Pogačar keeps yellow jersey as Tour reaches midway point

Fifth place for Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de France on 9th stage (the 9th, 192.9 km from Aigle to Chatel les portes du Soleil) which saw Bob Jungels (Ag2R Citroen) win from the main escape of the day.

An intense battle began from the start to get out of the group and only after fifty kilometers 21 riders were able to take command of the race.
UAE Team Emirates had Brandon McNulty as their man in the breakaway, while the rest of the UAE squad took the lead by setting a strong pace for Pogačar.

The 1st category ascents of Col de La Croix (8 km at 7.5% gradient, tackled at -70 km) and Pas de Morgins (15.4 km at 6.2%, at -25 km) whittled down the group and allowed Jungels to slip away.

Pogačar took advantage of the climb towards the finish line to try to add a few more seconds to the advantage over his rivals for the general classification: the Slovenian produced a decisive acceleration in view of the arrival, finishing the stage in 5th place (+49 “from the winner ) and finding only an answer from Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma), 6th with the same time as the yellow jersey.

Tadej Pogačar: “I was not too worried by the riders present in the breakaway, I thought the guys back in the group were more dangerous, but we set a pace that was comfortable to us and we managed to keep it until the finish, so everything went well.”

We arrive to the second rest-day with Tadej Pogačar leading the overall ranking with a 39 “advantage over Vingegaard and 1’17” over Geraint Thomas.
On Tuesday, the Grande Boucle will restart from Morzine, with a 148.1 km stage that will take them to the uphill finish of Megève.

Results stage 9

1. Bob Jungels (Ag2R Citroen) 4h46’39”
2. Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadiers) +22″
3. Carlos Verona (Movistar)
5. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +49″

General classification after the 9th stage

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 33h43’44 “
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +39 ”
3. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) 1’17 “