Cometh the mountains, cometh…well, it’s going to be Pogacar isn’t it?!

A “light” mountain stage today – not as fearsome as some of the days ahead but as a mountain day before a rest day, it could certainly be an option for some long-range attacks.

Starting from Aigle, home of the UCI, the route does a big loop taking in some rarely used climbs before a long steep descent back into Aigle and exiting in the other direction to finish at the French ski resort of Chatel.

In theory, a day where the GC riders have little to gain unless Jumbo and Ineos can come up with a joint plan to destabilise UAE a bit – that said it’s not severe enough terrain to really cause too much trouble. However with a rest day tomorrow, there’s probably less to lose by going all in so it could be fireworks on some of the midway climbs.
Or it could be a day where the peloton sits back and lets the breakaway finally stay clear… Possibly one for a rider like Thibaut Pinot seeking redemption for the disastrous day he had yesterday.

Also, they go past the home of Etivaz cheese, a small Swiss speciality product.

Breakaway please

Breakaway please – absolutely

More cheese please

could be quite intriguing if the “right” break goes as to who will have to ride, someone <5 off the lead would be nice, followed by call my bluff. Though the hungry hungry Pog monster may have other ideas.

Another WvA in a breakaway please. This time staying til the end for another boost to my fantasy team 😂 either that or Cosnefoy to step up 🤞🏻 (sod the actual race its all about the fantasy points)

No more WvA please! I flipped a coin and picked MvdP, dream team suffering accordingly. Now if Thibaut, Bauke and Mohric could maybe do something today.

Fast start to the day, nothing being given any leeway yet.
Switzerland really is beautiful.

Wout off again! Chasing the initial break.

Cheese – Mmmmm.
Gorgeous scenery, gorgeous weather.

Well the break has gone at last, seems to have settled down. I can’t see the peloton bringing this back now, stage winner should come from that large group out front. Hope it’s someone other than WvA…

2′ gap now but still being kept on a bit of a leash.

Ganna chatting to Pog, he looks bloody huge!

Well this is a turnaround…Rigoberto Uran is virtual Maillot Jaune!

Highest placed in the breakaway at 3’24” which is pretty much the margin the front group has. UAE taking it up on the front now.

It is a good break.

ITV 4 is now unwatchable – just too many adverts.

Back to highlights on catch up it is.

Great win for Jungels, at last the other teams made UAE work.

Great ride by Jungels. I really wanted Pinot to do it but can’t take anything away from that effort.

ITV 4 is now unwatchable – just too many adverts.

Back to highlights on catch up it is.

£8 for a month of GCN to avoid ads, worth every penny.

£8 for a month of GCN to avoid ads, worth every penny.

If it wasn’t for the Winter CX I would stop my sub to GCN+.
After stage 2 in Denmark I switched back to ITV4.Given the choice of Rob Hatch & Wiggo or adverts,I’ll put up with the latter.

I like GCN+ for the wider race coverage and some of the documentaries, but ITV commentary is better.

Yes I much prefer the ITV commentary, even with Matt Rendal overprouncing all the foreign names and places…..Feleeep GaNAAH

You can pick up a Eurosport sub on black Friday for £20 for the year. GCN commentators but personally I like them.

Loads more pics up here: https://www.letour.fr/en/stage-9/image-gallery

Poor Pinot – so close.
Good ride from Jungels though And the remnants of the peloton must have absolutely smashed that final section as they weren’t far behind at all.

winston

ITV 4 is now unwatchable – just too many adverts.

Back to highlights on catch up it is.

TBH I was glad of the regular ad breaks as I had over hydrated after a hot morning ride #peeingfortheUK

Should that be MrOvershare?

Peter Kennaugh commenting in the highlights programme how riders are visibly tired now and how quickly they drop back through the peloton when done.

Except UAE who all look fresh as daises..

🤔

I watched it live on ITV4. How did the peleton catch up? Who was leading it? They were a good minute behind Pinot yet were only 9secs behind on the line

It really wasn’t clear what happened

It really wasn’t clear what happened

Pogacar / UAE closed it down.

Except UAE who all look fresh as daises..

perhaps they played a blinder dropping 11 places in the teams classification on the Arenberg stage ?

UAE appear to be doing the Inneos thing of riding hard at the front then when your turn is done cruise home.

So what’s the Ineos/Jumbo Visma plan? Just hope that UAE and Pog all get Covid and have to quit? Or actually race at some point?

I think everyone’s plan is to wait until Pog is 51 and calls it a day as despite the fact he’s still beating the world’s best he’s also the oldest tour rider ever by then.

I’m sure they’ll have some key stages to put UAE under the cosh, as it is I think the pace they are setting it’s too difficult to attack, again as Inneos do.

So what’s the Ineos/Jumbo Visma plan? Just hope that UAE and Pog all get Covid and have to quit? Or actually race at some point?

Today wasn’t really tough enough to put them under any real pressure. None of the slopes were *that* bad, too easy to just sit there and follow wheels.

The only way to beat Pogacar is to get him isolated and then do tag team attacks which requires you to have 2-3 riders (all with a reasonable shout at GC) around him. So far, that scenario hasn’t really been an option – if anything Pogacar is just grabbing seconds wherever he can and he could more or less afford to just sit there and watch.

Ineos and Jumbo-Visma will then be basically attacking each other for the rest of the podium places. Difficult to imagine Ineos sitting there watching Vingegaard attack and waiting for Pogacar to do something about it. Ineos and Jumbo-Visma don’t really have any incentive to work together.

Similar to the classic situation of a lone leader and a breakaway group behind him with a km to go. No-one in the breakaway wants to tow the whole group back to the lone leader, they’ve accepted they’ll be sprinting for 2nd place.