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Michael Woods’s Tour de France stage win is even more awesome than you think

The Israel - Premier Tech rider pulled off an absolutely incredible victory

09-07-2023 Tour De France; Tappa 09 Saint Leonard De Noblat - Puy De Dome; 2023, Israel - Premier Tech; Woods, Michael; Puy De Dome; Photo by: Sirotti
July 10, 2023
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What a race. If you were like me, you thought, well, Matteo Jorgenson is going to have a helluva win up to the top Puy de Dôme to win Stage 9. (Sorry, bud.) And you probably figured our boy Woodsy, Michael that is, of Israel – Premier Tech, is probably going to get a top-five today, a good result. Woods had been in the break all day that was leading up to the incredible climb. Plus, the final ramp was well-suited for Rusty, but when the leaders hit it, it seemed as if he wouldn’t be there to use it to his advantage.

The mythical Puy de Dôme

The legendary climb hasn’t been in the Tour for 35 years–adding even more prestige to this incredible finish. The last time the pros rode it, Dane Johnny Weltz won. That was 1988. By the way, on that day, Canada’s Steve Bauer was 28th, and was sitting fourth overall on the GC. He’d also won a stage a few weeks earlier, the first Canadian to do so. Bauer is the directeur sportif of Woods–and Hugo Houle and Guillaume Boivin, at IPT.

The 182-km stage had an early break, with two Canadians: Guillaume Boivin and Woods, were part of the 14-man breakaway that formed early.

As the day went on, that move dwindled, but still had a sizable gap on the main bunch. Here’s where it became clear that magic was about to unfold.

American  Jorgenson (Movistar) broke away solo, taking advantage of the large break watching each other. Jorgenson had a gap of 1:15 over a chase group, and a whopping 2:15 over the group with Woods. With almost 15 minutes over the bunch, the race was between the escapees.

Legend of the Puy de Dôme: Michael Woods becomes third Canadian to win a Tour de France stage

The lead-up on the Puy de Dôme was packed with fans, but the final 4 km was closed off to spectators for safety reasons. Imagine riding through a throng of people screaming at you, only to pull onto the toughest part of the course in complete silence. For Woods, it didn’t matter. He would later say that when he pulled onto the final climb that he wasn’t even thinking about the win, rather, he would just do a time trial to the finish.

A dramatic ascent

And that he did. Boy, did he ever.

If you were watching the race, you’d think, “Wow, he’s catching up to Neilson Powless and Matej Mohoric, maybe he’ll get a podium.” Then it was just Mohoric. A few seconds later, he dropped the Slovenian.

Then he was putting time into Jorgenson with 2 km to go. But surely, there’s no way he can catch him?

1.5 km to go is a long way to go if you’re riding on a 12 to 18 per cent gradient. Which, by the way, is Woods’s specialty. As heartbreaking as it was to see the American’s stage go south, it was incredible to see the Canadian launch to his first Tour de France victory, on one of most legendary climbs in Tour de France history.

Chapeau, Mike. Between this and Hugo Houle’s incredible win in 2022, we Canadian cycling fans are here for these days.