The second day in the Pyrenees for the 2020 Tour de France started in Pau and was made for a breakaway. Marc Hirschi bravely made a solo break for Team Sunweb, charging from the peloton with 80km to go on the second of five categorised climbs, the Col de la Hourcère, but was caught with 1.6km to go on stage 9 by a small group of four riders.
The fireworks in Laruns saw Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) pass the Swiss rider in the final metres. Pogačar took the stage win and Roglič grabbed the yellow jersey while Hirschi, Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren) finished the stage in the same time.
The Slovenian stage winner used attacks on the Col de Marie Blanque, a category 1 ascent of 7.7 kilometres and pitches exceeding 12 per cent, to make his move. He was joined by only Bernal, Roglic and Landa, distancing themselves from overall Tour leader Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott).
Bernal is second in the general classification down 21 seconds from Roglič, with Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) third at 28 seconds back. Pogačar moved up to seventh thanks to the stage winner’s 10-second time bonus. Yates finished 54 seconds down, slipping to eighth overall.
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