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Stage 9 - Pau to Laruns - 153km - Sunday, September 6
The Tour’s first week ends with another mountainous ride through the Pyrenees. The 153km stage features five categorized climbs, the last of which—the super-steep Category 1 Col de Marie Blanque—summits just 18km from the finish line in Laruns.
The day begins in Pau, which has hosted the Tour de France more than any other city except for Paris and Bordeaux. The day’s first climb, the Category 4 Côte d’Artiguelouve comes soon after leaving town, and should serve as the perfect place for riders hoping to join the day’s long breakaway to escape.
The second half of the stage begins with the Category 1 Col de la Hourcère (11.1km at 8.8 percent), a steep climb that should begin to thin down both the breakaway and the leading peloton. The climb offers a false summit, with the Category 3 Col de Soudet (3.8km at 8.5 percent) starting only a few kilometers off the top of the Hourcère.
After cresting the Soudet, a long descent takes the riders down into the valley, where the day’s Intermediate Sprint in Arette should go to whomever’s still off the front. (And don’t be surprised to see Peter Sagan in this break to try and add some points to his narrow lead in the Tour’s green jersey competition.)
The race will explode on the day’s final ascent, the Category 1 Col de Marie Blanque (7.7km at 8.6 percent), a short but steep climb whose final 4km all have an average grade over 9 percent. It’s here that both the stage and the fate of the Tour’s yellow jersey should be decided, as riders off the front attack to try and win the day, while the Tour’s overall contenders try and capitalize on whichever rival they feel is having a bad one. The stage ends with a descent off the top of the Marie Blanque followed by a few kilometers along the valley road to the finish line in Laruns.
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Mitchelton-Scott’s Adam Yates will have to fight to keep the jersey. He looked vulnerable on the final climb on Stage 8, getting gapped at least twice but recovering to rejoin the riders hoping to dislodge the jersey from his shoulders. Jumbo-Visma’s Primož Roglič sits only 3 seconds behind Yates and looks eager to take the jersey, but with a Rest Day followed by several transition stages to open the Tour’s second week, it might not be wise to force his team to defend the jersey so soon.
We’ll also be keeping a close eye on Egan Bernal from INEOS-Grenadiers. The defending champ has said he’s focused on the Tour’s ferocious final week, which means for now he’s just doing his best to stay on par with the rest of the Tour’s overall contenders. If indeed he’s not yet hit top form, Roglič and the others need to capitalize now.
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Riders to Watch
We expect Stage 9 to play out much like Stage 8, with essentially two races within one: a breakaway getting a large lead and producing the stage winner, while the Tour’s overall contenders race against themselves further back. Picking a winner on a day like this is always a crapshoot, but we’ve got our eyes on Mitchelton-Scott’s Mikel Nieve, Quick-Step’s Bob Jungels, Astana’s Omar Fraile, and EF Pro Cycling’s Daniel Martínez, who’s lost a lot of time and is now likely to be allowed to go off the front for a stage win.
When to Watch
Tune-in for the final climb, the Col de Marie Blanque, which should decide both the stage and who wears the yellow jersey into the Tour’s first Rest Day. This stage is set to end early, so tune-in around 9:45 a.m. EDT to see all the action in the finale.
How to Watch
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Tour de France 2020 - Stage 9 Preview and Map - Bicycling
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