Results Tour de France 2026 Stage 9 - Mathieu van der Poel shows Philipsen how it's done and powers to breakaway win ahead of Johannessen and Pidcock
CyclingSunday, 12 July 2026 at 17:29
Mathieu van der Poel won a brutal, heat-shortened Stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France, beating Tobias Halland Johannessen and Tom Pidcock in a four-rider uphill sprint in Ussel.
Van der Poel ripped apart the day’s strongest breakaway on the Mont Bessou before holding his nerve as the reduced peloton closed to within 20 seconds. Pidcock recovered from a late mechanical to contest the finish, but Johannessen denied him second place behind the Alpecin-Premier Tech star.
Pedersen takes maximum points before stage explodes
The route had been reduced from 185.5 to 155.5 kilometres after Correze was placed under a red heatwave alert. Removing the opening 30 kilometres placed the intermediate sprint around 15 kilometres into the stage, at the top of a 2.6-kilometre rise averaging 4.9%.
Lidl-Trek controlled the opening and positioned Mads Pedersen, who collected the maximum 25 points. Biniam Girmay secured second and 20 points, while Jasper Philipsen was unable to maintain contact on the uphill approach.
The fight for the break began immediately beyond the sprint. The opening phase was raced at approximately 45km/h despite temperatures around 37°C, with repeated attacks preventing any group from gaining meaningful freedom. Tim Merlier was among the first riders distanced, while Pedersen and Mathias Vacek also began suffering as the climbing intensified.
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Valentin Paret-Peintre led over the Cote de Naves as the peloton began to disintegrate. A group containing Merlier and Girmay fell almost three minutes behind, while UAE Team Emirates – XRG kept Pogacar close to every dangerous move.
Gee-West eventually drove a 12-rider group away before it expanded to 15. Pidcock then completed an impressive solo bridge, but poor cooperation prompted Quinn Simmons and Johannessen to attack before the Suc au May.
Pidcock responded with Lennert Van Eetvelt and Gee-West. Van der Poel then crossed with Pablo Castrillo and Alex Baudin, forming an eight-rider front group with Simmons and Johannessen. Pidcock led them over the Suc au May, a 3.8-kilometre climb averaging 7.7% with ramps reaching 14%, and collected five KOM points.
The remaining members of the original break were caught as UAE continued riding through the valley. The pace reduced the peloton to 39 riders and kept the eight leaders within reach.
Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe were left with only Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz in the group, while UAE retained considerably greater support around Pogacar and Isaac del Toro. Tim Wellens drove the pursuit.
Pedersen, Alex Aranburu and Michael Matthews survived despite the sustained pressure, leaving Lidl-Trek with two riders in front and several more around the green jersey behind.
Tom Pidcock ahead of Stage 9 at the 2026 Tour de France
Van der Poel makes his move on Mont Bessou
The escape began the Cote de la Croix du Pey with only 1:15. UAE reduced that advantage to 55 seconds by the summit, where Pidcock accelerated clear to collect another two mountain points before the group came back together.
Improved cooperation briefly pushed the lead back to 1:20, but INEOS Grenadiers moved to the front of the peloton through Tobias Foss and Kevin Vauquelin. The team chased a possible victory through Filippo Ganna while also defending Egan Bernal’s GC position from Pidcock and Johannessen.
Hesitation reduced the gap to 40 seconds approaching the Mont Bessou. Van der Poel responded by attacking on the 900-metre climb at 6.4%, eventually distancing even Johannessen after Gee-West and Simmons had already lost contact.
Pidcock and Johannessen fought their way back to Van der Poel before Baudin also bridged across. Pidcock briefly lost contact with a rear-derailleur problem, but kicked the mechanism back into operation while descending and regained the leading trio.
Van Eetvelt was caught after a lone pursuit, while Simmons and Gee-West waited for the peloton as Lidl-Trek committed fully to Pedersen. They joined Carlos Verona in driving the chase, with Vauquelin also maintaining the pressure for INEOS.
The four leaders retained 45 seconds over the final rise. Simmons and Gee-West were dropped after completing their work, leaving Verona and Vauquelin to continue the pursuit before Cofidis added Ion Izagirre to the chase for Aranburu.
Van der Poel delivers in uphill sprint
The advantage stood at 38 seconds with two kilometres remaining, allowing the leaders to begin their tactical contest. Van der Poel remained on the front as the pace dropped inside the final kilometre and the peloton closed to 20 seconds.
Baudin, Johannessen and Pidcock waited behind, but Van der Poel refused to surrender his position. He launched the sprint on the rising road and held off Johannessen to claim the stage victory, with Pidcock crossing in third.
Carlos Silva is a writer for CiclismoAtual.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he contributes race reports, interviews, analysis pieces, and live coverage of the international cycling calendar. Holding a degree in Sports from the Jean Piaget Institute, he combines academic knowledge of performance, training, and competition with hands-on journalism experience in professional cycling.
Throughout his career, Carlos has conducted interviews with leading figures in the sport, including Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodríguez, Óscar Pereiro, João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, Derek Gee, John Degenkolb and Geraint Thomas. These conversations reflect direct engagement with Grand Tour winners, Classics specialists, and emerging talents.
He has provided on-site coverage at major events ranging from the Vuelta a España to the Tour de France, alongside stage races such as Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta ao Algarve, Volta a Portugal and O Gran Camiño. Covering the mythical climbs of the Giro d'Italia remains one of his professional ambitions.
Carlos is responsible for liveblog coverage of all major WorldTour races and beyond, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. His reporting integrates verified data from ProCyclingStats to ensure statistical accuracy, contextual depth, and analytical precision.
A lifelong cycling enthusiast, he approaches storytelling across written, photographic, and video formats with a focus on credibility, tactical insight, and informed race interpretation.
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- he isn't one dimensional - road, cross, gravel, MTB. he just needs to check these GTs and leave it to the pure sprinters or climbers.mij12-07-2026
- winning MTB races - that would get headlines. anything MVDP does generates a headline.mij12-07-2026
- One-dimensional, haha, only someone who’s world turns around his idol can Trumpify a description so badly.Mistermaumau12-07-2026
- No, there was another reason, it was. TTT so his personal performance wasn’t really that relevant. There may be something to him not being 100% (but still pretty darn good) but nobody except him and his close entourage will know if it’s a remnant of the Giro, a temporary problem, or off day or he’s just pre-peakMistermaumau12-07-2026
- Oh c’mon, ! What’s the point in trying to sound knowledgeable after the man himself had already told the world how he’s feeling. Besides, didn’t take him long to regain that « one » percent.Mistermaumau12-07-2026
- I'm not so sure, going in I agreed with you. But, he hasn't really seemed to be 100% at this race. The only reason he was leading for a few days was UAE goofed on the TTT. Had they not messed up, Pogi would have been in yellow day 1. In the TTT somehow during the climb, the 2 big riders that were supposed to pull dropped off. UAE had faster times on the flats. So, 1 mistake cost a day 1 yellowmd197512-07-2026
- Spoiling it with another cheap silly title.Mistermaumau12-07-2026
- Fair enough but I prefer the MVDP version working for other team goals and even then, none of them really exude that crucial A-M ingredient in their personality, assertiveness. I’d be curious to know which recent riders you’d all consider to have been examples of A-M.Mistermaumau12-07-2026
- Well done guys, even if it failsMistermaumau12-07-2026
- alpha male is about the furthest thing from a compliment I can imagine. it's all about him. look at Tadej and Jonas, each of whom makes sure to not only constantly talk up their teammates, but actually support them in achieving their own results. Jonas giving Sepp a free reign in the Giro, an entire Vuelta Espana, Tadej giving GP Montreal to McNulty, a stage to Del Toro earlier this week and several other examples where he has worked for his teammates to set them free to win in the break. this is how you lead. by giving and respecting. not demanding and bitching.sweetishChef12-07-2026
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