Tour de France 2016: Stage 9

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January 1 - July 24, Vielha Val d'Aran, France, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of stage 9 of the 2016 Tour de France, a 184.5km Pyrenean outing into Andorra for a summit finish.

 

Good morning and a warm welcome back to Cyclingnews' live race centre for stage 9 of the Tour de France. It's a huge day in prospect - another outing in the Pyrenees, four monstrous climbs, and the first summit finish of the race. We'll be with you from the build-up to the fall-out, covering every pedal stroke in between. 

First things first, let's have a look at the stage profile

Andorra has a history in the Tour and this final climb to Arcalis has featured twice in the past. Brice Feillu was the breakaway winner on the last visit in 2009 - with Alberto Contador stealing a small chunk of time on his GC rivals - but more memorable was 1997. Jan Ullrich rode the peloton's best climbers, including Pantani and Virenque, off his wheel to take the yellow jersey, which he would wear all the way to Paris.

We have a full stage preview, which you can find at this link. 

Andorra is home to a number of pros, including Joaquim Rodríguez, Dan Martin, and Simon Gerrans, so these climbs will be familiar to some. 

Proceedings today are expected to get underway just before midday CET, with a short neutral zone coming to an end at around 12.05pm. Then we're climbing from the gun

Chris Froome's bike has received an overnight modification...

Froome is, of course, in the yellow jersey once again and, as was the case in his two overall Tour victories in 2013 and 2015, he did so on the first big Pyrenean stage.

The final riders are completing sign-on on what is another baking day in the Pyrenean furnace. 

We'll be climbing from the off here, and that means many riders have been on the rollers and turbos this morning to get the heart rate up. This pic from French TV pundit Cedric Vasseur.

The riders have just rolled out of the start town. Not long now until racing proper will be underway

The riders are currently waiting for the flag to drop

And they're off!

Daniel Teklehaimanot takes the invitation and heads up the road. The Dimension Data rider had a spell in the polka-dot jersey last year and for anyone who fancies getting their hands on that prize, today is a crucial day. Just the 85 points on offer. 

Here's how the KOM classification stands after 8 stages

Peter Sagan, who showed a bit of interest yesterday, goes off again today, with Teklehaimanot pegged back.

Sagan is part of a huge group that is going clear. Majka, Pinot, De Gendt all in there.

This opening first-category climb is the Port de Bonaigua and it's 13.7km long at an average gradient of 6.1%.

We're hearing that Mark Renshaw (DImension Data) has abandoned the race. That's Mark Cavendish's leadout man. More details shortly.

Alberto Contador attacks! The Spaniard is around three minutes down on Froome and looks a fading force, but surely he'll still be a marked man. 

Contador has Robert Kiserlovski moving this along for him. Alejandro Valverde marks the move for Movistar, with Sky's Sergio Henao sent up to sit on the back. There's a gap back to Froome et al.

De Gendt has forged clear at the head of the race and is making his way up the climb alone. We'll get you the names of everyone in that big breakaway group shortly. 

Kiserlovksi drops away, leaving Contador, Valverde and Henao to it, and they're closing in on the breakaway. 

Valverde and Henao are both well-placed on GC and it looks like Movistar and Sky are content to play the long game. Here's how the GC looks after 7 stages:

The breakaway group has split up on the climb and Contador and Valverde have just made it through and up to the lead section. Henao has dropped back. 

Cavendish has been dropped and faces another hot and lonely day in the saddle. He was off the back pretty much all day yesterday and was fighting to make the time cut. Here's our story on the Manxman's day of suffering:

Contador and Valverde - along with the rest of the now 25-rider breakaway - have an advantage of 1:25 over Froome and the peloton.

This isn't looking too good for Contador. Sagan puts in an acceleration and the Spaniard is unable to hold the wheel. Sky grind it out on the front of the bunch and it looks like they're going to catch him. 

Contador is absorbed back into the bunch. Valverde, meanwhile, is looking strong and is carrying on. Movistar are looking good here - they have Winner Anacona, Valverde and the Izaguirre brothers away at the front. Quintana can sit in behind Sky.

We're nearing the top of the climb and thoughts turn to the KOM points.

Majka, in the polka dots, thinks about it but he doesn't really have the goods when De Gendt winds it up. Pinot does, however, and the Frenchman launches a fearsome sprint to come around the Belgian. He's back in the virtual lead of the mountains classification. 

Pierre Rolland, battered and bruised after his crash yesterday, has been dropped and faces a big fight today. 

Sky really turned up the pace towards the top of that climb and they are less than 1 minute in arrears now as we begin this swooping descent. 

FDJ's Matthieu Ladagnous abandons, and becomes the third rider to do so on this Tour de France. We went seven stages without one drop-out and now we've had three in 24 hours.

This descent is sinuous but the roads are wide and pristinely tarmacked.

No more descending antics from Froome so far today. The yellow jersey group is taking this one pretty easy and the fragmented breakaway group - which has riders strung out all over the place - is pushing out the advantage once more.

We'll get a proper situation update to you when this lead group settles down as the gradients begin to ease.

Luke Rowe has survived that climb and now comes to the front for Team Sky to do the work on the flatter roads of the valley. 

Here's the composition of the lead group

140km remaining from 184km

Valverde drops back to his team car for a bit of advice. His presence in that breakaway - with two teammates for company - is a strong move from Movistar. Sky set for a hefty workload today, with Quintana able to sit tight and perhaps wait for the final climb. That said, Sky look more than capable of coping with said workload. Stannard has also made it over that climb and so, a quarter of the way into this mountain stage, Sky still have their flat domestiques in attendance.

Contador drops back to his team car, off the back of the peloton. He gave it a go earlier, but it looks like the Spaniard is still significantly hamstrung by the effects of those crashes earlier in the race.

Quintana has set up shop, it seems, for most of the day.

Stannard leads the strung-out peloton and brings the gap to the break down to less than a minue.

And that might represent a problem for some of these breakaway men. Sky are vigilant and working hard because Valverde is in there. De Gendt and Pinot now attack.

Valverde sits up

Contador is still back at his team car, talking with the DS's. He doesn't look comfortable.

Valverde shares a word and a handshake with Froome as he links back up with the bunch.

Here's a graphic from the Tour's data team - Sagan hit 97.7km/h on that descent. Bloody hell.

Valverde's removal has had the desired effect for the breakaway group. Sky have eased up and the gap has grown out to 2:50.

The riders are still snaking their way through the Aneu Valley and they're not too far from the second climb of the day, coming up in a few kilometres' time.

Imanol Erviti takes a rather embarrassing tumble as he tries to carry a full jersey of bidons up through the bunch. He just loses his balance at the side of the road, the bidons go everywhere, and he looks thoroughly cheesed off. 

What do you make of Valverde's foray into the break and subsequent decision to drop back?

The next climb is a beast

Sean Yates reveals that Contador has a fever

Contador is still just off the back of the peloton. He said yesterday that the thought of abandoning has never crossed his mind so far. Here's our story on him from yesterday's stage. 

113km remaining from 184km

A few riders are being dropped from the peloton on this climb but Sky are just riding tempo and lots of the weaker climbers are gladly able to hang in there.

“We can't focus only on Chris Froome," Movistar DS Jose Luis Arrieta tells Le Tour's website. 

Contador back at the Tinkoff car once again. This isn't looking good.

The peloton is still a large group as the riders make their way up the long but gradual climb at a fairly steady pace, with many handing out bottles to each other. It's clear that this climb won't be much of a factor - the real racing will be saved for the final couple of ascents.

While we wait for the real fireworks, here's our analysis of how yesterday's shaped the GC complexion. 

102km remaining from 184km

5km to the summit for the breakaway men, who have a lead of nearly six minutes at the moment. 

Contador abandons the Tour de France

The Tinkoff team car pulls over, Contador climbs off his bike, waves to the TV cameras, and climbs in. A sad end.

We'll have all the fall-out from Contador's withdrawal shortly. Meanwhile the race goes on without him and the breakaway is nearing the top of the climb, so we're likely to see another tussle for KOM points. 

Here we go. De Gendt strikes out once more but, again, Pinot comes back at him. This time, though, De Gendt manages to hold his speed and hold off the Frenchman, who is forced to concede defeat. 

Here's the moment Contador called it a day. Screenshot from letour.com

Here are the KOM results from the Port del Canto

What's your reaction to Contador's abandon?

London buses...

77km remaining from 184km

Here's a reminder of the stage profile

Here's the story on Contador

The breakaway riders have hit the valley and the road now kicks up again for a gradual incline ahead of the start proper of the second-category climb of the Côte de la Comella. Their lead is 7 minutes now.

There's an intermediate sprint point too at the bottom of the climb. That's an ideal opportunity for Sagan to steal some points back on Cavendish, and the world champion's ability to get himself in the break on a day such as this demonstrates why he is so well suited to the points classification.

57km remaining from 184km

We are officially in Andorra. 

Three climbs remaining on today's stage and this is what the remainder of the stage looks like.

51km remaining from 184km

Intermediate sprint coming up and Sagan is poised to strike out. Will one of the Dimension Data riders mount a challenge in Cavendish's defence? Doubtful

Cavendish, incidentally, is safely ensconced in the peloton along with the rest of the sprinters. A much less arduous day out for the Manxman today.

Here comes the sprint, and Sagan strolls off the front, pretty much unchallenged

Sagan bags 20 points to claw back some ground on Cavendish in the green jersey standings. Here's how it now looks:

And now the climb begins, with Sagan immediately out the back - his job for the day done. 

It's Jerome Coppel who is the first to make a move but Tsgabu Grmay sets off after him and the duo are away.

Grmay is making his Tour de France debut and as such is the first Ethiopian ever to ride La Grande Boucle. He grew up at over 2000m of altitude and is a natural climber. He featured in our 'Young debutants to watch' feature, so if you'd like to know more, here it is:

Grmay and Coppel have a small lead over the rest of the break as they near the top of this second-category climb. 

Grmay and Coppel are pegged back and in the final couple of hundred metres Thomas De Gendt once again strikes out to help himself to some more KOM points. 

Kiryienka pulls off the front of the bunch - it's now time for Sky's climbers to come to the fore, and it's Mikel Landa who takes it up.

De Gendt has decided to make the most of the gap he opened up at that summit and is cracking on alone here.

The peloton comes over the top of the climb and there are plenty who have just lost contact - testament to the increase of pace from Sky. The gap stands at 9 minutes.

The Col de Beixalis is the penultimate climb of the day and we should see some serious action in the GC group. The climb has some seriously steep gradients - especially early on. In total it's 6.4km long at an average gradient of 8.5%.

33km remaining from 184km

De Gendt is grinding up this first-category climb as the road narrows on the double-digit gradients. He is currently third in the KOM standings after three climbs today, but he still has a chance of taking the jersey. He's losing ground now, however.

De Gendt is caught now and he's immediately out of the back of that group, pedalling squares as he almost comes to a standstill. He won't be seeing the polka-dots again at the end of the day, it's safe to say.

Rui Costa and Jesus Herrada also distanced from the break.

Predictably, the lead group has really started to break up on this climb. Herrada drags himself back into contention but there are now just 9 riders in there. Majka and Pinot among them.

The peloton hit the climb now and guess who's on the front? Just the six of them...

Alaphilippe is dropped and now Warren Barguil is in trouble.

Barguil makes a cut-throat gesture to the cameras. That's not good. The Frenchman is getting dropped here and it looks like he may lose a big chunk of time today.

Barguil is toiling but still has the back of the bunch in his sights. In contrast Landa is a picture of composure as he sets the pace. That group 8:30 down on the break now. 

30km remaining from 184km

Pinot leads the breakaway, where Rui Costa is back in the frame. The stage win is within grasp - will Pinot salvage his Tour?

George Bennett attacks from the break but Nicolas Edet shuts it down. And Bennett goes again! Sanchez is the man to respond this time. 10 riders in there now.

It's Diego Rosa from Astana - not Sanchez - and it's the Italian who leads the way as they near the top of this climb.

27km remaining from 184km

Sagan, once in the break, is finally swallowed up by the peloton. 

Prediction time

Movistar, who worked yesterday, have been quiet in the bunch today. Understandable, perhaps, given that they have had men in the break. Quintana biding his time here and any fireworks will have to wait for the final climb.

The Sky men grab some musettes and come over the top of the climb. They're looking strong once again, and it wouldn't be a surprise to see Henao attack on the final climb like he did yesterday to force Quintana et al into action.

18km remaining from 184km

The road is already rising but the final climb proper is set to begin with just over 10km remaining.

As I whack that Tweet in, Majka goes on the offensive. He's pegged back as the others all looking pretty strong and pretty determined. 

The attacks continue in the breakaway group. Loads of moves going, followed by counter attacks, and it's ever-changing out there.

Barguil is back on the back of the bunch as the peloton come to the end of the descent. How much has he got left for this final climb?

It has started to rain at the finish

Dumoulin attacks, the rouleur using the gentler gradients ahead of the final climb to pull out a sizeable advantage. Pinot leads the chase but looks around and asks who else is going to work. 

Here we go then. Dumoulin begins the climb to Andorra Arcalis with a gap of 30 seconds over the breakaway. 

Dumoulin proceeds to make his way up this climb at his own steady rhythm. He may be a time trial specialist but he has shown in the last year or so that he can certainly climb. Can he climb well enough to hold off the likes of Pinot? A long way to go but he has nearly a minute now.

Wow. George Bennett completely flattens a spectator as he comes round a bend. It wasn't a Froome left-hook - he didn't even intend to do it but the spectator got too close and the Lotto rider couldn't avoid shouldering into him. Once again, the roadside fans need to take more care. This time, luckily, the rider is not heavily impeded, and there won't be much sympathy for the fan, though he did hit the deck pretty hard...

7km remaining from 184km

Pinot and Majka go toe-to-toe as the breakaway group has blown to pieces. Majka has the upper hand and rolls away from the Frenchman. Rui Costa is just ahead of Majka and the Pole duly catches up with him. 

6km remaining from 184km

5km remaining from 184km

Mikel NIeve peels off now and it's now just Henao and Thomas left with Froome.

Henao attacks! The Colombian is high up on GC and is a good card for Sky. It's Dan Martin to races to shut it down, and Froome just sits on the Irishman's wheel. 

3km remaining from 184km

Porte goes! He catches Henao and the group is thinning out

Aru dropped

Froome attacks!

Quintana follows Froome and they have a gap here. Porte scrambling to get across. 

Porte is back on terms, with Dan Martin looking impressive too. Adam Yates still in there as this group comes back together. 

Martin attacks! How good does the Irishman look in the mountains this year.

2km remaining from 184km

Martin leads the way and digs again! Froome is on his wheel, with Porte, Quintana, Bardet and Yates. THere's a gap back to the other GC men, including Van Garderen.

Porte comes to the front but he just knocks the pace off slightly. Is that to help Van Garderen drag his way back?

Aru looks to be the big loser today. He has Nibali with him.

Mollema comes to the front of the lead group now as things regroup. 

1km remaining from 184km

There is a brief lull in hostilities in the GC group but now Mollema accelerates again. Froome is in control here and closes it down once more. 

Dumoulin into the finishing straight in the pelting rain. This will be his first Tour de France stage win.

Tom Dumoulin wins stage 9 of the Tour de France

Dumoulin raises his arms and cracks a smile but our attentions turn back to the GC men and Dan Martin is on the attack once again. 

Majka and Costa sprint to the line. Costa gets second but Majka grabs some important points in the KOM standings. 

Martin leads the GC group, followed by Froome and Quintana. Porte is up there and looking strong.

Pinot comes home now but we're more concerned with the GC group than the breakaway remnants, who are filing across the line. 

Martin, Froome, Quintana, Porte, Yates. They're our five leaders. There's a small gap back to the rest of teh GC favourites.

Froome goes now! Martin and Yates distanced slightly.

Bardet, Mollema, Meintjes, Henao, Rodriguez the next mini group on the road. Aru well back. 

Flamme rouge for the Froome group. What a ride this is from Yates, the most inexperienced rider in there. 

Van Garderen is with that aforementioned second group and they're a good 15 seconds behind the Froome group.

Martin is battling to get back on terms but it looks like this group is coming to the line together.

Yates kicks in the home straight and leads to the line. He crosses with Froome in tow, then Quintana. There was a ver small gap to Porte and Martin.

The second group comes home 20 seconds back on the Froome group, and Van Garderen is not in there, losing another several seconds. 

Well, those time gaps weren't enormous, but that certainly gave us a really good look at the GC contenders. Froome looks assured, Quintana kept his powder dry, Martin looked attacking, Yates looks really impressive for his age, Porte looks strong but cracked on while BMC's highest-placed GC rider Van Garderen floundered. Cracks of weakness appeared in Aru and were further exposed in Barguil.

Top 10

"It was an incredible day. The whole day, queen stage, it was really hard, and I did it," says a breathless and elated Tom Dumoulin.

General Classification after stage 9

"It was actually quite nice, it was like being back in Wales," says Geraint Thomas, his sense of humour well and truly in tact after another tough day. 

So, here's how the GC men came across the line

Brief report and results:

Adam Yates is showing maturity beyond his years at this Tour. The 23-year-old came into the race aiming for stage wins but sits second overall and in the white jersey going into the first rest day with the first major mountain range out of the way. 

Tinkoff team owner Oleg Tinkov has his say on the abandon of Alberto Contador.

We've rounded some of the instant reactions into one handy place:

Another yellow jersey for Chris Froome - the 32nd of his career

Jersey recap

And with that, we earn the first rest day of the Tour de France. The riders will be out for just a quick spin tomorrow but racing will resume one Tuesday and this is what's in store

Nice shot of Contador just after he climbed into the car. 

That's it from us for today. Another memorable outing in the Pyrenees. We'll have all the news and reaction from Andorra, along with video highlights, so keep an eye on Cyclingnews.com. Thanks for joining - see you next time!

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