Mathieu van der Poel wins Tour stage 9 in thriller finish
Mathieu van der Poel won a thrilling Tour de France Stage 9 on July 12, beating Tobias Halland Johannessen in a sprint among four escapees in Ussel. Tadej Pogacar chased hard from the peloton but could not reel them in, giving the Dutch rider his third Tour stage victory and Alpecin-Premier Tech its first win of this year's race.
The shortened 155.5-kilometre hill stage from Malemort to Ussel unfolded in extreme heat — around 40°C — after organisers trimmed roughly 30 kilometres because of a code-red weather alert. For viewers who followed the drama live, the day delivered exactly what breakout stages promise: a fierce fight for the break, a narrowing gap in the finale, and Mathieu van der Poel at the front when it mattered most.
Key Takeaways
- Mathieu van der Poel won Stage 9 in Ussel, out-sprinting Tobias Halland Johannessen after a late attack split the lead group.
- Tom Pidcock finished third and Alex Baudin fourth; Filippo Ganna won the sprint in the chasing group behind.
- Pogacar ordered UAE Team Emirates to chase, but the break kept a decisive gap and held on to the line.
- Heat forced a shortened route; the stage was one of the clearest breakaway opportunities of the opening week.
- Van der Poel heads into Monday's rest day with Alpecin's first Tour win secured after a tough opening week.
How did Mathieu van der Poel win Stage 9?
Van der Poel had to fight just to reach the right move. NOS reported repeated attacks early on, with the Dutchman eventually slotting into a large front group before the decisive Suc au May climb. When Tom Pidcock sparked on the steep ramp, Van der Poel bridged across and formed an eight-rider unit that still faced pressure from behind.
The turning point came with about 24 kilometres left. Van der Poel attacked on the final small climb — the Mont Besou — and only Johannessen, Pidcock, and Baudin could follow. From there the quartet worked together while chasing speeds in the peloton topped 70 km/h on the descent. Van der Poel controlled the run-in, opened his sprint with 500 metres to go, and beat Johannessen to the line.
Did Tadej Pogacar catch the breakaway?
No — and that was the tension driving the live broadcast. Pogacar pulled UAE off the front early, then sent Tim Wellens forward to help close the gap as the yellow-jersey group trimmed the deficit to around 45 seconds, then 27 seconds inside the final kilometres. At times riders such as Matteo Jorgenson, Kevin Vauquelin, and even Tobias Foss added pace from the chase.
Pogacar never surrendered, yet the four leaders had enough to survive. Tom Pidcock took third, with Ganna beating Mads Pedersen in the sprint among the chasers. Pogacar kept his overall lead; the story of the day was the break — and Van der Poel's speed at the finish.
Where can you watch Stage 9 highlights?
Dutch audiences could follow the finale on NPO 1 and via NOS's live stream, which tracked every gap swing through Ussel's deceptive uphill finish. For broader Tour coverage alerts and streaming updates, see our Streaming & TV Alerts hub.
Official race footage and full liveblog updates remain available through NOS's Stage 9 liveblog, including replay clips of Van der Poel's decisive attack and post-race interviews.
Why does this win matter for Van der Poel?
After a difficult opening week in the heat, Van der Poel admitted he had "barely seen" the front of the race on earlier stages. Stage 9 suited his classics power on rolling terrain, and he finally had the legs to convert it. He told NOS the sprint was uncertain because he had spent significant energy staying clear, but closing it out gave Alpecin belief after a quiet team start to the Tour.
This is Van der Poel's third Tour stage win — adding to successes in 2021 and 2023 — and it arrives on the eve of the first rest day. He struck a cautious note, wondering whether the celebration might last only one day, but with Paris's Montmartre finale still ahead, Sunday proved the kind of day his fans had been waiting for.