"It is the first time I have raced on gravel" - Santiago Buitrago considers the stage 9 one of the hardest at this Tour de France so far

Perhaps a bit surprisingly, Bahrain - Victorious entered the Tour de France with Santiago Buitrago as their main leader. Despite losing a bit of time in Bologna, the Colombian rider remains in a solid 15th place (14th after the injury of Aleksandr Vlasov) in the general classification, within two minutes of the top 10. In addition, his more experienced teammate Pello Bilbao is also close in the standings.

At the end of the stage Buitrago said: "I think the organisers did this to keep us from sleeping," he laughed a little: "Yes, it is the first time I have raced on gravel and it has really been a very, very demanding day, one of the hardest days of this week without a doubt and very nerve-racking."

"A somewhat complicated section, handling the bike in those sharp turns, especially in the last part, and the truth is I think it was a very complicated stage from the beginning," said according to CiclismoInternacional Buitrago.

Reward for all those who survived the stage: the rest day arrives and the first assessments come: "I am happy. We have already finished this first week and the important thing was not to waste time, in the end we tried, but no, everyone is very strong, now on to the second week. Let's rest well and go for another week," he concluded.