Anthony Turgis wins one of the all-time great Tour de France stages as attacking Pogacar & Evenepoel are cancelled out by defensive Vingegaard & Roglic

After much hype and discussion, it's fair to say that the gravel stage 9 of the 2024 Tour de France has more than lived up to expectations. After a truly astonishing day of riding, TotalEnergies' Anthony Turgis triumphed ahead of Tom Pidcock and Derek Gee as the GC riders cancelled each other out.

The much anticipated gravel stage, the start to the day saw an infernal pace at the front. Initially, a five-man group managed to get themselves clear of the pack. Involved were Derek Gee, Neilson Powless, Paul Lapeira, Romain Gregoire and Jarrad Drizners. The attacks just didn't relent from within the peloton however, and the leader's advantage never managed to stretch beyond 20 seconds despite them continually rolling through full gas.

With around 160km to go, the attackers were finally swallowed up by the bunch. By the time the first gravel sector was reached, another group had gone clear. Gee and Powless were again involved, as were notable names such as Oier Lazkano, Alexey Lutsenko and former gravel world champion Gianni Vermeersch among others.

As the second sector was reached, the lead group had swelled to 14 with Tom Pidcock and Ben Healy among the attackers to have managed to get themselves across to the front of the race. When the peloton reached the second sector, things exploded. Whilst those at the front of the bunch were able to get through unscathed, those halfway and further down were brought to a complete standstill with some riders even being forced to run the sector in a desperate attempt to keep pace with their rivals. Undoubtedly the biggest rider caught out by this log jam on the gravel, Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe leader, Primoz Roglic.

With his teammates failing him, Roglic was forced into attempting to pull himself back to his rivals all by himself. Although he was able to return to the main GC group, Roglic was now basically all alone, far from an ideal situation for the Slovenian hopeful. After a relatively calm spell between sectors, the carnage erupted again on sector 3 with Jonas Vingegaard immediately caught up by a puncture. A quick bike change with Jan Tratnik ensued and the Dane managed to safely work his way back to the front of the race.

With just short of 90km to go, Tadej Pogacar himself launched an attack with Remco Evenepoel and Matteo Jorgenson following. Ultimately, it proved nothing more than a testing move as things were soon back together, but it was definitely a warning sign for the rest of the GC contenders. In the breakaway meanwhile, the now 10-strong group were still around one minute clear with 80km to go.

Next man to move was Remco Evenepoel with just under 80km to go. Whilst the Soudal - Quick-Step leader initially breezed clear solo, a few kilometres later, Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard launched a counter attack to follow. With the breakaway just around 30 seconds up the road, the superstar had an exciting opportunity to gain massive time on their rivals. Sadly for two thirds of the attackers, Vingegaard simply refused to do any work and although their presence in the breakaway split the group in half, the trio were soon sitting up and back in the peloton. Due to the constant attacks however, Vingegaard was still riding on Tratnik's bike, unable to get to the team car and switch back to one of his own.

As mentioned though, the breakaway was now split back up again with Pidcock, Healy, Gee, Lutsenko and Jasper Stuyven forming a break of the break up ahead. In truth though the race was all over the road at this point, with minor groups splattered everywhere across the course as the pace continued at an unrelentingly brutal cadence. On the next gravel sector however, it was Evenepoel who was in difficulty, getting a mechanical and being forced to make a big effort to get into the back of the GC group. At the front meanwhile, the leaders had been rejoined by Movistar Team duo Javier Romo and Alex Aranburu.

Then, with just over 50km to go, there was a very scary moment for Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe's Aleksandr Vlasov. Forced towards the edge of the road in the GC group, Vlasov spectacularly went head over heels off the tarmac and into a ditch. Questionably however, despite the fact he could barely stand up straight and looked visibly dazed, bloodied and possibly showing signs of concussion, the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe mechanic did no concussion check on Vlasov, instead urging him back onto his bike and pushing the wobbly rider back into the race.

With just over 40km to go, it was the stage hunters turn to attack from what remained of the peloton. First move came from Michael Matthews, with the likes of Biniam Girmay and Mathieu van der Poel among others quickly countering and working their way to the Australian's back wheel. Still over a minute behind the lead of the race though, they had work to do.

With just under 22km to go, Pogacar attacked again and this time Evenepoel was nowhere close. Although Christophe Laporte and Matteo Jorgenson quickly followed for Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Vingegaard was unable to grab the back wheel. Eventually, thanks to the American dropping back to help his leader, Jorgenson and Vingegaard reattached to Pogacar. Again though, there was no cooperation in the attack and a few kilometres later, things came back together.

Heading into the final 15km, the lead group of 8 was still somehow 40 seconds clear of the counter attacking group including van der Poel and Girmay, with the GC group 1:04 behind the lead of the race. Sensing their stage win was in the balance, the attacks soon began in the breakaway. On the final sector of the gravel, Jasper Stuyven had a small lead at the front. As the GC group hit the final sector, Evenepoel and Pogacar were immediately at the front, setting an even fiercer pace.

With 5km to go, Stuyven still had a 7 second lead over the nearest chasers and the Lidl-Trek powerhouse was beginning to dream of a stage win. As the chase behind began to look at each other, Stuyven still held narrowly in front with just 2km to go. In heartbreaking style though, inside the final kilometre, Lutsenko dragged the group across and immediately Healy counter attacked. In the sprint for the line, Derek Gee opened things up but it was Anthony Turgis who triumphed ahead of Tom Pidcock.

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