TOUR DE FRANCE 2021 STAGE 9 RESULTS POGACAR INCREASES LEAD IN DOWNPOUR

Australian climber Ben O’Connor soared to a high-altitude stage win on the Tour de France on Sunday on a cold, rainy day that culminated in a 13 mile climb to Tignes. UAE Emirates controlled the main contenders and their leader the 22-year-old defending champion Tadej Pogacar again hurt his rivals and strengthened his hold on the Tour lead, while Citroen AG2R man O’Connor hauled himself into second in the overall standings. O’Connor skipped up the 21km final climb to Tignes leaving other members of his breakaway group, including Colombian pair Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita, trailing in his wake.

“It’s mind-blowing, it can make your heart stop and it definitely did that to mine,” said a visibly thrilled O’Connor who dedicated the win to his happy Citroen-AG2R team, his family, girlfriend and mates back in Australia. The temperature was in single figures Celsius and rain fell most of the day.

“Conditions were atrocious,” O’Connor said and riders looked frozen to the bone at the finish line, many trembling with cold.

Pogacar once again showed he is currently the strongest of the overall contenders as he dropped Ineos pair Geraint Thomas and Richie Carapaz with 2.5 miles to go, gaining another 30 seconds in his title defense.

TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 9 RESULTS

1	O’CONNOR Ben	AG2R Citroën Team	4:26:43
2	CATTANEO Mattia	Deceuninck – Quick Step	5:07
3	COLBRELLI Sonny	Bahrain – Victorious	5:34
4	MARTIN Guillaume	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	5:36
5	BONNAMOUR Franck	B&B Hotels p/b KTM	6:02
6	POGAČAR Tadej	UAE-Team Emirates	6:02
7	CARAPAZ Richard	INEOS Grenadiers	6:34
8	VINGEGAARD Jonas	Team Jumbo-Visma	6:34
9	MAS Enric	Movistar Team	6:34
10	URÁN Rigoberto	EF Education – Nippo	6:34

 

OVERALL STANDINGS

1	POGAČAR Tadej	UAE-Team Emirates	34:11:10
2	O’CONNOR Ben	AG2R Citroën Team	2:01
3	URÁN Rigoberto	EF Education – Nippo	5:18
4	VINGEGAARD Jonas	Team Jumbo-Visma	5:32
5	CARAPAZ Richard	INEOS Grenadiers	5:33
6	MAS Enric	Movistar Team	5:47
7	KELDERMAN Wilco	BORA – hansgrohe	5:58
8	LUTSENKO Alexey	Astana – Premier Tech	6:12
9	MARTIN Guillaume	Cofidis, Solutions Crédits	7:02
10	GAUDU David	Groupama – FDJ	7:22

 

RBA/AFP Photos: Bettini