Key events
Tour de France 2025 stage nine race report:
Thank you for following the blog and getting in touch. It ended up being quite an exciting day! After a breakaway by Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu Van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert, where the duo stayed away for the majority of today’s stage, the peloton caught the attackers and the day ended in a bunch sprint. Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step took his second stage win of this year’s Tour, but Van der Poel and Rickaert were successful in getting the latter on to the podium with a most combative award.
Elsewhere, Elisa Longo Borghini has retained her Giro d’Italia Women title, holding on to the pink jersey she claimed on Saturday’s queen stage as the race concluded at Imola. You can read the full race report here:
A race report of today’s Tour de France stage will be posted here shortly.
Here are the pictures from today’s podium in Châteauroux:
‘We suffered but also enjoyed today’: Van der Poel says breakaway was to get Rickaert on podium
Mathieu Van der Poel has spoken to reporters. Unsuprisingly, he looked spent. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider said:
I discussed with Jonas [Rickaert] that we wanted to go for it today. His dream was to be on the podium. I’m really happy [as] it was one of his dreams.
He said he hoped that Rickaert would win the most combative rider award today, which Matt Stephens confirmed was the case.
Van der Poel said:
We were both on the limit. It was a really hard day. With the wind we knew the GC teams would come back. I think we put up a good show today. We suffered but also enjoyed today.
Although Van der Poel is in the top five of the sprinters classification, he told Stephens:
I’m not going for the green jersey. I was going for the beakaway.
After his chat with Van der Poel, Stephens found Jonas Rickaert who joked:
I think I go home tomorrow. My tour is done.
He then added:
I’ve always wanted to be on a Tour podium. I made a joke about going as a two from the start but [it] turns out he [Mathieu Van der Poel] was serious so we went for it. I was dying. Too bad we didn’t succeed … I was just empty.
I think we put on a good show. I think every directeur sportif that went past me gave me a thumbs up.
‘I thought I was boxed in’: Tim Merlier ‘very happy’ with second stage win at 2025 Tour
Tim Merlier has spoken to reporters after today’s stage win. The Soudal Quick-Step rider said:
Me and Bert [Van Lerberghe] were together. I was so much more confident with him in front of me … I thought I was boxed in at one point but I came out. I’m very happy to have won my second stage at the Tour this year.
KOM classification: top five after stage nine
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Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG), 8pts
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), 7pts
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Ben Healy (EF Education-Easypost), 4pts
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Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4pts
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Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), 3pts
Points classification: top five after stage nine
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Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), 227pts
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG), 156pts
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Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), 151pts
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Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step), 150pts
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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), 128pts
General classification: top 10 after stage nine
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) 33hrs 17mins 22secs
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Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step) +54secs
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Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +1min 11secs
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Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 17secs
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Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 34secs
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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1min 46secs
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Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) +2mins 49secs
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Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3mins 2secs
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Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3mins 6secs
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Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +3mins 43secs
Top five on stage nine
1. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)
2. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)
3. Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Caps)
4. Pavel Bittner (Picnic PostNL)
5. Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ)
Tim Merlier wins stage nine!
Merlier was on Milan’s wheel but was forced to go round another rider but had the power to get ahead. What a finish to today’s stage!
Van der Poel is caught by peloton 700m before finish!
700m to go: I was screaming at my TV then. Absolute heartbreak for Mathieu van der Poel who is swamped by the peloton. And it ended in a big old bunch sprint as all the previews predicted.
2km to go: Oof, this is so tense. Van der Poel only has a seven seconds advantage now. The peloton are looming and Van der Poel pushes again.
4km to go: Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu van der Poel just looked over his shoulder and didn’t see any riders coming. He’s really fighting for this finish. The time gap is being chewed up by the peloton. It’s at 13secs.
Van der Poel goes solo into stage nine finish
6km to go: Mathieu van der Poel is going solo! Faithful team mate Jonas Rickaert is done. The bunch are increasing the pace. This is going to be tight.
Jonas Rickaert wins the combative award
9km to go: Jonas Rickaert has been awarded the most combative rider today. Bahrain Victorious, Tudor and Lidl-Trek are taking turns at the front of the bunch.
12km to go: Visma-Lease a Bike are still at the front of the peloton, pushing the pace and trying to bring that time gap down. Jonas Rickaert is looking tired now (who would blame him?). Surely, he’s going to drop off soon and Mathieu van der Poel is going to have to go solo.
16km to go: Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert have been getting fresh bidons from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team car. Their 1min 20secs ahead of the peloton now. Polka dot jersey wearer Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG) has done his job for the day and has dropped back off the peloton.
22km to go: Wout Van Aert has been dropped from the peloton. The polka dot jersey and maillot jaune can be spotted up at the front of the group. The gap between the breakaway and peloton keeps shrinking and then drawing back out again. It’s at 48secs now.
24km to go: All of the GC riders are frantically trying to makes sure they don’t get caught behind a split in this crosswind section. They’re eating up the gap that Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel have spent so long creating. It now sits at 38secs at 24km to go. There is a sharp turn coming up soon.
28km to go: The average speed of the peloton is just under 50km/h. Visma-Lease a Bike have taken up position at the front of the bunch. The gap to the breakaway has been chopped to 52secs.
On the ‘name the breakaway’ game, I’ve had a couple more suggestions. Richard suggests “Antwerp diamond dealers” and Ade says:
Van der Poel & Rickaert … prog house??? On Platypus??? That’d be Goa trance to you, sir! Interesting trivia, though – they were the Hartnoll brothers, but to avoid a label dispute, named themselves after a pair of Dutch émigré highwaymen, who terrorised Norfolk in 1667.
31km to go: The peloton has split again thanks to echelons forming. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Total Energies are driving the front bunch. About 40 riders are off the back, including Santiago Buitrago, Jonas Abrahamsen and Ben O’Connor. They are about a minute behind
36km to go: There’s a right turn coming up and the peloton are fighting for the best position to head into it. Tim Wellens and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) are near the front. There’s quite a bit of road furniture for the bunch to naviagte too.
Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel are already in a more open part of the road, with a gap 1min 40secs.
43km to go: The gap between the breakaway and the peloton has dropped to just under 2min. Sean Kelly, unlike Adam Blythe, on TNT Sports is adamant that the breakaway won’t win today’s stage. The riders are heading in to a headwind soon.
52km to go: A close up of Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert showed him grimacing a little. He’s putting in a terrific effort alongside team mate Mathieu van der Poel on the breakaway.
Arkéa-B&B Hotels are taking a turn driving the peloton, which has come back together after splitting earlier. Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Wanty) is struggling after a crash earlier and is about 30secs behind the bunch.
57km to go: Jayco-Alula are taking a turn at the front of the bunch. Oscar Onley (Picnic PostNL) is back with the bunch. Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel are plugging away – they have 3min 24secs on the group.
In about 20km time, crosswinds come into play and there could be echelons.
66km to go: Oscar Onley, Ben O’Connor, Sepp Kuss, Mathieu Burgaudeau and Lenny Martinez are among the 22 riders in the group behind the peloton. The gap between the chasing group and the breakaway is up to 4mins.
71km to go: There’s a big split in the peloton and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was caught behind it. He’s just put in a big effort to bridge across. The gap between the breakaway and the peloton has dropped to 3mins 40secs.
João Almeida withdraws from the Tour de France 2025
The news is just coming in that João Almeida has withdrawn from this year’s Tour. He dropped off the back off the peloton again and got in to the team car. UAE Team Emirates-XRG have just radioed the riders on the road to let them know.
Almeida, often referred to as the top lieutenant of Tadej Pogačar, suffered a broken rib and a number of abrasions after crashing on stage seven.
82km to go: Soudal Quick-Step have decided to also participate in the chase with Lidl-Trek and Uno-X Mobility. The gap between the peloton and breakaway sits at about 5mins.
There are some lovely scenic shots on the TV coverage, so here is my attempt to share some similar snaps:
91km to go: On the TV coverage, the riders can be seen pouring water from their bidons on to themselves. It’s another hot day for the peloton, with the temperatures sitting at about 31C. There also isn’t much shade on these exposed roads through the French countryside.
100km to go: With 100km to go, Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Jonas Rickaert and Mathieu van der Poel have 5mins or so on the peloton. In other news, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates XRG) is back with the bunch.
Also, Lidl-Trek have had takers and Uno-X Mobility have decided to collaborate, with Andreas Leknessund does a strong turn at the front of the bunch.
Will has emailed in to say Adam Blythe’s maths does need checking:
[The] Peloton only needs to go about 2km/h quicker than the break to catch them.
Shame.
Damn. But, thanks for clarifying Will!
110km to go: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) team mate, João Almeida, is struggling. He’s been dropped by the peloton. He’s riding with a broken rib after a crash in the final of stage seven.
Jens Voigt has got some intel on Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL) – apparently the sprinter is OK but his team are still weighing up whether he’ll contest the sprint later.
114km to go: German national champion, Georg Zimmerman (Intermarché-Wanty), has crashed and landed off the road in the grass. He’s back up and back on his bike but looks pretty sore with some road rash.
He’s now being attended to by the doctor’s car.
116km to go: Mathieu van der Poel is in the virtual yellow jersey at the moment. The pair have just got a load of gels from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team car. Professional cyclists doing attacks like these consume about 120g (or more) of carbs per hour.
123km to go: Lidl-Trek are diving the peloton but are the only ones at present. Alpecin-Deceuninck clearly won’t be helping now and Tim Merlier’s team Soudal-Quick-Step are looking after Remco Evenepoel. Lidl-Trek need another team to step up and join in.
127km to go: Adam Blythe has gone for it by saying he thinks Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert will win the stage. He points out that the pair are riding at about 54km/h with a tailwind so the peloton would have to go at about 60km/h to catch them. I haven’t checked Blythe’s maths but you get the point. The gap is now at 5mins 26secs.
Chris has messaged to say:
In a somewhat personal crusade to bring back this dormant Guardian feature:
Name That Breakaway: Van der Poel & Rickaert
A sublime 90’s prog house duo, responsible for a slew of classics on the Platypus imprint and much favoured by Sasha & Digweed back in the day. Who can forget their remix of Orbital’s Chime?
Any other takers for this game?
132km to go: There’s been a crash. Sprinters like Sam Watson (Ineos Grenadiers), Soren Waerenskjold (Uno-X Mobility) and Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL) are down. All the riders involved are back on their bikes now but Waerenskjold looks in pain and visibly upset.
Van der Poel and Rickaert establish breakaway after intermediate sprint
138km to go: Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert are now 4mins 30secs ahead of the peloton. After the results of the intermediate sprint, where Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) took 13 points, he remains in third place on the sprint classification and Van der Poel remains in fourth. According to my quick maths, nine sprint points seperate them at the moment.
Mark has got in touch from Florida. He has a couple of questions:
In previous years, there were many double-wheeled moto bikes covering the Tour de France. This year I have not seen any. Any idea why? Are they out of fashion now days?
And
Every cyclist seems to wear the same socks – white, mid-calf. What with all the aero testing done now days, I’m surprised there is so little deviation – unless there is a sock rule. What do you know about this?
I’m not sure about the double-wheeled moto bikes, but I do know that there is a sock rule. There is a maximum sock height set by the UCI, so the riders will all be wearing the highest aero socks within the limit. The white socks might be due to the heat, but also the fact that so many are sporting white cycling shoes too.
146km to go: The peloton have reached the intermediate sprint. There’s a group of five riders, including Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay, who do a “70% effort” (according to Sean Kelly) sprint for the reamining points.
Results of the intermediate sprint
1. Van der Poel, 20 pts
2. Rickaert, 17 pts
3. Milan, 15 pts
4. Girmay, 13 pts
5. Merlier, 11 pts
6. Turgis, 10 pts
7. Consonni, 9 pts
8. Coquard, 8 pts
9. De Lie, 7 pts
10. Plapp, 6 pts
11. Wright, 5 pts
12. Simmons, 4 pts
13. Valgren, 3 pts
14. Sweeny, 2 pts
15. Berckmoes, 1 pt
148km to go: Van der Poel is first over the line at the intermediate sprint, taking 20 green jersey points, and Rickaert bags 17 points. They’re not sitting up! The duo have continued. They have almost 4mins on the peloton but there is such a long way to go.
151km to go: Sean Kelly on TNT Sports thinks Van der Poel and Rickaert might keep going after the intermediate sprint. It’ll be interesting to see if they do.
Alpecin-Deceuninck just told Jens Voigt, who is out on the moto, that they expect the break to be allowed to go away before the intermediate sprint. They wanted to make the stage a little harder than yesterday.
Here are a couple of images coming in from the road:
156km to go: Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert are 3mins ahead now with 6km to go until the intermediate sprint.
Ineos Grenadiers team radioed their riders to say they think the breakaway will scoop up sprint points and then join back in the peloton.
Simon has emailed in with his thoughts on today’s stage:
Going to be a quiet day – a hopeless breakaway and a slog for the poor domestiques who have to ride on the front of the peloton, keeping the break under control. A thankless task.
No doubt the GC chaps are kicking back, drinking vintage Chinon AOC, which can age for decades and apparently tastes like the ‘depths of a forest after a storm’.
That’s a beautiful description. It sound delicious (I think).
163km to go: The Alpecin-Deceuninck duo in the breakaway have over 2mins on the peloton now. Behind them, Lidl-Trek have upped the pace slightly. The team’s Jonathan Milan is the current green jersey wearer. Van der Poel is ranked fourth in the sprinter classification, so if he takes the 2o points at the intermediate sprint it could push him up a spot, ahead of Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty).
166km: Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty) is receiving medical attention from the Tour doctor. His shoulder took a hit yesterday after coming down on his way into the finish. This morning he told reporters:
I was pulling most of the day and then I had finished my job and the only thing I could really do for the boys was to bring some bottles. I went back to the car, gave some vests, some bottles … And then I was coming back to the peloton, I was à bloc. I looked down to put my bottle in the cage and when I looked up, a guy broke hard just in front of me. I touched his wheel and I couldn’t save it any more and I crashed.
A crash at more than 50 km/h is never fun. My shoulder is pretty banged up, a lot of road rash and bruises … But luckily nothing is broken. From now on I take it day by day. In two days we have a rest day so we’ll see.
We try our best. We’re here to race and of course today I don’t feel 100% sharp but I will give it my best. I came here to help Biniam Girmay win a stage and we won’t quit.
170km: Van der Poel and Rickaert have stretched their gap to 1min 13secs already. Lidl-Trek are blocking on the front of the peloton and don’t seem interested in shutting the breakaway down. The intermediate sprint is early on in the stage, coming up in 21km.
The racing has begun!
172km to go: And we’re off! Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu van der Poel is straight off and up the road. He’s been joined by team mate Jonas Rickaert.
As a reminder, here’s how the general classification for the yellow jersey looks:
General classification: top 10 after stage eight
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Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) 29hrs 48mins 30secs
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Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step) +54secs
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Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +1min 11secs
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Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 17secs
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Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +1min 29secs
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Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1min 34secs
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Oscar Onley (Picnic-PostNL) +2mins 49secs
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Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3mins 2secs
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Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3mins 6secs
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Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +3mins 43secs
Today’s rollout has begun
Stage nine of the Tour de France 2025 is under way. The peloton have rolled out from a Chinon. There’s a 7.6km neutralised section before the racing begins.
Stage nine’s official race briefing comes today from French former pro-cyclist Gilles Maignan:
Stage nine, Chinon to Châteauroux, 174.1km [is] a stage made for sprinters. [There’s] not much in the way of difficulty.
There will be a sprint after 24km, an intermediate sprint that could either launch the race or stall it if sprinters want to go for points. After that, there are no climbs. Not a single climber on this stage.
The only challenge might be the wind. If the wind picks up, that could change things. There will be a lot of direction changes along these 174km. A pure sprinter’s finish, a long straight line, no traps, on wide boulevards.
There are a few turns before entering downtown Châteauroux. If the wind blows, it could play a role. But overall, a classic finish, a mass sprint, likely won by a pure sprinter like Cavendish who claimed his first win in Châteauroux. His very first of 35 Tour de France stage victories.
Here is the route profile of stage nine:
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We’ll undoubtedly be hearing a lot about Cavendish’s Châteauroux legacy today. Let me know if you have any memories of this, his first Tour stage win back in 2008:
Stage nine: Chinon to Châteauroux, 174km
Here’s a look at today’s stage, Sunday 13 July: Chinon to Châteauroux, 174.1km, with William Fotheringham’s preview:
British fans remember Chateauroux for the first of Mark Cavendish’s 35 stage wins in 2008 and his 32nd in 2021. With not a single rated climb en route, this is bound to be a sprint day, and by this point, the pressure will be mounting on the fast men who are yet to win: if Philipsen and Merlier are on form, the finger will be pointing at Biniam Girmay and Dylan Groenewegen.
The preview was written before the Tour, so Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won’t be in the mix today after having to withdaw from the race on stage three.
Preamble
Hello and welcome back to the Guardian’s Tour de France live blog. It’s another flat stage today for the riders as they make their way from Chinon to Châteauroux over 174.1km of parcours. There’s a low elevation gain of 1,400m, no categorised climbs and an intermediate sprint at 24km in.
Châteauroux, which has been renamed ‘Cavendish City’ temporarily, is a sprinter’s finish. Mark Cavendish won three times in the city and notably took the first of his record 35 wins here in 2008.
So, unsuprisingly, it’s going to be a day for the sprinters. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) is fresh off a victory yesterday – can he repeat it in another bunch sprint? Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quick-Step) was unlucky yesterday, suffering a mechanical close to the finish and having to expend energy trying to get to the front of the pack before a rush for the line. Perhaps today is his day? Or Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) could get his first stage win of this Tour? Oh, and we shouldn’t forget Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike). I’d love to get your thoughts, so please email via the link above.
Before the action starts at 1.10pm CEST (12.10am BST), here’s a refresher of how yesterday played out: