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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Amy Sedghi

Tour de France 2024: Anthony Turgis wins epic stage nine after sprint – as it happened

Tour de France Troyes
TotalEnergies' Anthony Turgis celebrates winning stage nine.
TotalEnergies' Anthony Turgis celebrates winning stage nine. Photograph: Stéphane Mahé/Reuters

Stage nine report

That’s all for today … Thanks for joining me and for all the emails. I appreciate your questions and thoughts on what was an exciting and rapid stage.

I’m signing off for the evening now, but don’t worry, the full post race report link will be posted here later by one of my colleagues.

I’ll leave you with this picture of today’s stage winner, Anthony Turgis, who looks very happy and relieved.

Updated

KOM classification: top five after stage nine

  1. Jonas Abrahamsen, 33pts

  2. Tadej Pogačar, 20pts

  3. Valentin Madouas, 16pts

  4. Jonas Vingegaard, 15pts

  5. Remco Evenepoel, 12pts

Points classification: top five after stage nine

  1. Biniam Girmay, 244pts

  2. Jasper Philipsen, 128pts

  3. Jonas Abrahamsen, 107pts

  4. Anthony Turgis, 96pts

  5. Arnaud De Lie, 92pts

Final stage of Tour of Austria cancelled after death of André Drege

Reuters are reporting that the final stage of the Tour of Austria was cancelled today. It follows the death of the Norwegian cyclist André Drege. The peloton held a minute’s silence for Drege before today’s Tour de France stage.

The final stage of the Tour of Austria was cancelled on Sunday after the Norwegian cyclist André Drege died following a crash, with the organisers holding a neutralised ride in his memory instead. Drege, 25, crashed during a descent of Grossglockner on Saturday. His death was announced by race organisers after the stage ended, and the post-race presentations were cancelled.

"The memorial ride was the express wish of Andre's father, his teammates and his entire team," the Tour of Austria director, Thomas Pupp, said in a statement. "It gives the entire cycling family the opportunity to come to terms with what happened and to honour André Drege's memory."
The Tour de France also paid respect to Drege before stage nine in Troyes on Sunday, with the riders leading a moment of applause before the race. Reuters

First TdF win for TotalEnergies since 2017:

That was the first win for Team TotalEnergies since 2017, so I’d say the team are pretty happy right now.

According to the official Tour de France website, the previous victory for the team was on 8 July 2017, when Lilian Calmejane won at Station des Rousses.

If you weren’t able to catch the finish, you can view it in this video:

Updated

A disappointed and emotional Tom Pidcock has spoken to reporters. He said:

In the group, I never show how I’m really feeling. I don’t respond straight away to attacks or I kind of do it a bit slower … it was hard.

This morning I was less than 57kg, so you know when you’re averaging 280 watts for four and a half hours, it’s quite a lot.”

Asked about what would have been a dream scenario for him, Pidcock said:

I mean that was kind of a good scenario but I knew that Stuyven was going to be the strongest one if he went. I think when he went, I was on the front, and I was hoping that the guys would respond from behind.

It’s always difficult to try and let that play out but you’ve got to also understand that everyone else in that group is also there to win.”

Updated

General classification: top five after stage nine

After all that chaos and excitement, all the GC contenders finished together and there’s been no change to the top spots. However, Derek Gee has made it into the top 10, as Aleksandr Vlasov, who had a nasty crash today, drops to 11th place.

  • Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 35hr 42min 42sec

  • Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step) +33sec

  • Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15sec

  • Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 36sec

  • Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2min 16sec

  • João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +2min 17sec

  • Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +2min 31sec

  • Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick-Step) +3min 35sec

  • Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) +4min 2sec

  • Matteo Jorgensen (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4min 3sec

Updated

Top five on stage nine

  1. Anthony Turgis (Team TotalEnergies)

  2. Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)

  3. Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech)

  4. Alex Aranburu (Movistar)

  5. Ben Healy (EF Education-Easypost)

Turgis wins stage nine!

Anthony Turgis wins stage nine! Tom Pidcock comes second, I think. That sprint was quite tense. Great result for the Frenchman.

Updated

1km to go: Stuyven is reeled in. Healy looks keen and is pushing again. It’s going to come down to a sprint.

Updated

2km to go: Healy gets frustrated at the tactics of the Movistar riders who aren’t taking turns. He’s shot off in pursuit of Stuyven.

Updated

3km to go: Ooh, perhaps it was a winning move? Stuyven’s gap hasn’t been reduced and he’s still riding strong. Lidl-Trek are in his ear cheering him on.

Updated

5km to go: With 5km to go, it’s likely to be one of the breakaway riders that’ll take the stage win. Will Stuyven stay clear? Pidcock is a strong sprinter in that group.

Updated

6km to go: Stuyven has finished the final gravel sector with a lead of about 10 sec. Elsewhere, Pogačar is just sitting on the front of the peloton and is keen to take his own line through these tricky corners.

Updated

8km to go: Pogačar goes again but is unable to distance the group on his wheel. Meanwhile, Abrahamsen has popped up out of nowhere to attack from the peloton. He’s not troubling the leaders but his ears must have been burning after Anthony’s question about him earlier (see 4.06pm BST).

10km to go: Stuyven has attacked off the front of the breakaway, going into the final gravel sector. He wants to go it alone and has a 10sec gap already. Will the attack pay off?

Updated

15km to go: Pogačar wanted to press on but Visma-Lease a Bike and Vingegaard weren’t interested so it’s come back together again.

Meanwhile, the breakaway still holds a 40sec advantage over Van der Poel’s group. Is there enough time for the Dutch world champion to mount a late attack for the stage win?

Updated

Robin has got in touch with his take on answering Lydia’s earlier question (see 3:55pm BST) about Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel:

Loving the coverage today, thank you!

I think the top three had to drop back as they were given a very chilly welcome by the existing breakaway and it was clear there would be no cohesion or collaboration in that group. A lot of work for little return, especially with Vingo not committed to the chase.

Basically they gatecrashed the party and nobody wanted to hang out with them.

Updated

18km to go: Jorgensen has brought Vingegaard back to Pogačar and the three are now back together. Evenepoel is chasing hard and is about 10 seconds behind.

Updated

20km to go: Pogačar is pressing on. Christophe Laporte tried to bring Vingegaard back but ran out of gas. Matteo Jorgensen who was with Pogačar dropped back for Vingegaard.

Updated

22km to go: Pogačar attacks on gravel sector

22km to go: The riders are going through Chemin de Verrières. Pogačar has attacked! Evenepoel is in a bad position but is trying to chase on. It’s shattered the peloton.

Updated

29km to go: It’s all starting to squeeze up a bit, with Van der Poel’s group taking a bite out of the breakaway’s lead.

UAE Team Emirates have been working on the front of the peloton and their gap is now coming down towards 1min 30sec (it was 2min 20sec about 10km ago).

David says hello from sunny Wirral. Hi David!

He says:

This is a brilliant day of racing so far. It seems to think it is a one dayer, rather than a stage in the grander scheme of things. I’d look at Van Aert to pull some places back and do something special. Pidcock looks a bit tired, but he’s got such a strength when he digs in.

David’s also shared his concern for Vlasov after his crash.

33km to go: The riders are on the 1.2km Chemin du Ru de Paradis now. The gaps between the groups are stable at the moment.

Anthony has emailed in from the US and says:

Good morning from America! I haven’t been able to really catch much of this stage, do you know how Jonas Abrahamsen is faring today and the general mountain classifications thus far today? Thanks.

Abrahamsen briefly looked interested in getting in the breakaway at the start of today’s stage. His polka-dot jersey kept popping up then, but now he’s in the group somewhere off the back of the peloton. He’s probably feeling it a bit after yesterday’s exploits where he spent most of the stage on a solo breakaway.

Updated

39km to go: The peloton slowed and it seems a few riders thought about attacking, which was Van der Poel’s cue to get going. He’s in a group with Girmay, David Gaudu, Michael Matthews, Rasmus Tiller, Jakob Fuglsang and Rui Costa. They’ve already put a minute into the peloton and are a minute behind the breakaway.

Updated

Lydia asks:

Why did the GC top three join the breakaway but then fall back to the peloton?

That’s a very good question and I’m not certain of the answer. It looked like Vingegaard wasn’t interested and Evenepoel seemed a bit dissapointed. Any one else have any thoughts or theories?

46km to go: The riders are entering the seventh of today’s 14 gravel sectors. The action has settled down for the first time in a while. I’ll probably eat my words in a minute …

Updated

48km to go: Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) had a nasty crash but is back on the bike. He’s getting attention from the medical car now, who are dressing an injury to his elbow.

54km to go: The five at the front (Pidcock, Stuyven, Healy, Gee and Lutsenko) have been joined by Romo, Turgis and Aranburu.

Evenepoel is still quite far back in the peloton, fighting to move back up but the gravel sectors and narrow roads is making it a hard task.

57km to go: The groups are just going through the sixth ‘white road’ sector, which has some deep gravel. This has caused some issues.

Evenepoel had to stop but has got going again, although he now has to work hard to get back on the peloton.

Updated

In case this of interest to any of you, here are the results from the intermediate sprint earlier today:

Fontette intermediate sprint (83.5km)

  • Turgis, 20 pts

  • Romo, 17 pts

  • Lazkano, 15 pts

  • Vermeersh, 13 pts

  • Pidcock, 11 pts

  • Aranburu, 10 pts

  • Van Gils, 9 pts

  • Zingle, 8 pts

  • Lutsenko, 7 pts

  • Healy, 6 pts

  • Stuyven, 5 pts

  • Gee, 4 pts

  • Stewart, 3 pts

  • Cort, 2 pts

  • Küng, 1 pt

64km to go: If you’re watching the TV coverage of this race, you’ll know what I mean when I say it looks like the riders are going through a dust storm as they tackle the fifth gravel sector.

Updated

68km to go: Well, that’s dissapointing. After blowing apart the race, Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel have willingly dropped back to the peloton.

Gee, Healy, Pidcock, Lutsenko and Stuyven are all that’s left in the breakaway now. They’ve got more than one minute over the peloton.

Updated

It’s a bumpy, dusty and testing day for the peloton today:

73km to go: Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel are with the breakaway now. It’s quite the strong breakaway now. Did we see this coming?

ITV4’s commentators are calling this “one of the greatest days of racing in recent memory”.

Updated

75km to go: Pogačar and Vingegaard have caught Evenepoel, who motions to his back wheel to encourage the trio to work together. Pogačar obliges but Vingegaard doesn’t take a turn. They’re going to catch the breakaway.

76km to go: Pogačar has set off in pursuit of Evenepoel and has taken Vingegaard with him. The peleton is left behind for now.

77km to go: Evenepoel attacks

77km to go: Evenepoel, who is wearing the white jersey, attacks hard on the gravel climb and gets a gap. Can he make it stick?

78km to go: It’s Visma-Lease a Bike’s turn to put the pressure on as Van Aert hits the front. Suddenly, Pogačar looks short of teammates. This is turning into a real battle for the GC riders.

80km to go: The longest of stage nine’s gravel sectors is coming up. Chemin de Loches-sur-Ource à Chacenay is a 4.2km gravel section.

Elsewhere in the race, Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz, are three minutes behind the peloton.

84km to go: Pogačar was joined briefly by Evenepoel but it’s now all back together. I thought this could be the moment. Vingegaard will be relieved.

Pogačar attacks at 89km to go

89km to go: Pogačar is on the attack. Who can follow him?

Updated

91km to go: Gianni Vermeersch has been dropped from the breakaway. They have a slender 40 second advantage, so their chances of staying away are looking increasingly slim.

93km to go: We’re at the fourth gravel sector now: Chemin de Polisy à Celles-sur-Ource (3.4km).

Oier Lazkano (Movistar) has somehow been dropped from the breakaway and is now back in the peloton. Bit of a blow for Movistar as he would have been the favourite of their three riders in the group.

Denis has emailed in with this quip: “Vdust2 max today!”

So much dust was kicked up on that last gravel sector that at times, some of the riders weren’t visible in the coverage. I’ll try to find a pic.

Updated

96km to go: Vingegaard is working his way back up through the group on a bike that’s a tad big for him. He has help from Van Aert now. Panic over (for now).

99km to go: Vingegaard has had a mechanical, so UAE Team Emirates has pushed on try to distance him. Jan Tratnik gives Vingegaard his bike.

Updated

101km to go: The front group are on the third gravel sector now. It’s the Chemin des Hautes Forêts (1.5km), which is one of the harder gravel sectors apparently.

UAE Team Emirates are on the radio saying that they need the team to enter the sector at the front.

Updated

105km to go: It looks so warm and sunny there. I’ve just heard thunder here in London. There was speculation about how bad the gravel sectors would be if it rained on the Tour today, so at least they have dry conditions.

Now that Roglič is back in the peloton, the gap to the breakaway has stretched out to 1min 50sec. Pidcock looks pretty content in that front group.

Updated

This is very timely. Alex has got in touch about Roglič. Alex, who says he lived in Slovenia for a couple of years in the late nineties, describes Roglič as “my guy”, adding “likable as he is, Pog is just … well, too easy, almost like following Real Madrid”.

Paul has written in and he describes today as “fabulously chaotic racing”. That’s a good way of putting it. As he says, “the peleton is splitting into competing fragments.”

115km to go: Interestingly, as the commentators on the ITV4 coverage point out, today’s stage is pretty lumpy. It’s not just about the gravel or white roads.

Roglič has put in a monster effort to rejoin the yellow jersey group. He’s dragged a sizeable group behind him and has made it.

116km to go: The front group of about 14 riders are seeing their gap come down as the yellow jersey group try to distance Roglič. The gap between the breakaway and the yellow jersey group has reduced to about 1min 35sec. It seems to have stabilised for now.

Rouleur reporter, Rachel Jary, who is on the ground following the Tour de France wrote in a preview piece of today’s stage that it the peloton was “divided” over the gravel parcours.

As Jary puts it: “Punctures, crashes and fighting for positions: it might not be much fun for the bike riders, but popcorn at the ready for the rest of us.”

Pogačar spoke to her yesterday about today’s stage. He said:

I’m looking forward to it. I did a recon, so I know what’s waiting for us. I would say it’s not the most fun stage, but it depends how we race, depends on the wind, depends on the weather, depends on the peloton, what they want to do.

I think there can be a lot of variety in how the race can go, but I think I’m ready for all. Normally, I like these kinds of stages, but you never know what can happen.”

121km to go: The yellow jersey group is looking pretty small right now. The race has been strung out. Roglič is caught in a bigger group about 20sec behind the yellow jersey, but his group are pushing hard to get back.

124km to go: The next points on the road are from an intermediate sprint in about 9km, but this is not really going to be contested today. All the points will be mopped up by the breakaway.

127km to go: I think some of those predictions about today bringing chaos to the peloton were right. This also highlights Kennaugh’s earlier point about getting into a good position ahead of the gravel sectors.

At least at the moment, all the GC riders have kept themselves safe.

131km to go: The second group are on the gravel now and some of the riders are sliding all over the place. As the peloton come up behind, they’ve actually had to stop. Riders are now running and trying to remount.

131km to go: This is relentless. The front group, which now includes Powless, Healy and Pidcock, are on the second gravel sector. It’s pretty vicious with a steep gradient to start.

Updated

133km to go: Neilson Powless has been called back by his team to help his EF Education-EasyPost rider Healy bridge across to the front group. This is good news for Pidcock too.

Updated

Here are some images of the peloton on the first gravel sector, via the newswires:

139km to go: The ten riders off the front have now grown to 12. Tom Pidcock and Ben Healey are chasing – they’re 13 seconds behind the breakaway. There’s a third group containing Belgian champion Arnaud De Lie at 1min 10sec behind the leaders. The peloton are at 2min 6secs.

Updated

147km to go: That was sector 14, Bligny à Bergères, a 2km stretch of gravel with only one difficulty star. But, that’s done now and the riders are heading up the Côte des Bergères. It is a 1.9km category four col.

149km to go: There’s a group of ten ahead of the peloton with an advantage of 40 seconds. The ten are: They are: Elmar Reinders (Jayco-AlUla), Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek), Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-dstny), Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech), Oier Lazkano (Movistar Team), Javier Romo (Movistar Team), Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) and Anthony Turgis (Total Energies).

Updated

151km to go: Wow, the footage of this is incredible. As the peloton have come up to the first gravel sector, those at the back have virtually come to a standstill. They’re struggling with a bottleneck.

Updated

152km to go: There’s a group of about eight or nine riders that have broken away and they’re about to hit the first of the gravel sectors. Exciting!

156km to go: The GC teams are trying to control the peloton ahead of the first gravel sector. It was all together and calm for a moment but then Alpecin-Deceuninck have made a move.

Also, I didn’t get a chance to post this earlier, but here is how today’s stage looks on the map.

157km to go: Mathieu Van der Poel, one of the favourite’s for today’s stage is not taking his eyes off the attacks. He’s covering all the breaks.

161km to go: The front five had a gap of 11 seconds with the bunch traveling at 60km/h to get to them. They’ve been caught now.

There’s a new group going up the road now and it includes Mathieu van der Poel.

Updated

170km to go: The gap between the breakaway and the peloton has been reduced to eight seconds.

A couple of pre-race interviews are being shown on the coverage which are interesting. Tom Pidcock says he thinks the inclusion of the gravel sectors “provide a great spectacle for the fans and a challenge for the teams”. He says it will keep riders and teams “on their toes”.

Asked about the risks it could pose to GC contenders, Pidcock says plainly: “There’s always risks.” He also disagrees that today’s stage is anything like the Strade Bianche and instead thinks that today could end in a bunch sprint.

Simon Yates, on the other hand, does not seem to be a fan of the white roads in today’s stage. He dismisses the idea that gravel and cobbles were a part of Tours in the past, and says bluntly: “we’re in 2024”. He’s not keen on anything that adds risks of punctures and crashes.

Updated

176km to go: The group of five mentioned earlier have grown their gap from the peloton 25 seconds.

There’s moves from the bunch with attacks from riders including Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) and García Pierna (Equipo Kern Pharma).

Updated

For those who love a random fact from the Tour de France, here’s one for today: Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) received his weight in Champagne this morning in Troyes, as recognition of his title as champion of France.

That’s pretty cool.

183km to go: There are five in the breakaway: Romain Gregoire (Groupama-FDJ), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Jarrad Drizners (Lotto-dstny), Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) and Paul Lapeira (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale). They have an eight second gap at the moment.

Updated

186km to go: The average pace of the peloton is 58km at the moment. ITV4’s commentators are chatting about how today is not a day for GC riders to ‘win’ the TdF but it could be a day in which they could lose it.

In a pre-race interview Jonas Vingegaard says he once came second in a gravel race but he also has “bad memories from gravel racing”.

Updated

Bill from Redcar is the first reader to get in touch today. He’s shared his thoughts on today’s gravel/white road stages, plus a lovely summary of the Tour so far:

There’s been some noise about the inclusion of ‘gravel stages’ and it’s not been well received in some circles. But, variety makes things interesting, and races with non tarmac bits are very popular and exciting. There’s always (often unfounded) concerns about changes to the status races, like the chicane in Paris-Roubaix this year.

Due to the changing surfaces, the potential to increase the variance within the GC might encourage thrilling heroics of those wanting to stand on the podium, and they’ll be wanting to get a proper stomp on, as fortune always favours the brave.

It’s been a very good seven stages so far (time trials don’t count), and it’s setting up nicely for superb battles in the weeks ahead.

Updated

192km to go: There’s plenty of points on offer for the KOM competition today so Jonas Abrahamsen looks as if he fancies being in the breakaway again today.

Stefan Bissegger of EF Education attacked but has been reeled back in.

Updated

The racing has begun!

198km to go: Racing is under way on stage nine. As soon as the flag is dropped, there’s an attack with polka-dot clad Jonas Abrahamsen involved.

Updated

Here’s a classic pre-rollout selfie from earlier.

There’s a few hundred metres left now until the neutralised sector is over and the flag drops for the race proper.

On the ITV4 coverage ex-pro Peter Kennaugh has been sharing his thoughts. He says it’s going to be one of the “most exciting days” as there are “so many unknowns”.

He explains that for the riders, it is key to get into position before hitting the white road sectors. Kennaugh says that once the riders are on the gravel, they can relax, but you don’t want to be jostling for position too late.

From my experience following the tricky terrain of Paris Roubaix in team cars, I often heard it said that the safest place is up the front away from any trouble.

Updated

As mentioned earlier, there are 14 gravel, or white road, sectors in stage nine.

Here they are listed according to their order of appearance in the stage, with the stars at the end of each line indicating the sector’s difficulty (** being harder), courtesy of the official Tour de France website:

  • Chemin de Bligny à Bergères (2km), km 47.3 *

  • Chemin de Baroville (1.2km), km 67 *

  • Chemin des Hautes Forêts (1.5km), km 96.8 **

  • Chemin de Polisy à Celles-sur-Ource (3.4km), km 105.2 *

  • Chemin de Loches-sur-Ource à Chacenay (4.2km), km 118.6 *

  • Chemin du Plateau de la Côte des Bar (2.2km), km, 131.9 *

  • Chemin de Thieffrain à Magnant (3.9km), km 140.8 *

  • Chemin de Briel-sur-Barse (2.2km), km 151.9 *

  • Chemin du Ru de Paradis (1.2km), km 165.7 *

  • Chemin de Fresnoy-le-Château à Clérey (1.8km), km 169 *

  • Chemin de Verrières (1.5km), km 175 *

  • Chemin de Daudes (1.9km), km 178 *

  • Chemin de Montaulin à Rouilly-Saint-Loup (2.2km), km 182.3 **

  • Chemin de Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres (3km), km 189.4 **

Today's roll-out has begun

They’re off! The peloton will have an 8km neutralised sector before the official start of today’s race.

Prior to the rollout, there was a one minute silence for the 25-year-old Norwegian André Drege, who died during stage four of the Tour of Austria.

Updated

The rollout is expected in just a few minutes. Here’s some of the pre-start action via the official Tour de France X account:

Who’s wearing what jersey

  • Yellow: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 31hr 21min 13sec

  • Green: Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 216pts

  • Polka-dot: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 33pts

  • White: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step)

Updated

Stage seven report: Biniam Girmay’s second stage win in the 2024 Tour de France in Charles de Gaulle’s home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises was overshadowed by the death of the 25-year-old Norwegian André Drege during stage four of the Tour of Austria. Jeremy Whittle reports from Colombey-les-Deux-Églises …

The top 10 on General Classification

  • Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) 31hr 21min 13sec

  • Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step) +33sec

  • Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 15sec

  • Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 36sec

  • Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2min 16sec

  • João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +2min 17sec

  • Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +2min 31sec

  • Mikel Landa (Soudal-Quick-Step) +3min 35sec

  • Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +4min 3sec

  • Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4min 36sec

Updated

Stage nine: Troyes to Troyes, 199km

William Fotheringham on stage nine: As France goes to the polls in the second round of Macron’s snap election, on the Tour it’s a tense day of constant small climbs and 14 stretches of gravel roads through the Champagne vineyards. It will be dusty and spectacular, and there will be punctures and crashes, particularly if it rains. Pogacar will relish this, having twice won the very similar Italian Strade Bianche race; cyclo-cross specialists Van der Poel and Wout van Aert could also shine.

Preamble

Welcome to the Guardian’s latest Tour de France live blog and a stage that introduces gravel to the parcours which will, most likely, bring some chaos to the peloton. Don’t just take my word for it. Jai Hindley of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe told Rouleur magazine ahead of today’s stage: “I think it will be super stressful, the guys told me that the gravel is going to be chaotic and also the roads in between are shit.”

Of the near 200km route on stage nine that begins and ends in Troyes, 32km of it will be on gravel. That’s 14 segments of unpaved terrain facing them. This could suit riders who have off-road credentials such as Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Matej Mohorič, so they will be ones to watch. Will they be going for a win in this unique stage of the 2024 Tour de France?

Send me your thoughts and questions via email. It’s always great to hear from you and I also love hearing about where you’re following the live blog from, so include that if you want.

Neutralised start: 12.15pm BST/1.15pm CET

Updated

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The British musician’s new album is everywhere but it took her 15 years to go from Myspace to the White House
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
At Sloane Hotel: is this London's sexiest hotel?
Our city’s answer to Paris’s Hotel Costes is the chic, grown-up London hotel you probably haven’t heard of. Rebecca Cope spends a night to see if it can seduce her
Evening Standard
Evening Standard
A dairy-sponsored women's Fortnite tournament called 'The Milk Cup' is awarding 'the largest women's esports prize pool in North America' this year
The milk lobby continues its quest to make milk "the performance drink of gamers."
PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Why does food taste so bland in space?
Researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) found a link between spatial perception and taste
Salon
Salon
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