DISCUSSION Tour de France Stage 9 | Is UAE in danger without Almeida? Is Merlier the best sprinter this year?

Stage 9 of the Tour de France was a perfect opportunity for sprinters. The day presented no difficulties, as no climbs were on the menu today. However, the peloton had to be on alert, as crosswinds were expected during the whole stage.

This time, it was Alpecin who animated the stage from the gun. Van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert launched an audacious move early on, challenging the peloton in a long-range battle that lasted more than 170 kilometers.

Few people believed that the Alpecin duo could withstand the pressure from the peloton and secure a victory in the stage. However, they fought side by side until the very end. Unfortunately for them, Mathieu van der Poel had to surrender with just 500 meters remaining.

The sprint finish was chaotic, but Tim Merlier was able to redeem himself and narrowly beat Jonathan Milan, after not being able to sprint yesterday due to an inopportune puncture.

The sad news was Joao Almeida withdrawing from the race. The Portuguese rider was not able to continue as a result of a hard crash he suffered during stage 7, which caused him a rib fracture.

Once the stage finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

Yesterday I wrote in this column that for me Jonathan Milan won but didn't convince. That he'd won the stage but wasn't the best sprinter in the Tour de France. I wrote that he wouldn't win today and ... didn't win the stage. Milan is a powerhouse, he's young, he's in a good team. But he has a way of sprinting that I don't admire. I find him clumsy on the bike.

Negative news of the day in the race: João Almeida's withdrawal. It was only a matter of time. He's human, and after a fall like that, no matter how much he wanted to help Pogacar in the mountains, it was impossible. I wish him a speedy recovery and a strong comeback for the Vuelta.

Mathieu van der Poel gave a lesson in companionship and showed what it means to be a team leader. Rickaert had a dream... which is now a reality. Visma once again wanted to put pressure on the peloton and proved that they are a team cut out for the crosswinds.

Although this may have cost Wout van Aert the chance to contest the sprint at the end of the day. But as the Belgian said yesterday, if he had any intention of going for the sprint, he'd first write something on Twitter to warn his rivals... I went to Twitter and he didn't write anything, so I guess he didn't have any thoughts of being there for the sprint. Now come the mountains please, I'm sick of flat stages.

Almeida's absence completely changes the dynamics of the race. We've seen a very focused Visma team so far, committed to a clear strategy: to animate the race every single day, regardless of the terrain. Now, with the high mountains approaching in the second week, UAE can hardly afford to be without Almeida. His absence is a major blow to their tactical depth.

Visma, on the other hand, should now enjoy a tactical edge. With one of the strongest support riders like Jorgenson, they have the tools to put pressure on UAE. That said, when your rival is Tadej Pogacar, any “advantage” must be taken with a grain of salt. If anything, Almeida’s withdrawal might simply bring the balance of power closer to even, no more, no less.

When looking at the stage’s profile, I was confident that we would not see any breakaway once again. I am glad I was wrong. The Alpecin team put on a masterclass in how to keep spectators engaged for a couple of hours.

Tactical-wise, I am not sure what the goal behind that move was. Yes, Mathieu van der Poel said in an interview that the team wanted to help Jonas Rickaert to fulfill his dream: being on the podium of the Tour de France. But perhaps you don’t need to squeeze Van der Poel to achieve that. Rickaert won the combative award, but he would have won it anyway if he had gone solo from the beginning.

The sprint finish was chaotic, but it allowed us to draw several conclusions. After a rough start of the season, Arnaud de Lie is back. He obtained back-to-back top 5 finishes in sprints, today being third.

Jonathan Milan was second, but he has not beaten Tim Merlier in head-to-head sprints yet in this Tour. The Italian looked unbeatable at the beginning of the season, and honestly, I was expecting something more from him.

Wout van Aert publicly announced on social media that he was going to contest today’s sprint, but in the end, he didn’t. The Belgian seems to be playing a bit of a cat-and-mouse game in this Tour. It’s hard to predict exactly what he’ll do on any given stage.

Perhaps that unpredictability is part of Visma’s strategy to keep their rivals guessing. However, so far, it doesn’t seem to be having much of an impact on Pogacar.