In the Pyrenees, Emanuel Buchmann is shown his limits. With that, the podium is over. The yellow jersey takes over the high-flyer Primoz Roglic. The day’s win went to Tadej Pogacar, who brought Marc Hirschi out of his well-deserved stage win.
Favorites among themselves: Tadej Pogacar (left), Primoz Roglic u (right) and Co. distance the rest.
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With his head down and a heavy kick, Emanuel Buchmann struggled up the steep ramps in the Pyrenees, the German hopefuls watched the stars of the industry desperately. At the showdown in the Pyrenees, the dream of the podium in Paris for the ailing fourth of last year has probably come to an end. The climbing specialist reached the finish in Laruns on the ninth stage of the 107th Tour de France on Sunday, more than four minutes behind, after having been shown the limits in the high mountains the day before.
Buchmann lost
When the favorites exchanged blows, Buchmann was lost; he is now more than five minutes behind in the overall standings. Even the Brit Adam Yates couldn’t follow any more than the stars got serious. The 28-year-old lost the yellow jersey to Vuelta champion Primoz Roglic. After 153 kilometers and five mountain classifications from Pau to Laruns, the Slovenian crossed the finish line in second place behind his young compatriot Tadej Pogacar. Before that, he had already earned five bonus seconds on the final climb. The tragic hero was the Swiss Marc Hirschi from the German Sunweb team, who caught up just before the finish and came third in the final sprint.
“I was at the limit early on”
For Buchmann, on the other hand, it was a bitter day. The Ravensburger had to tear down the final ascent to Col de Marie Blanque early on. Escorted by Austrian team-mate Gregor Mühlberger, it was only about damage limitation. He couldn’t catch up on the frenzied descent either. “I felt really bad, was at the limit early on,” said Buchmann before the rest day on Monday. “I did my best. In the end, no more was possible.”
That was already indicated on Saturday, when he lost more than a minute on Roglic and Co. Team boss Ralph Denk had dreamed of a good final placement. “If it is a good fifth, six or seventh place in the end and the time gap to the podium is not so great, you can definitely consider whether you are satisfied,” said Denk of the German press agency. Before the rest day Buchmann is 18th and is 5:45 minutes behind Roglic.
While still on the spot, his teammates declared the company Podium over. “Now the thing is over. I do not assume that he still has a huge chance,” said youngster Lennard Kämna and Felix Großschartner added: “Of course something is collapsing. We have to change the plan a bit. You can now aim for a stage win go.”
Bernal is back – Pogacar again as strong as a bear
The favorites put aside their reluctance. Last year’s winner Egan Bernal was also in better shape and launched attacks for the first time. But he can hardly do anything against the explosiveness of Roglic. So the Slovenian also got the bonus seconds on the summit in front of his compatriot Tadej Pogacar. The young Pogacar could be the big sensation of the tour. On Saturday, the 21-year-old had already flown away from the favorites and took 40 seconds from them. Without the mishap on Friday when he lost over a minute to a crashed driver, he would now be in yellow.
Pinot’s back costs him the tour
For co-favorite Thibaut Pinot, however, the dream of the first French tour victory since 1985 is over. The 30-year-old lost a lot of time on both mountain stages. “My back hurts so much that I hardly have the strength to pedal,” said Pinot, who had another rider crashed in the back when he started in Nice. The French are unlucky enough to be lucky. Last year he had to give up in a promising position on the third from last stage due to a muscle injury in tears. Angina stopped him in 2013 and bronchitis in 2016.
Is there a risk of chaos on the day off?
Before the tour continues on Tuesday with the tenth stage on the Atlantic coast, the corona tests for all drivers including the entourage are due on the rest day. Then it will show whether the tour bubble has held on the way through southern France. If not, chaos threatens. Even two positive cases in a team lead to the exclusion of the entire racing team. In this way, perfectly healthy drivers could go home if the bus driver and the physiotherapist are infected.
Then the peloton would continue the journey on Tuesday in a very limited way when it goes from the Île d’Oléron Le Château-d’Oléron to the Île de Ré Saint-Martin-de-Ré over 168.5 kilometers. The route is completely flat. However, the wind could play a big role.
All ratings and results can be read in the tour ticker …
Stage 9 Pau – Laruns (153.00 km):
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – UAE Team Emirates 3:55:17 hours; 2. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) – Team Jumbo + 0 sec .; 3. Marc Hirschi (Switzerland) – Team Sunweb; 4. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Colombia) – Ineos Grenadiers; 5. Mikel Landa Meana (Spain) – Bahrain-McLaren; 6. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) – Trek – Segafredo + 11; 7. Guillaume Martin (France) – Solutions Credits; 8. Romain Bardet (France) – AG2R La Mondiale; 9. Richie Porte (Australia) – Trek – Segafredo; 10. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia) – EF Pro Cycling; … 23. Emanuel Buchmann (Ravensburg) – Bora-hansgrohe + 4:12 min .; 69. Lennard Kämna (Fischerhude) – Bora-hansgrohe + 19:49; 74. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – CCC Team + 22:42; 97. Nils Politt (Hürth) – Israel Start-Up Nation + 29:27; 104. Nikias Arndt (Cologne) – Team Sunweb; 108. Tony Martin (Kreuzlingen / Switzerland) – Team Jumbo; 114. Jonas Koch (Schwäbisch Hall) – CCC Team; 137. Maximilian Schachmann (Berlin) – Bora-hansgrohe; 158. Maximilian Walscheid (Heidelberg) – NTT Pro Cycling Team; 163. André Greipel (Hürth) – Israel Start-Up Nation; 166. Roger Kluge (Berlin) – Lotto-Soudal + 32:13
Overall ranking individual, status after the 9th stage:
1. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) – Team Jumbo 38:40:01 hours; 2. Egan Arley Bernal Gomez (Colombia) – Ineos Grenadiers + 21 sec .; 3. Guillaume Martin (France) – Solutions Credits + 28; 4. Romain Bardet (France) – AG2R La Mondiale + 30; 5. Nairo Quintana (Colombia) – Team Arkea-Samsic + 32; 6. Rigoberto Uran Uran (Colombia) – EF Pro Cycling; 7. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – UAE Team Emirates + 44; 8. Adam Yates (Great Britain) – Mitchelton-Scott + 1:02 min .; 9. Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Colombia) – Astana + 1:15; 10. Mikel Landa Meana (Spain) – Bahrain-McLaren +1:42; … 18. Emanuel Buchmann (Ravensburg) – Bora-hansgrohe + 5:45; 55. Maximilian Schachmann (Berlin) – Bora-hansgrohe + 59:04; 69. Lennard Kämna (Fischerhude) – Bora-hansgrohe + 1:09:59 hours; 82. Simon Geschke (Freiburg im Breisgau) – CCC Team + 1:29:40; 117. Nils Politt (Hürth) – Israel Start-Up Nation + 2:06:40; 125. Tony Martin (Kreuzlingen / Switzerland) – Team Jumbo + 2:10:42; 129. Jonas Koch (Schwäbisch Hall) – CCC Team + 2:13:49; 155. Maximilian Walscheid (Heidelberg) – NTT Pro Cycling Team + 2:30:33; 158. André Greipel (Hürth) – Israel Start-Up Nation + 2:32:09; 162. Nikias Arndt (Cologne) – Team Sunweb + 2:36:03; 163. Roger Kluge (Berlin) – Lotto-Soudal + 2:38:56
Mountain classification, status after the 9th stage:
1. Benoit Cosnefroy (France) – AG2R La Mondiale 36 pts .; 2. Nans Peters (France) – AG2R La Mondiale 31; 3. Marc Hirschi (Switzerland) – Team Sunweb 26; 4. Ilnur Sakarin (Russia) – CCC Team 25; 5. Toms Skujins (Latvia) – Trek – Segafredo 24; 6. Quentin Pacher (France) – Vital Concept 20; 7. Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) – Team Jumbo 18; 8. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – UAE Team Emirates 14; 9. Carlos Verona (Spain) – Movistar Team 14; 10. Neilson Powless (USA) – EF Pro Cycling 14; … 35. Nils Politt (Hürth) – Israel Start-Up Nation 2
Sprint evaluation, status after the 9th stage:
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) – Bora-hansgrohe 138 pts .; 2. Sam Bennett (Ireland) – Deceuninck Quick Step 131; 3. Wout van Aert (Belgium) – Team Jumbo 111; 4. Bryan Coquard (France) – Vital Concept 106; 5. Matteo Trentin (Italy) – CCC Team 98; 6. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) – UAE Team Emirates 93; 7. Julian Alaphilippe (France) – Deceuninck-Quick-Step 82; 8. Caleb Ewan (Australia) – Lotto-Soudal 75; 9. Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia) – UAE Team Emirates 69; 10. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) – CCC Team 64; … 40. Nils Politt (Hürth) – Israel Start-Up Nation 20; 42. Maximilian Schachmann (Berlin) – Bora-hansgrohe 20; 56. Lennard Kämna (Fischerhude) – Bora-hansgrohe 15; 83. Roger Kluge (Berlin) – Lotto-Soudal 8; 85. Maximilian Walscheid (Heidelberg) – NTT Pro Cycling Team 7; 92. Jonas Koch (Schwäbisch Hall) – CCC Team 4
Team ranking, status after the 9th stage:
1. Movistar Team (Spain) 116: 07: 32 hours; 2. EF Pro Cycling (USA) + 4:35 min .; 3rd Trek – Segafredo (USA) + 4:50; 4. AG2R La Mondiale (France) + 13:35; 5. Team Jumbo (Netherlands) + 16:30; 6. Astana (Kazakhstan) + 19:37; 7. Ineos Grenadiers (Great Britain) + 24:07; 8. Bahrain-McLaren (Bahrain) + 32:36; 9. Mitchelton-Scott (Australia) + 41:02; 10. Team Arkea-Samsic (France) + 1:02:39 hours; … 12. Bora-hansgrohe (Germany) + 1:15:15; 19. Team Sunweb (Germany) + 3:07:38
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