Hot dance on the volcano: Pogacar distanced Vingegaard, Woods won

After 35 years, the Tour de France stopped again at the Puy de Dome, an extinct volcano in the Massif Central that is surrounded by many myths. Celts and Romans built sanctuaries here. But history has also often been written here at the Great Loop. Fausto Coppi, for example, won on his first descent in 1952, and in 1964 there was an iconic duel between fan favorite Raymond Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil. In 1975, the great Eddy Merckx received a fist punch from a spectator here. Yesterday he delivered a great show again. While Canada’s Michael Woods soloed the stage win, Tadej Pogacar shook off the man in yellow Jonas Vingegaard in the heated 30 degree final, just 17 seconds before the first rest day.

“Tadej was stronger in the end, so he deserved it.” Defending Tour champion Vingegaard paid his respects to his arch-rival at the top at 1465 meters. One and a half kilometers before the finish, Pogacar launched one of his dreaded attacks on the up to 18 percent steep climb. Vingegaard fought hard to catch up – and contained the damage eight seconds behind. The Slovenian took 13th place in the daily standings, just ahead of the Dane. The two had already had two bitter fights in the Pyrenees in the first week of the tour. On the way to Laruns, Vingegaard had gained more than a minute, a day later Pogacar countered with the stage win over the Tourmalet.

In the fight for the day’s success, Matteo Jorgenson looked like the sure winner for a long time yesterday. Around 53 kilometers from the finish, the 14-man lead group shrank to five professionals after an attack by Jorgenson. He tackled the final climb solo. Due to past incidents, fans were no longer allowed on the last four kilometers of the volcano.

And for Jorgenson, the Movistar teammate of state champion Gregor Mühlberger, the big slump was to come. Woods, a former track and field athlete and third at the 2018 Road World Championships in Innsbruck, caught up with the American just 500 meters from the finish line on the steepest part of the mountain and passed him. The Canadian won 28 seconds ahead of Frenchman Pierre Latour. A few minutes later, the fight for the overall ranking broke out.

Gall climbed well again

The East Tyrolean Felix Gall keeps up with his first tour of France. He climbed up the front again and moved up to 16th place in the overall standings (+9:46 min.). He remains second in the mountains classification, but leader Neilson Powless extended his lead yesterday.

After the rest day on Monday, there will be ups and downs in the Massif Central on Tuesday on the tenth stage over 167.2 kilometers from Vulcania to Issoire.

The Astana racing team wants to persuade the tragically eliminated old star Mark Cavendish to continue his career. “Yes, we want Mark to continue in 2024 and be able to compete in his 15th Tour de France to win his 35th stage,” said team principal Alexander Vinokurov. Cavendish suffered a broken collarbone in a crash on stage eight on Saturday and was forced to retire. This also burst the Briton’s dream of a record stage win, which would have left the legend Merckx behind for good.