Anthony Turgis (Total Energies) won on the gravel in stage 9 of the Tour de France, taking the breakaway sprint ahead of Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) who placed second, and Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) who took third.
Turgis was elated afterwards. “It’s mad. I believed in myself. When I go to a race it’s to try and win. I’ve won at all levels but was missing a WorldTour win, but winning at the Tour de France… it’s the holy grail. To win a stage here is incredible. It’s incredible.”
Tom Pidcock missed the attack from Jasper Stuyven and gambled. “I knew that (Jasper) Stuyven was the strongest, if he attacked. But when he went, I was riding in front. I hoped that the other guys would react from the back. It is always difficult to play it out. You also have to understand that everyone else in that group wants to win, so you have to gamble a bit.”
Derek Gee felt like it was a replay of last year’s Giro where he finished second several times. “Unfortunately it was a bit like my attacks in the Giro. I was close again, but I didn’t win. It was an iconic stage. We rode super aggressively, but in the end I just came up short. I wanted to ride at the front from the start, because then you are always in a good position. And it almost worked out well.”
Biniam Girmay won the bunch sprint for ninth place, but admitted it was a tough stage. “I had fun at the beginning, but after 50 kilometres I was completely empty. I just tried to keep going to score some points for the green jersey. I thought it would be a battle for the GC riders, but in the end I was still in contention for the stage win, which was really nice.”
The GC contenders all finished together in the end, but had very different experiences on the gravel.
Tadej Pogačar: “The gravel stage was really fun. There was a lot of sand and dust everywhere, so it was impossible to get a clear picture of the race. You just had to ride on instinct and strength. I had great legs, which is great news because this was one of the difficult stages. I am really happy with my Tour so far. I feel very confident because I am in great shape and have a really good team around me.”
Jonas Vingegaard: “On one of the last sectors, Tadej got a small gap. That wasn’t my sector, because the gravel and the stones were so loose there. For someone with my weight, it was difficult to control the bike. He got a gap there, but luckily I had super, super strong teammates with me who always kept me in position. It differed per sector. On better gravel it wasn’t super difficult to follow. Then it’s better for me, but on that other sector it was more to his advantage.”
Remco Evenepoel: “I had a lot of confidence and knew the course well. It went well on the loose stones. Sometimes they were very loose, but overall I am very happy with the feeling. I had a good stage.”
RESULTS
Stage 9: Troyes > Troyes (199km)
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
