Van der Poel wins shortened Stage 9 as breakaway holds off peloton in Ussel

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) secured the win on Stage 9 of the 2026 Tour de France, finishing in 3:27:51 after his breakaway quartet held off the peloton on the final climb to Ussel. He was followed by Norway's Tobias Halland Johannessen and Britain's Tom Pidcock, with Alex Baudin rounding out the top four.

The stage, reduced by 30 km because of a red-alert heat warning in the Corrèze department, featured four categorized climbs and temperatures that rose to 34 °C. Riders coped with the heat by pouring water over their heads and using ice-filled vests.

In the general classification, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) remained in the lead, extending his advantage to 2 minutes 42 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard. Isaac Del Toro moved into third place, while Remco Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso stayed within the top five.

"We are chasing for Egan Bernal's tenth place on the General Classification," said Daryl Impey, sports director of Netcompany-Ineos, speaking on the team radio.

The breakaway formed early, with van der Poel attacking on the final classified climb and creating a four-rider lead that worked together to maintain a gap that peaked at just over a minute. Behind them, the peloton, driven by UAE Team Emirates and other contenders, struggled to close the distance despite repeated efforts from riders such as Tim Wellens and Felix Großschartner.

Filippo Ganna won the sprint from the main bunch, and Mads Pedersen retained the green jersey lead in the points classification, extending his total to 253 points.

The stage concluded with a rest day scheduled before the next 166 km stage to Le Lioran, where the battle for the overall lead is expected to intensify.