“Van der Poel had this in the bag” – Johan Bruyneel dismisses Tom Pidcock’s Tour de France Stage 9 hopes
Cycling
Tom Pidcock believed he could beat Mathieu van der Poel in the closing kilometres of Stage 9 at the 2026 Tour de France. Johan Bruyneel was never convinced.
Van der Poel, Pidcock, Tobias Johannessen and Alex Baudin emerged as the strongest riders from the day’s breakaway before narrowly holding off the reduced peloton in Ussel. Pidcock remained a threat deep into the finale, but Bruyneel felt the balance of the group and Van der Poel’s finishing strength had already tilted the stage decisively in the Dutchman’s favour.
“I think Pidcock definitely believed he had a chance against Van der Poel,” the former team manager said during The Move’s Stage 9 analysis. “There was cohesion in the group. The only rider who skipped a few turns now and then was Alex Baudin, which was his right, but the other three were all riding with a purpose.”
Baudin had less reason to contribute fully once it became clear he would struggle to match the speed of the other three at the finish. Van der Poel, Pidcock and Johannessen continued to drive the move, keeping the chase under pressure as the gap began to fall.
“There was no coming back”
The peloton briefly appeared capable of wiping out the break once Derek Gee and Quinn Simmons returned to the main group. By then, Tobias Foss and Kevin Vauquelin had already spent much of their energy working in the pursuit.
Bruyneel believed only a full commitment from UAE Team Emirates – XRG could have changed the outcome. “Once Derek Gee and Quinn Simmons were back in the main group, Tobias Foss and Kevin Vauquelin were already finished because they had been working for a while,” he said. “The only way they had any chance of bringing it back was if UAE joined the chase, but they didn’t. There was no coming back.”
The gap still collapsed dramatically in the final kilometre. What had looked like a secure breakaway victory became a race against both the peloton and the line, with the bunch bearing down on the leaders inside the final few hundred metres.
Van der Poel did not wait for the chase to reach them. He opened his sprint from the front and held off Johannessen, with Pidcock crossing the line in third.
Van der Poel crosses the line with his arms aloft
“He was not going to lose this stage”
Pidcock had survived the selective terrain, contributed to the breakaway’s advantage and reached the finish with enough speed to justify his confidence. Bruyneel still saw no scenario in which Van der Poel surrendered the victory once the quartet entered the final kilometres together.
“Van der Poel had this in the bag,” he concluded. “He was not going to lose this stage.”
The win gave Alpecin-Premier Tech its first stage victory of the 2026 Tour after Jasper Philipsen had repeatedly fallen short in the bunch sprints. It was also Van der Poel’s third career Tour stage success, secured on a day shortened because of the extreme heat in Correze.
Pidcock took third and moved to 13th overall, but Van der Poel had already done enough before the sprint. He had matched the strongest riders in the break, kept the cooperation intact and left himself with the fastest finish once the peloton ran out of road.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- They only raced each other during the 2026 Tour, but here's a few metrics to look at. Stage 3 (Granollers to Les Angles): Pogačar won the stage, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Vingegaard (2nd). Del Toro finished 24 seconds behind Stage 6 (Pau to Gavarnie-Gedre / Col du Tourmalet): Pogačar won solo, Vingegaard finished 2nd (losing 2:38), and Del Toro finished 3rd (at +2:57, finishing 19 seconds behind Vingegaard). Here, Jonas Vingegaard outclimbed Isaac del Toro by 19 seconds on the mountain stageawp13-11-2026
- your clinging to the past. Jonas was dropped by del toro many times last year and jonas never managed a climbing numers del toro did in dauphine last year -entire year. Trend is also evident theres no discussion your living in the past, its beent he same with jonas for many years now and only developing, meanwhile del toro is rising and developing greatly. This is all obvious stuff and im not even a del toro fan. No point discussing numbers or this i suspect you dont watch much now but rather think its 2022 still cause this aint hard.miguel13-11-2026
- We can go through metrics if you like, Del Toro, who I do admire and support, is not on the same level as Jonas just yet. You will see that in early 2027 if they have any crossover races. I do hope they both race the Giro. You are correct though, Jonas is getting older and will not be able to hand on much longer. I see 2027 as a good year for him. Obviously behind Tadej though.awp13-11-2026
- What wins? Are you LA operating under a pseudonym?mij13-11-2026
- My point is this - Tadej, Remco, Seixas are all the outliers. Many riders don’t hit their peak until 28. It’s way too early to write him off. And the pogi slo guy that hates him - he’s also immature. Ayuso needs time.mij13-11-2026
- Then you need to use ur eyes or head if you have cause del toro already dropped jonas two times and beat him in tdf stages already this year.. Del toro climbed(dauphine) better numbers than jonas did all year too. So ur feelings and wishful thinking doesnt amtter del toro himself has already surpassed jonas infact just facts. Its also very evident for anyone objective that Jonas is declining alot, its just the truth and super obvious.miguel13-11-2026
- None of those victories stand, so there's that,wrsty13-11-2026
- No surprise there; it is British Sycling, yes, with an S
Rafionain-Glas12-11-2026 - I like Del Toro but he's not on the level of Jonas, by a large margin.awp12-11-2026
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