Van der Poel wins stage 9 of the Tour after a frantic escape with Pidcock, Johannessen and Baudin

Mathieu van der Poel achieved his first victory in the 2026 Tour de France after winning the ninth stage, an explosive day marked by heat between Malemort and Ussel. The Dutchman from Alpecin-Premier Tech was the fastest of a group of four riders who managed to stay ahead of the peloton after a finale full of attacks.

Tobias Halland Johannessen finished second, Tom Pidcock was third, and Alex Baudin completed the quartet that fought for victory. Filippo Ganna led the chasing group six seconds behind, ahead of Mads Pedersen and Michael Matthews.

Mathieu van der Poel wins stage 9 of the Tour after defeating Pidcock and Johannessen in Ussel

The stage had been shortened due to a red heat alert in Corrèze. The route was reduced from the initially planned 185.5 kilometers to 154.6 kilometers, although the modification did not prevent the race from becoming a real battle from the start.

More than an hour of attacks to form the breakaway

The first part of the day was contested at a very high pace. Lidl-Trek controlled the initial movements so that Mads Pedersen could contest the intermediate sprint, located on a 2.6-kilometer climb at 4.9%.

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Pedersen achieved his goal and added 25 points, while Jasper Philipsen could not keep up with his acceleration and was also overtaken by Biniam Girmay. As soon as they crossed the sprint, attacks began again.

Mathieu van der Poel, Tom Pidcock, Filippo Ganna, Quinn Simmons, Lennert Van Eetvelt, and several riders with chances in broken stages tried to enter the breakaway. The intensity left the peloton very reduced, and many sprinters were definitively ruled out.

The successful breakaway ended up gathering 15 riders, including Van der Poel, Pidcock, Simmons, Derek Gee-West, Alex Baudin, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Pablo Castrillo, Lennert Van Eetvelt, and Marc Hirschi.

Pidcock and Van der Poel select the breakaway

The climb to Suc au May, 3.8 kilometers at 7.7% with ramps of 14%, finished breaking the race apart. Pidcock set the pace, and the selection left eight riders ahead, including Mathieu van der Poel, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Alex Baudin, Lennert Van Eetvelt, and Pidcock himself.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG kept the breakaway at a reduced distance for much of the stage. Tim Wellens worked at the front of the peloton and managed to reduce the gap to under a minute, a chase that kept open the possibility of Pogacar or Isaac del Toro contesting the victory.

Netcompany INEOS also contributed to the chase, first with Tobias Foss and then with Kévin Vauquelin, thinking of Filippo Ganna and protecting Egan Bernal's position in the general classification.

Van der Poel breaks the breakaway at Mont Bessou

The last scoring ascent was Mont Bessou, a 900-meter climb at 6.4%. Van der Poel attacked from the start and managed to open a gap with all his breakaway companions.

Pidcock, Johannessen, and Baudin managed to return to his wheel. Lennert Van Eetvelt was dropped, and Quinn Simmons received the order to wait for the peloton to help in the chase of Lidl-Trek, who still believed in Pedersen's chances.

The most delicate moment was experienced by Pidcock on the descent. A mechanical problem prevented him from pedaling for a few moments, but he managed to fix it by hitting the derailleur while still on the bike and rejoined the front trio.

With six kilometers to go, the four escapees maintained a gap of about 45 seconds. The peloton slightly reduced the difference, but never managed to organize a chase fast enough.

Van der Poel wins the sprint among four

Van der Poel, Johannessen, Pidcock, and Baudin entered the last kilometer together. The Dutchman kept the front of the group while his rivals began to watch each other, but none wanted to anticipate from too far out on the uphill finish in Ussel.

In the sprint, Van der Poel confirmed he was the fastest rider in the group and triumphed over Tobias Halland Johannessen and Tom Pidcock. Alex Baudin finished fourth with the same time.

The peloton arrived six seconds later. Filippo Ganna won the sprint for fifth place, followed by Mads Pedersen, Michael Matthews, Nicolas Breuillard, Jordan Jegat, and Sean Quinn.

Top 10 of stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) – 3:27:51
2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) +0
3. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +0
4. Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) +0
5. Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) +6”
6. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +6”
7. Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) +6”
8. Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) +6”
9. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) +6”
10. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) +6”

General classification of the 2026 Tour de France after stage 9

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 32:17:04
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) – +2:42
3. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – +3:30
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) – +3:34
6. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) – +3:55
7. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) – +4:00
8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) – +4:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) – +4:57
10. Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) – +9:12