And you can read the stage report here:
That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Tomorrow’s a rest day, which they’ve certainly earned after that, so see you Tuesday as the Tour returns to France.
The stage finished in a hailstorm, but @GeraintThomas didn't mind:
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 10, 2016
"It was actually quite nice! Like being back in Wales." ⛈🌨 #TDF2016
Updated
No great change at the top of the general classification, but there are now only eight riders within a minute of Chris Froome’s yellow jersey:
La general del #TDF2016 antes del primer descanso: @NairoQuinCo, 4º a 23” de Froome; @alejanvalverde, 10º a 1’01”. pic.twitter.com/mvE0ZZe9SA
— Movistar Team (@Movistar_Team) July 10, 2016
No major change at the top of the general classification then, but Tejay van Garderen, Romain Bardet, and Fabio Aru all lost a little time to Chris Froome.
Truce scrapped: Adam Yates hits the front and sprints to the line. Froome looks up, blows out his cheeks and puts in one final effort to follow through on Yates’ wheel with Quintana, Porte and Martin all in tow. What drama to end the stage.
It looks like they might have settled on a truce as they ride through the most torrential rain.
Chris Froome kicks again but Quintana is not letting go, and Dan Martin and Richie Porte stay with him too. Their domestiques have fallen away and this little pack of six or seven will battle all the way to the line.
Stage nine – top five
1 Tom Dumoulin
2 Rui Costa
3 Rafal Majka
4 Dani Navarro
5 Winner Anacona
Rui Costa sprints to second place ahead of Rafal Majka in third who will sweep up 16 king of the mountains points. Has Majka done enough to keep hold of the polka dot jersey from Pinot?
Back down the road, Chris Froome is being attacked by Dan Martin for the 200th time. As ever, the Sky rider just will not let go.
Tom Dumoulin wins stage nine!
The Giant-Alpecin rider claims the first Tour de France stage of his career with a valiant charge up to Arcalís in hammering rain and hail. He’s utterly drenched but could not have a bigger grin as he crosses the line, punching the air.
Updated
1km remaining: While all the action has been going on in the yellow-jersey group, Tom Dumoulin is chugging home to a memorable stage victory. No one appears to be close to the Dutch rider – this stage is surely his.
Dan Martin tries again! He could take yellow if he can grab 20sec from Froome here, but the two-time Tour winner isn’t interesting in that. Froome quickly closes the gap. Brilliant attacking by Martin but Froome is relentless.
This weather is atrocious. Froome glances back and Quintana is on his wheel. Froome’s rival has no interest in helping the Briton kick clear and they both slow down, allowing Richie Porte and the rest to catch up again.
An attack back in the peloton! Daniel Martin drives clear and Chris Froome can’t quite keep in contact. At the back of the group, Fabio Aru is losing touch. Now Froome goes! He digs in and only one man keeps touch – Nairo Quintana.
3km remaining: Dumoulin’s legs are pumping hard, head swaying in the rain. He is still more than 40sec clear, it seems. He is closing in on a wonderful victory in these treacherous conditions.
4km remaining: Dumoulin still 40sec clear. It is hammering down with rain and hail and all sorts of nasty stuff. Brutal conditions. Will this spark an attack on Chris Froome? Quintana remains on his wheel. Astana’s Nibali and Aru are there too.
5km remaining: Dumoulin’s lead is timed at around 40sec from Majka and Costa. He is going to try and see this out like an uphill time trial, and looks in good shape to do exactly that.
Lumps of ice are falling from the sky at the finish! OK, it’s hail, but what drama.
6km remaining: Back in the yellow-jersey group Quintana is sitting on the wheel on Chris Froome, as Sky remain on the front. Nine minutes up the road Rui Costa and Majka are the only two closing in on Dumoulin – is it between these three for the stage victory?
8km remaining: Rain starts to tumble as Diego Rosa, Thibaut Pinot and Rui Costa attempt to close the gap to Dumoulin, who is around 30sec clear.
I’ve been sent an email wondering why Chris Froome is in the overall lead if he is not winning the stage. In short, he’s built up such a big lead over the previous few days that there are now only a few riders he needs to worry about in terms of challenging for the overall Tour – all of whom are either with him right now in the yellow-jersey group or behind him.
Dumoulin has never won a Tour de France stage before, although the 26-year-old did win the opening stage of this year’s Giro, a time trial in his home country The Netherlands. This, however, is a whole new challenge.
Tom Dumoulin has given himself a 30sec lead as he begins the hors catégorie climb into the finish at Arcalís. Has he got enough in his legs to finish the job?
10km remaining: This stage has split in half. While there have been plenty of entertaining breaks and counter breaks in the leading pack, the yellow-jersey group nine minutes back are passively following Team Sky. No one has shown they are prepared to take on Chris Froome.
12km remaining: Now Tom Dumoulin attacks! The Dutch Giant-Alpecin uses a flat section before the serious stuff to break clear and no one has gone with him.
It’s raining in Arcalís:
💦💦💦💦💦 sur la ligne d'arrivée / on the arrival line! #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/zr7aPRu2zA
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 10, 2016
15km remaining: Attacks and counterattacks at the front. Majka and Navarro have broken 10sec clear and George Bennett bridges the gap.
Updated
As it stands
So 10 riders lead they way and it looks as if they will contest the stage victory. None are a threat to the yellow jersey, hence the eight-minute gap to Chris Froome and a group of 35 riders containing the main GC contenders. Team Sky have worked on the front of the peloton relentlessly and are yet to be attacked by Nairo Quintana or anyone else.
20km remaining: The 10 leaders descend briefly before reaching the foot of the climb to Arcalís, the final climb of the day. Those names again: Pinot, Majka, Rosa, Frank, Dumoulin, Navarro, Bennett, Anacona, Rui Costa and Jesus Herrada.
Updated
The leaders are around 8min clear of the yellow-jersey group, who won’t be too concerned by the names up ahead. The latest king of the mountains standings after Pinot’s chug to the summit:
Thibaut Pinot 60 points
Rafal Majka 45
Thomas De Gendt 36
Sky pull across to pick up drinks. They remain on the front of the peloton, and behind them there is still no sign of Nairo Quintana attacking.
As the front-runners near the top, Thibaut Pinot takes control. He stands and pumps his way to the maximum 10 king of the mountains points to tighten grip on tomorrow’s polka dot jersey, which Rafal Majka is currently wearing.
George Bennett tries to attack but he’s reeled in by Pinot, who isn’t standing for any funny business. Moments later Bennett tries his luck again, and this time only some can keep up. As they approach the summit this leading group has been split.
The new leading pack
The 10 out on front: Pinot, Majka, Rosa, Frank, Dumoulin, Navarro, Bennett, Anacona, Rui Costa and Jesus Herrada.
This is the Tour de France at its most brutal. The race has been strung out across the Col de Beixalis as the steep hairpins wreak havoc on tired legs. Pinot, Majka and company are nearing the relief of the summit.
This is good - the climbs are hurting, like they did in the 80s. It really looks like the pre-EPO days are back for good @LawrenceOstlere
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 10, 2016
30km remaining: The yellow-jersey group fronted by Chris Froome have shed so many that the biggest pack of riders are now the 70 or so a couple of minutes behind them. Only around 40 have kept pace with Team Sky, while around 9min up the road, the 20 or so breakawayers have splintered. Eight lead the way, fronted by Thibaut Pinot.
Updated
De Gendt has indeed been caught by the rest of the leading group. From those 20 that sprung clear a couple of hours ago, eight have now split clear on this gruelling, winding Col de Beixalis. Thibaut Pinot and Rafal Majka are among them.
De Gendt’s team-mate Tony Gallopin has been dropped by the breakaway, as has Natnael Berhane. Meanwhile Warren Barguil, 14th overall, is struggling at the back of the peloton.
This is determined stuff by De Gendt but he is being worn down by the Beixalis and chased down by the rest of the breakaway.
@LawrenceOstlere They are the 20 trailing in behind Hamilton and Rosberg next year in the race to be third in the F1 procession.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 10, 2016
Sky are ramping up the pace on the peloton’s nose. On Eurosport, Greg LeMond analyses the final 30km of the race and believes Nairo Quintana must attack on the brutal Col de Beixalis and leave Team Sky behind before the final climb of the day – Arcalís.
Thomas De Gendt has kicked on. After reaching the top of Côte de la Comella he continued solo into the descent and is attacking Beixalis around 40sec clear of the rest of the break.
The penultimate climb of the day is the category one Col de Beixalis. This from our man on the ground, William Fotheringham:
2nd last climb, Beixalis has some of the tightest, steepest hairpins I've ever seen. you can barely get a car up there. grim indeed.
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) July 10, 2016
That dash to the top by De Gendt leaves the king of the mountains scores looking like this:
Thibaut Pinot 50 points
Rafal Majka 44
Thomas De Gendt 36
Updated
Grmay and Coppel are dragged back into the break and Thomas De Gendt takes the chance to attack for the king of the mountains points. The Lotto-Soudal rider has been one of the most aggressive in the opening week or so and he is showing that spirit again. De Gendt takes the five points on offer at the top of the category two climb, while Pinot takes two points.
40km remaining: Grmay and Coppel close in on the summit of the Côte de la Comella. They have built up a small lead of no more than 15sec from the other 17 breakaway riders – and remain almost 10min clear of the peloton.
The intermediate sprint has pulled Sagan closer to Cavendish’s green jersey:
Mark Cavendish 204 points
Peter Sagan 197
Marcel Kittel 182
Our breakaway is splintered, much like the Demarrage:
@LawrenceOstlere The 20 manned the ill-fated French expeditionary vessel Demarrage which stranded at Spitsbergen in 1717 on its way to Nepal
— Serge Nuffler (@SergeNuffler) July 10, 2016
An attack! Jérôme Coppel (IAM) powers away from the leaders at the foot of the Côte de la Comella. Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida) looks around and decides to go with him.
Peter Sagan sweeps up the maximum intermediate sprint points virtually unchallenged and his work is done. He fades away from the break into no man’s land, and will eventually be taken in by the peloton.
Might the yellow-jersey battle gather pace as they approach the next climb? Let’s hope so. In name the breakaway news, Mark Elliot emails: “Arsenal travelling squad for a 3rd round League cup tie at Rotherham in 2007.”
@LawrenceOstlere #namethatbreakaway the final 20 boys in this year's x-factor go looking for Louis Walsh's judges house high in the Pyrenees
— Martin Alderton (@TheChesterfan2) July 10, 2016
50km remaining: The breakaway have moved almost ten minutes clear now. Next up is the intermediate sprint marker, at the foot of the category two Côte de la Comella climb.
Name the breakaway hasn’t taken off today but despite the 20-man list Brian Forseth has not been put out:
@LawrenceOstlere the breakaway list sounds like the cast from a 60's spaghetti-western - doomed heroes with a slight chance for glory
— Brian Forseth (@BCazart) July 10, 2016
The gap between breakaway and peloton is up to almost 8min 30sec. Chris Froome and co are taking a fairly relaxed pace as one or two Team Sky riders take on a bottle of fluid in the heat.
There is an interesting dynamic in the breakaway where several of the 20 riders appear to be conserving energy before the tricky double-peak finish to the stage. They have a lead of more than 7min over the peloton so there is no desperate need to increase the tempo, which is causing a reluctance to put in a shift on the front.
Team Sky continue to front the peloton – they are not getting a huge amount of help today.
A bit of a lull in the action as the peloton descend, around 6min behind the breakaway group. The peloton have shed a few and those stragglers include the green jersey of Mark Cavendish. Meanwhile, a Thibaut Pinot fan’s thoughts:
@LawrenceOstlere Pinot really setting himself up well for Bastille Day's Thrilling Heroics. He's slugging away well & bodes well for future
— MaliciousA (@MaliciousA) July 10, 2016
Updated
Cédric Pineau of FDJ has also abandoned the Tour.
5 abandons in #TDF2016 so far:
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 10, 2016
Morkov (KAT)
Renshaw (DDD)
Ladagnous (FDJ)
Contador (TNK)
Pineau (FDJ) https://t.co/Ej6ajI4lZ1
80km remaining: The breakaway group are nearing the Spain-Andorra border. The first action in Andorra will be an intermediate sprint – Peter Sagan’s eyes will light up.
Winner Anacona, Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Diego Rosa, Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Rafal Majka, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-LaMondiale), George Bennett (Lotto-Jumbo), Mathias Frank, Stef Clement, Jérôme Coppel (IAM), Natnael Berhane (Dimension Data), Tom Dumoulin (Giant), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Rui Costa, Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida), Thomas De Gendt, Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), Dani Navarro, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis).
Updated
“Weird thing seeing Contador so lessened,” emails Zack Gomperts-Mitchelson. “I know the crashes and the fever caused the abandon but he was being dropped during the Dauphine, really don’t feel this was ever a realistic challenge. I have no idea what he’s going to be aiming for with Trek, a classics team, wonder what part of his Palmeres he wants plumping? Guess the other two tours are most likely. Speaking of which, the Vuelta is starting to look good, Kruijswijk, Chavez and now Contador, the slightly too young verses the rather too old. Who doesn’t love a generational battle?”
The peloton pass the top of Port del Cantò. They are 6min 30sec down on the leaders, and don’t seem too fussed by that: all the serious GC contenders are in the main pack.
Updated
That dash at the top of Port del Cantò hands 10 points to De Gendt, eight to Pinot and six to Majka. Which leaves the king of the mountains standings looking like this:
Thibaut Pinot 48 points
Rafal Majka 43
Thomas De Gendt 31
Sprint!
At the front of the breakaway, Thomas De Gendt takes the lead as they move within 200m of the summit and the king of the mountains marker. He drives forward, closely followed by Pinot, and Majka in polka dots. Suddenly Pinot attacks! He powers round the outside of De Gendt who is taken by surprise, but the Belgian responds and holds off Pinot to edge the victory.
Contador is only the fourth retirement in this remarkably sedate Tour so far. Pierre Rolland has also pulled to the side for some attention, and has a bandage applied to his right wrist before rejoining the peloton.
It’s only the second time Contador has been forced to pull out of the Tour de France, after retiring in 2014. The two-time winner never got anything going this time around after that stage-one crash, and a fever is apparently what finished his challenge.
Contador abandonne ! / Contador abandons ! #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/EVAxOV5PPu
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 10, 2016
Contador abandons the 2016 Tour de France
As the peloton weaves up towards the Port del Cantò, a flash of fluorescent green pulls off to the side. Alberto Contador has suffered with injuries and fever, and he’s had enough. The Spaniard is piled into a Tinkoff team car and, with an apologetic wave to the camera, his Tour is over for another year.
Updated
Half-time entertainment
We are about midway through this stage so here’s a little video to enjoy, complete with cliche musical accompaniment.
The breakaway have increased their lead steadily over the past 10km to nearly 6min. They are 5km from the summit and their next chance to go for king of the mountains points; the polka dots of Rafal Majka are well poised near the front of the group.
Adam Yates has had an eventful few days. He was clattered off his bike by the collapsed flamme rouge distance marker near the finish to stage seven:
But Yates has since taken control of the young riders’ white jersey with an 18-second lead over his nearest challenger, the talented South African Louis Meintjes. William Fotheringham has written this piece about the 23-year-old from Bury which is well worth a read:
Pinot v Majka:
The duel between Pinot & Majka for #Maillotapois continues.
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 10, 2016
9km away from the summit of Port del Canto. #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/GmFOEaEeTt
An interesting sub-plot today is the battle between Thibaut Pinot and Rafal Majka in the race to be crowned king of the mountains. Majka wears the polka dots but Pinot beat him to the first summit of stage nine this morning to jump into the lead in the standings. They are around 9km out from top of Port del Cantò and are already jostling for position, with Pinot making a dash but Majka quickly covering.
Froome’s skills on the bike stole the headlines, however:
Please don't try this at home 🙈 #safetyfirst #TDF2016 #TDF pic.twitter.com/Vns5QW1cFY
— Chris Froome (@chrisfroome) July 10, 2016
How local paper in this bit of Spain sees yesterday no translation needed pic.twitter.com/XmV7rgCRbc
— William Fotheringham (@willfoth) July 10, 2016
If you missed yesterday’s action, then you missed Chris Froome descend brilliantly to win stage eight. You will also have missed him punch a spectator in the face: “I have absolutely nothing against the Colombian fans, I think they’re fantastic,” Froome said after the race. “They bring great spirit to it. But this guy in particular was running right next to my handlebars. He had a flag that was flying out behind him and it was just getting dangerous so I pushed him away. I lashed out and pushed him away.”
The breakaway (see 12.37) have built up a lead of 5min – and it’s growing. This is splitting into one of those stages with two separate races: one for the stage win (and KoM points), the other for the yellow jersey.
Updated
Reports that Contador has been suffering from a fever this morning, rather than any major discomfort from his injuries. The relatively sedate pace that the peloton has taken on since Valverde’s surrender at least offers him some relief.
Zack Gomperts-Mitchelson emails: “Funny thing about Quintana and Valverde, if you could combine both riders you’d have the perfect stage racer, as it is, Quintana seems to me like a souped up Schleck brother, you know he can do it, but that conservatism always lets him down. Anyway, Movistar have two riders in the break today, they’ve made the strategic decision to pull Valverde back to the peleton, there’s an HC finish with a first category climb before it, if today isn’t the day for a major attempted from Quintana then I’ll eat my dinner frustrated. Cycling can be such a tease, you always know there’s a fireworks day coming, on any of the Grand Tours but these non-doped riders we have now have to be so much more careful with the energy expenditure. Today however, today looks good.”
Updated
Yesterday’s sport picture of the day was a cracker:
Contador is back in speaking to his car again. It is not looking promising for the Tinkoff rider.
Sad to see Contador below par @LawrenceOstlere. You want to see best fighting at 100%. Froome's rivals are thinning, when do they attack?
— Guy Hornsby (@GuyHornsby) July 10, 2016
It’s not quite now or never, giving Froome has only a 23sec lead over his main challengers, but you feel someone must want to take a bit of time from him at the end of this stage before tomorrow’s rest day.
Updated
The leading group, who have opened up a 3min 35sec lead, begin the second climb of the day and it’s a long’n: a 19km stretch up Port del Cantò. The category one king of the mountains points should provoke a dash at the top, once we get there.
The dark colours of Team Sky lead the peloton with a dash of yellow in their midst. Behind them is a cluster of Movistar riders with Nairo Quintana nestled safely amongst them. Given the tough finish at Arcalís, might this be the stage for him to attack?
@LawrenceOstlere "...the 2016 Tour suffered its first two abandonments yesterday." Not counting Quintana then? #toopassivetowin
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 10, 2016
The breakaway
The leaders have been reduced to 20 again after Valverde decided to rejoin the peloton, and that move by the Spaniard will transform this stage – he was only one in the leading pack who might be considered a threat to Chris Froome and the main GC contenders. Sky will probably be content to let them go clear and the gap has already increased to more than 3min. The 20 are:
Winner Anacona, Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Diego Rosa, Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Rafal Majka, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-LaMondiale), George Bennett (Lotto-Jumbo), Mathias Frank, Stef Clement, Jérôme Coppel (IAM), Natnael Berhane (Dimension Data), Tom Dumoulin (Giant), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Rui Costa, Tsgabu Grmay (Lampre-Merida), Thomas De Gendt, Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal), Dani Navarro, Nicolas Edet (Cofidis).
Updated
Alberto Contador is struggling. He tried to join a break at the beginning of the stage but couldn’t make it stick, and is clearly still suffering from the injuries he received on day one. He’s hanging back now talking with the Tinkoff car.
An interesting move as Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde, fifth in the overall standings, drops away from the breakaway after a chat with his team car and rejoins the peloton. He takes a handshake from Chris Froome as he does so: Froome’s Sky riders are still leading the peloton and are in for a tough day, it seems. They are currently 2min down on the leaders.
After a remarkable run, the 2016 Tour suffered its first two abandonments yesterday and it has another this morning: Matthieu Ladagnous of FDJ, who has been suffering with sickness.
Peter Sagan, in graph form:
Sagan races in the descent to catch up to the #MaillotJaune group.
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 10, 2016
Top speed: 97.7km/h! #TDFdata #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/BSft6gtvFM
Team Sky have squeezed some time back from the leading 19, and the gap is down to just more than a minute.
“Nairo Quintana: will he ever make an attack to try and win the tour?” emails Andrew Whiting. Quintana has had a habit of showing his climbing prowess at the end of the Tour de France when it’s all a little too late, leaving everyone to say ‘maybe next year’. His three individual grand tour wins have come at stages 16, 19 and 20, although two of those did propel him to 2014 Giro victory. Perhaps he will try something similar this time.
As the descent flattens out, Peter Sagan makes it across to the leading group. This stage is starting to take a little shape. There are now 19 riders in front, a break which includes Pinot, Majka, De Gendt, and Valverde. The Sky-led peloton is around 2min 11sec back and plotting how to keep things in check. Plan A appears to be an entirely sensible one: get Ian Stannard on the nose.
Rafal Majka has helped himself to an on-bike comfort break but he had the presence of mind to let the rider behind him, Peter Sagan, know it was happening so he could move out of the way. Classy touch.
Majka, Pinot and De Gendt have been caught by IAM Cycling’s Stef Clement on what is a picturesque descent, to make a quartet out in front.
King of the mountains
This should be an interesting battle all day. Here’s the latest after that dash for points:
Thibaut Pinot 40 points
Rafal Majka 37
At the top of Port de la Bonaigua, three riders from the leading pack sprint for king of the mountains points. Thibaut Pinot and Thomas De Gendt quickly shake off the man in polka dots today, Rafal Majka. Pinot powers past the Belgian and reaches the marker first to collect the maximum 10 points, with De Gendt settling for eight and Majka six. That pushes Pinot ahead of Majka in the polka dot standings.
So far today
The riders have left Vielha Val d’Aran, the start of stage nine just over the border from yesterday’s finish, and after 20km are closing in on the summit of the first climb up the category one Port de la Bonaigua. Right now there are a group of 25 riders off the front, around 1min 10sec clear of the Sky-fronted peloton. Runaway names coming up.
Stage nine – Vielha Val D’Aran to Arcalís (185km)
Chris Froome is in yellow today after he decided he’d “have a go” at attacking the ludicrously daring stage-eight descent into Bagnères-de-Luchon and allaying any doubts over his descending abilities in the process. The move handed the two-time Tour winner a 23sec lead over his main rivals for the start of stage nine, the peloton’s toughest challenge so far: a 185km slug over the Spanish and Andorran Pyrenees featuring five categorised climbs and finishing atop the hors catégorie Arcalís. Here’s more from our stage-by-stage interactive:
The Port de la Bonaigua early on and 65 mainly uphill kilometres to the finish including two steep climbs before the long drag to Arcalís. The length of the final climb should split the field. This is the first time that all cards will go on the table: Chris Froome, Romain Bardet, Fabio Aru and Nairo Quintana will all be weighed and measured and several will be found wanting.
Updated
