a day spent upfront.
With time running out, the peloton attacked again, Bahrain Victorious, Tudor, and Lidl-Trek riders took turns at the front of the bunch to reduce the gap to 30 seconds and with less than 6km, it was time for Van der Poel to go out alone.
Like a man possessed, the 30-year-old continued to ride with absolute ferocity as the race entered the final 3km to go, but his lead was dissolving with every metre, and with 700m to go, he was heartbreakingly and inevitably caught.
Despite his bold solo strategy, it was down to a bunch sprint, and the group entered the final 300m with Merlier on Milan’s wheel, biding his time to pounce, but was forced to go round another rider.
Luckily for the Belgian, he had the power to push forward and dramatically take the victory ahead of a disappointed Milan, with Arnaud De Lie (Lotto) closing out the podium in Cavendish City
TOUR DE FRANCE, STAGE 9, Chinon > Châteauroux (171.4KM)
1. Tim Merlier (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step 3:28:52
2. Jonathan Milan (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto
4. Pavel Bittner (Cze) Picnic PostNL
5. Paul Penhoët (Ger) Groupama-FDJ
6. Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarche-Wanty
7. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
8. Jordi Meeus (Bel) Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe
9. Stian Fredheim (Nor) Uno X-Mobility
10. Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin Deceuninck, all at the same time.
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 9
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirate-XRG, in 33:17:22
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +54s
3. Kévin Vauquelin (Fra) Arkéa-B&B Hotels, +1:11
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:17
5. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:34
6. Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +1:48
7. Oscar Onley (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +2:49
8. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:02
9. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:06
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +3:43