Sunday, July 12th, 9th stage: Malemort > Ussel – Attackers narrowly got the better of the peloton on a spectacular stage 9 of the Tour de France 2026 that eventually saw Mathieu Van der Poel power to victory in Ussel, after 154.6 km of exhilarating battle from Malemort. On the roads of Corrèze, the Flying Dutchman was instrumental in getting breakaway established. He then split the front group on the final ascent of the day. And he eventually dominated Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) to take his third stage win in the Tour. Van der Poel continues his team’s streak in the Tour: Alpecin-Premier Tech have now won stages in every edition since their debut in 2021. After Monday’s rest, the race will resume with a demanding stage in the Massif Central for climbers and puncheurs to bring fireworks on Bastille Day.
A most intense start
The road rises immediately and attackers set off as soon as the flag drops for the 176-man peloton, at 13:57. There are many contenders for the breakaway. But Lidl-Trek control them all the way to the intermediate sprint in Beynat (km 13.9), where Mads Pedersen takes full points ahead of Biniam Girmay (NSN). Attacks keep flying en route to Côte de Naves, the first categorised climb of the day. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quic-Step) leads the way at the summit (km 46) but attackers are still to make the break.
After a series of attacks and counter-attacks that saw him play a leading role, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) sets off again at km 57. A group of 16 riders emerges at the front with the latest additions of Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-W36.5) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United).
Johannessen and Simmons attack from that group ahead the Suc au May ascent (cat. 2, 3.8 km at 7.7%). Pidcock and then Van der Poel set off in pursuit, making it an eight-man front group led by the Brit at the summit (km 98.5). Van der Poel and Johannessen are up there, as well as Derek Gee-West, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) and Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost).
UAE Emirates-XRG set a strong pace in the bunch. The gap never gets higher than 1’25’’, at the summit of the Suc au May ascent. Netcompany Ineos bring more manpower to the chase with just over 40 kilometres remaining. The situation frustrates the attackers, who no longer collaborate smoothly.
Van der Poel attacks on the final ascent of the day, the cat. 4 Mont Bessou (summit at km 24.5). Johannessen, Pidcock and Baudin follow his move to make it a four-man lead group into the last 20 kilometres. Behind them, Simmons and Gee-West wait for the bunch to try and set a bunch sprint for Pedersen.
The four leaders work well together until the final kilometre. Van der Poel is at the front. He controls his rivals as well as the gap to the bunch and eventually powers to victory ahead of Johannessen and Pidcock. Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) is the first rider from the bunch, crossing the line just 6 seconds behind Van der Poel.
Stage 9 Results:
| 1 | M. VAN DER POEL | ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH | 03h 27′ 51” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | T. JOHANNESSEN | UNO-X MOBILITY | 03h 27′ 51” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 03h 27′ 51” | – | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | A. BAUDIN | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 03h 27′ 51” | – | – | – |
| 5 | F. GANNA | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 03h 27′ 57” | + 00h 00′ 06” | – | – |
| 6 | M. PEDERSEN | LIDL-TREK | 03h 27′ 57” | + 00h 00′ 06” | – | – |
| 7 | M. MATTHEWS | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 03h 27′ 57” | + 00h 00′ 06” | – | – |
| 8 | N. BREUILLARD | TOTALENERGIES | 03h 27′ 57” | + 00h 00′ 06” | – | – |
| 9 | J. JEGAT | TOTALENERGIES | 03h 27′ 57” | + 00h 00′ 06” | – | – |
| 10 | S. QUINN | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 03h 27′ 57” | + 00h 00′ 06” | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 9:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 32h 17′ 04” | – | B : 26” | – |
| 2 | J. VINGEGAARD | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 32h 19′ 46” | + 00h 02′ 42” | B : 12” | – |
| 3 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 32h 20′ 31” | + 00h 03′ 27” | B : 14” | – |
| 4 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 32h 20′ 34” | + 00h 03′ 30” | B : 4” | – |
| 5 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 32h 20′ 38” | + 00h 03′ 34” | – | – |
| 6 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 32h 20′ 59” | + 00h 03′ 55” | – | – |
| 7 | F. LIPOWITZ | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 32h 21′ 04” | + 00h 04′ 00” | – | – |
| 8 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 32h 21′ 25” | + 00h 04′ 21” | – | – |
| 9 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 32h 22′ 01” | + 00h 04′ 57” | – | – |
| 10 | E. BERNAL | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 32h 26′ 16” | + 00h 09′ 12” | – | – |
