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Dust settles on the GC after hectic cobbled stage of the Tour de France

Contenders and GC hopefuls have varying degrees of luck and misfortune on Stage 9 to Roubaix

July 15, 2018
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It was a very nervous peloton that tackled the 15 sectors and 21-km of pavés on Stage 9 of the 2018 Tour de France. Generall Classification contenders had strong men of the spring classics at their sides to shepherd them over the cobbled roads of Northern France in a stage billed as a mini Paris-Roubaix. While John Degenkolb (Trek-Segrafedo) edged out fellow former Paris-Roubaix winner Greg Van Avermaet (BMC)  for the stage win, some of the GC were tested and pushed to their limit on the cobbles.

Richie Porte (BMC) was the biggest loser on the day and his misfortune came well before the cobbles. Inside the first 10-km of racing, the BMC team leader hit the deck and his bid to challenge Chris Froome (Sky) for the yellow jersey ended swiftly as he left the race holding his right shoulder. Porte had been sitting 10th overall just 57 seconds behind race leader and teammate Van Avermaet.

For his part, Froome suffered a nasty-looking crash of his own with 45-km remaining but he chose a soft spot for his landing. He was quickly back on his bike and was able to rejoin the peloton which would finish 27 sec behind Degenkolb. In an eventful day, Froome was not the last to suffer misfortune.

Especially unlucky on the day was Romain Bardet (Ag2R-La Mondial) who suffered punctures and mechanicals throughout the stage being forced to stop and receive mechanical assistance five times. Cameras constantly were on the Frenchman as he suffered misfortune after misfortune and was forced to chase with the tireless help of his teammates Tony Gallopin and Oliver Naesen.

In the end, Bardet would concede only seven seconds to the Froome group coming across the line in a chase that also contained Mikel Landa (Movistar) who crashed but had help from his teammates to limit his losses. His teammates Nairo Quintana and Alejandro faired better staying with Froome giving Movistar all its options heading into the Tour’s second week.

Last years Tour de France runner-up Rigoberto Uran was less lucky and when he hit the deck his EF Education First-Drapac teammates came to his aid but the Colombian still conceded 1’28 to the lead group of GC contenders. A big blow for repeating his podium ambitions.

The only GC rider to take time on the Froome group was Bob Jungels (Quick Step Floors) who came in seven seconds ahead of the defending champion and finished seventh on the stage.

The main peloton contained the majority of the riders with GC aspirations with Froome, Geraint Thomas, Valverde, Tom Dumoulin, Steven Kruijswijk, Bauke Mollema, Vincenzo Nibali, Quintana, Primoz Roglic, Adam Yates, Ilnur Zakarin, Rajal Majka, Dan Martin and Jacob Fuglsang all finishing on the same time. Monday the peloton will take a day of rest before things resume for the first mountainous stage of the Tour to Le Grand-Bornand.