“Van der Poel had this in the bag” – Johan Bruyneel dismisses Tom Pidcock’s Tour de France Stage 9 hopes
CyclingMonday, 13 July 2026 at 15:30
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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