Tour de France: Woods wins on the Puy de Dôme - Pogacar moves up
DPA
· 09.07.2023
Tadej Pogacar stormed up the ultra-steep ramp of the legendary Puy de Dôme as if unleashed, while his great rival Jonas Vingegaard fought for every second on the volcano just behind him.
The two top stars put on another fantastic climbing show at the 110th Tour de France - with a points victory for Pogacar. The two-time Tour winner took eight seconds off the defending champion on the Hill of Champions, but the yellow jersey remains on Vingegaard's shoulders.
Woods takes stage win
When Pogacar reached the weather station on the 1415 metre high summit after 182.4 kilometres during the stage win of the Canadian breakaway rider Michael Woods, the Slovenian was completely exhausted. In the showdown, he put in another pinprick - but nothing more. Vingegaard retained the yellow jersey with a 17-second lead.
1.5 kilometres before the finish, Pogacar launched one of his dreaded attacks on the up to 18 per cent steep climb. Vingegaard fought doggedly to catch up - and limited the damage. As a result, Pogacar once again showed himself to be in strong form after being outsprinted by Vingegaard at the start in the Pyrenees.
The day's victory went to Woods, who had broken away early with 13 other riders and had the most stamina in the end. He was followed by the Frenchman Pierre Latour and the Slovenian Matej Mohoric. German riders played no role in the Tour's return to the Puy de Dôme. The best German after the 13.3 kilometre long climb with an average gradient of 7.7 per cent was former Tour fourth-placed Emanuel Buchmann, who remains 13th overall.
Will Cavendish continue?
The several hundred thousand cycling fans did not get to see veteran star Mark Cavendish after the former world champion had to pull out the day before with a broken collarbone and give up his dream of a historic 35th stage win. With another stage win, the Briton would have left the legendary Eddy Merckx behind him once and for all. It is possible that the 38-year-old, who actually wanted to end his career this year, will return next year. His Astana team boss Alexander Vinokourov immediately offered him a new contract.
"I myself suffered a broken femur during the 2011 Tour, it was supposed to be my last year. But I didn't want to stop like that. I extended and fought to win the Olympic Games in London the following year," Vinokourov, who even won gold in the Olympic road race in front of Buckingham Palace in 2012, told the sports newspaper "L'Equipe". "Mark has the same spirit, the same will to achieve his ultimate goal. We are ready to offer him this opportunity. But he will decide."
For the time being, Cavendish is still level with Merckx, who has never been able to win on the Puy de Dôme, partly because a spectator once punched him in the kidney area. It was one of the many legendary stories written on the climb. As was the elbow duel between five-time Tour winner Jacques Anquetil and eternal runner-up Raymond Poulidor, who outsprinted his rival but missed out on yellow by 14 seconds.
The start of the stage in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat was also dedicated to Poulidor, the grandfather of classics specialist Matthieu van der Poel, who died in 2019. In the former home of "Poupou", Tour boss Prudhomme laid a wreath at the grave and van der Poel was presented with an old bike belonging to his grandfather before the start, which moved the Dutchman to tears.
Day off on Monday
Once the peloton was rolling, it was the turn of the breakaway riders. A group of 14 riders broke away and built up a lead of over 14 minutes. That was enough to prevent them from being caught on the final climb.
After the first rest day on Monday, the Tour continues on Tuesday with the tenth stage over 167.2 kilometres from Vulcania to Issoire. With five moderately difficult mountain classifications, there are constant ups and downs in the Massif Central, which should favour a breakaway group.
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