Back to 2013 Tour de France | Photos from stage 9 (posted below results and maps) |

Sunday, July 7: Stage 9, St Girons - Bagneres de Bigorre, 168.5 km

Rated Ascents:

• Km 28.5: Col de Portet d'Aspet (1,069m), 5.4 km @ 6.9% gradient, Category 2
• Km 44.0: Col de Menté (1,349m), 7 km @ 7.7%, Category 1
• Km 90.0: Col de Peyresourde (1,569m), 13.2 km @ 7%, Category 1
• Km 11.5: Col de Val Louron-Azet (1,580m), 7.4 km @ 8.5%, Category 1
• Km 138: La Hourquette d'Ancizan (1,564m), 9.9 km @ 7.5%, Category 1

Weather: At the finish in Bagneres de Bigorre 12:45 PM local time. 26C (79F) and cloudy with full sun forecast for later. Wind from the north at 6 kph (4 mph). 64% humidity.

The Race: Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp) didn't start.

I thought Froome had the race in the bag and the pack would let Sky run things, as it had during the Armstrong years. But with the rugged profile of this stage, the others came out firing and after about 40 kilometers Froome was isolated, even Richie Porte had been dropped.

With 100 kilometers to go there was a lead group of Pierre Rolland, Ryder Hesjedal, Thomas de Gendt, Thomas Danieleson and Romain Bardet and at about one minute the Froome group with Alejandro Valverde and two Movistar riders chased. A little further back were Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador.

As the Peyresourde ascent began the Froome group had grown, Evans and Contador among those who had bridged with Movistar doing a lot of the work. All the contenders except Rolland were with Froome. Froome's Sky teammates were two minutes back.

Over the top of the Peyresourde, the Rolland group, now joined by Jan Bakelants and Bart de Clercq but without Tom Danielson were 38 seconds ahead of the Yellow Jersey group and the Richie Porte group a further minute behind.

Simon Clarke jumped out of the Froome group, caught the Rolland break (which lost Hesjedal and de Gendt), went past them and was first over the Col de Val Louron-Azet.

As the race started the final climb, La Hourquette d'Ancizan, four riders (Rolland, Bardet, de Clercq and Clarke) were followed at 40 seconds by the 30-rider-strong Froome group, and the bunch with Richie Porte was at 3min 45sec. Valverde and his Movistar team seemed determined to take Porte's second place.

Romain Bardet left the break in search of a stage win while the Movistar-led front chase group swept up the rest of the break. And then Bardet was caught as well. Movistar seemed content to tap out a speed high enough to keep Porte (who probably went very deep yesterday) well back and ensure Valverde's second place in the GC.

Nope, Nairo Quintana did a probing attack and Froome was on his wheel like stink on poo. Then Garmin-Sharp's Daniel Martin jumped and Quintana went after him. Froome, having no teammates, had to mark him. Meanwhile Daniel Martin and Jakob Fuglsang dangled off the front, but not being GC threats, drew no attention.

Because of Movistar's limited ambitions and Saxo-Tinkoff's not wanting to jeopardize Contador, who was in severe difficulty the day before, Froome single-handedly protected his lead.

Fuglsang and Martin carved out a nice 42-second lead at the top with Wout Poels about 20 seconds behind, but would they be able to stay away for the remaining 30 kilometers?

With 10 km to go the gap was 25 seconds with Belkin's Robert Gesink leading the slightly disorganized chase.

The duo was not to be caught. Martin was first through a tricky corner and held it to the line. Froome held his lead despite being stripped of team support early in the stage.

Results: 182 classified finishers

1. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) 4hr 43min 3sec. 35.7 km/hr
2. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) s.t.
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 20sec
4. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) s.t.
5. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) s.t.
6. Cadel Evans (BMC) s.t.
7. Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil) s.t.
8. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) s.t.
9. Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) s.t.
10. Maxime Monfort (Radio Shack) s.t.
11. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) s.t.
12. Andy Schleck (Radio Shack) s.t.
13. Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
14. Christopher Froome (Sky) s.t.
15. Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
16. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel) s.t.
17. Laurens Ten Dam (Belkin) s.t.
18. Jean-Christophe Péraud (Ag2r) s.t.
19. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Movistar) s.t.
20. Rui Alberto Costa (Movistar) s.t.
21. Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) s.t.
22. Robert Gesink (Belkin) 2 25sec
23. Steve Morabito (BMC) s.t.
24. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) @ 3min 54sec
25. Jon Izaguirre (Euskaltel) s.t.
26. Igor Anton (Euskaltel) s.t.
27. Cyril Gautier (Europcar) s.t.
28. Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
29. José Serpa (Lampre-Merida) s.t.
30. Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 7min 7sec
31. Davide Malcarne (Europcar) s.t.
32. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) s.t.
33. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
34. Bart de Clercq (Lotto-Belisol) s.t.
35. Ruben Plaza (Movistar) s.t.
36. Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge) s.t.
37. Marcus Burghardt (BMC) @ 7min 57sec
38. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) s.t.
39. Jens Voigt (Radio Shack) s.t.
40. Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) s.t.
41. Jan Bakelants (Radio Shack) s.t.
42. Arthur Vichot (FDJ) @ 11min 38sec
43. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) s.t.
44. Juan José Oroz (Euskaltel) s.t.
45. Christophe Le Mevel (Cofidis) s.t.
46. Laurent Didier (Radio Shack) s.t.
47. Maxime Mederel (Sojasun) s.t.
48. Lars-Peter Nordhaug (Belkin) s.t.
49. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) s.t.
50. Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) s.t.
51. Tom Dumoulin (Argos-Shimano) s.t.
52. Enricop Gasparotto (Astana) s.t.
53. Imanol Erviti (Movistar) s.t.
54. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar) s.t.
55. Jesus Hernandez (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
56. John Gadret (Ag2r) s.t.
57. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) s.t.
58. Sep Vanmarcke (Belkin) @ 17min 59sec
59. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) s.t.
60. Richie Porte (Sky) s.t.

General Classification: 1,513.5 km raced so far at an average speed of 40.92 km/hr

1. Christopher Froome (Sky) 36hr 59min 18sec
2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) @ 1min 25sec
3. Bauke Mollema (Belkin) @ 1min 44sec
4. Laurens Ten Dam (Belkin) @ 1min 50sec
5. Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 1min 51sec
6. Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) s.t.
7. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Movistar) @ 2min 2sec
8. Daniel Martin (Garmin-Sharp) @ 2min 28sec
9. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) @ 2min 31sec
10. Rui Alberto Costa (Movistar) @ 2min 45sec
11. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel) @ 2min 55sec
12. Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) @ 3min 7sec
13. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 3min 25sec
14. Jean-Christophe Péraud (Ag2r) @ 3min 29sec
15. Andy Schleck (Radio Shack) @ 4min 0sec
16. Cadel Evans (BMC) @ 4min 36sec
17. Daniel Moreno (Katusha) s.t.
18. Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 6min 14sec
19. Igor Anton (Euskaltel) 2 6min 40sec
20. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) @ 7min 9sec
21. Maxime Monfort (Radio shack) @ 7min 55sec
22. Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp) @ 9min 35sec
23. Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil) @ 9min 45sec
24. José Serpa (Lampre-Merida) @ 9min 54sec
25. Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) @ 10min 30sec
26. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) @ 12min 34sec
27. Davide Malacarne (Europcar) @ 14min 27sec
28. Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 14min 35sec
29. Jan Bakelants (Radio Shack) @ 15min 52sec
30. John Gadret (Ag2r) @ 16min 27sec
31. Steve Morabito (BMC) @ 16min 46sec
32. Robert Gesink (Belkin) @ 16min 55sec
33. Richie Porte (Sky) @ 18min 30sec
34. Eduard Vorganov (Katusha) @ 19min 58sec
35. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) @ 20min 37sec
36. Maxime Mederel (Sojasun) @ 20min 57sec
37. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel) @ 21min 11sec
38. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Merida) @ 22min 30sec
39. Ruben Plaza (Movistar) @ 24mn 22sec
40. Haimar Zubeldia (Radio Shack) @ 25min 53sec
41. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) @ 26min 8sec
42. Andrey Amador (Movistar) @ 28min 55sec
43. Daryl Impey (Orica-GreenEdge) @ 30min 5sec
44. Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) @ 30min 10sec
45. Andreas Klöden (Radio Shack) @ 30min 18sec
46. Hubert Dupont (Ag2r) @ 30min 29sec
47. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) @ 31min 31sec
48. Arnold Jeannesson (FDJ) @ 31min 34sec
49. Cyril Gautier (Europcar) @ 31min 41sec
50. Alex Vuillermoz (Sojasun) @ 34min 27sec
51. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) @ 35min 1sec

Climber:

1. Pierre Rolland (Europcar): 49 points
2. Christopher Froome (Sky): 33
3. Richie Porte (Sky): 28
4. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Movistar): 26
5. Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel): 21

Points:

1. Peter Sagan (Cannondale): 234 points
2. André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol): 141
3. Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step): 128
4. Alexander Kristoff (KAtusha): 111
5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step): 90

Young Rider:

1. Nairo Alexander Quintana (Movistar) 37hr 1min 20sec
2. Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) @ 1min 23sec
3. Romain Bardet (Ag2r) @ 5min 7sec

Team Classification:

1. Movistar: 110hr 11min 29sec
2. Saxo-Tinkoff @ 4min 11sec
3. Belkin @ 5min 22sec
4. Ag2r @ 8min 7sec
5. Radio Shack @ 14min 7sec

Stage 9 map

Stage 9 profile

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Photos from Stage 9:

President of France (and co-prince of Andorra!) François Hollande visited the Tour today.

Panorama of the final climb, the Hourquette d'Ancizan

Daniel Martin and Jakob Fuglsang scampered away on the final climb and rode brilliantly to the finish.

Andy Schleck leads Chris Froome. Though Froome looks awful in this picture, he never had trouble closing up to attacks.

Alberto Contador did have yesterday's death-pallor, but he still wasn't the guy he was before his doping suspension, the guy who won Grand Tours at will.

White Jersey Nairo Quintana tried a couple of probing attacks and Froome closed them without serious effort.

Alejandro Valverde moved up to second, but no one seemed ready to risk mounting a serious challenge to Froome, isolated though he was. I've seen this play before and I know how it ends.

Bauke Mollema

Joaquin Rodriguez leads Daniel Moreno

Mikel Nieve

Rui Alberto Costa

Cadel Evans and Michal Kwiatkowski

Cyril Gautier

Igor Anton

Damiano Cunego

Pierre Rolland

Sylvain Chavanel

Ryder Hesjedal

This was not Richie Porte's day. He lost a big fistful of time and second place in the GC.

Andrew Talansky

Another view of the final ascent

The publicity caravan finished the stage. Don't see any cars shaped like giant flies this year.

More of the caravan

Horses are nice, but I wanted a giant fly like in the old days.

Stage winner Daniel Martin

Pierre Rolland with climbing immortal Federico Bahamontes

Though stripped of his team, Chris Froome never looked to be in difficulty during what was a hard day of racing.

Federico Bahamontes and Raymond Poulidor (at last in yellow!)