Le Tour de Pharmaceutical 2021

Dylan Teuns won at Le Grand Bornand at the end of a rain-soaked stage 8.  Tadej Pogacar outclassed all the other GC favourites to take over from Mathieu van der Poel in the lead of the overall classification.
Two category 1 climbs & two category 2 with an uphill finish today. Will be interesting to see if Pogacar can back up today.

He doesn’t exactly need to… but could really demoralise the others going into the rest day if he wants to. Can probably coast round and save his energy for a crack at the Vuelta.

Massive test today.

Ben O'Connor having a good day.

So far, anyway!

He went to a good school

Just shows the value of going to a good school.

It has been a great day for Australian cyclist, Ben O'Connor, who has won Stage 9 by more than 4 minutes. He will also move into a clear second place on the General Classification.

WideWally wrote:Just shows the value of going to a good school.

It has been a great day for Australian cyclist, Ben O'Connor, who has won Stage 9 by more than 4 minutes. He will also move into a clear second place on the General Classification.

Make that 5'07"

Great stage to watch. For a short while O'Connor was the virtual tour leader (albeit narrowly) but Pogacar made up about 3 minutes on that last ascent alone.

O'Connor really came from left field to take that stage & just narrowly missing out on the yellow jersey. Good ride also by Quintana to take the polka dot jersey.
Rest day today.

Great stuff from O'Connor. Probably the best ever stage win by an Australian.

Only one categorised climb today so it should be a real gunfight between the climbers & the sprinters.

Ready for another late night ... sleep is a dim memory

Cav does it again. Its like he was never away. No change with the GC positions. Should see the climbers back again today.

Tony Martin our after yet another crash.

Horrible climbing challenge on this stage. No danger to the GC leaders from those in the breakaway. Cavendish struggling to avoid going out the back door ...

An amazing ride by Wout van Aert to win the stage.

O'Connor was dropped but is still in 5th place on the GC 5'58" behind Pogacar. 2nd overall is Uran 5'18", 3rd Vingegaard 5'32" & 4th Carapaz 5'33". Vinegaard rode away from Pogacar approaching the top of the final climb & lead him by over 40 seconds but Pogacar, Uran & Carapaz caught him on the downhill run to the finish.

Apparently the time cut off is 47'40" & the Cavendish group was about 45 minutes behind 8 minutes after van Aert crossed the line.

EDIT That info must have been incorrect as Cavendish finished with about 7 minutes to spare but Luke Rowe missed the time cut.

Good effort by the young Aussie overnight.

I'm back.
Cavendish equals  Eddy Merckx,s stage win record with a tight sprint to the line in a stage that saw a number of riders withdraw after crashes.
The start of the Pyrenees should see the climbers back in action.

So CAV can take the record in Paris?

BAUKE MOLLEMA outpaced the breakaway group to take the stage in a very tactical contest. No change to the yellow jersey.
Well into the Pyrenees next with three category one climbs.

Tonight is going to be enormous. More sleep deprivation.

American Sepp Kuss came from nowhere to take the stage while all the interest was on the polka dot battle.
Rest day today.

A downhill start will allow for an early breakaway but the rest of the stage will be for polka dot contenders.

Breakaway rider Patrick Konrad held out a fast finishing Matthews and Colbrelli to take the stage.
Two Cat 1 climbs plus an uphill finish will test everyone today.

Pogacar cemented his lead with a win in the tough mountain stage. O'Connor is also doing well to hold down fifth place in his first TDF. We should know the winner after the infamous Col du Tourmalet stage tonight.