Stage 9 was shortened by heat, won from the breakaway, and still left the yellow jersey untouched.
Mathieu van der Poel took the stage win in Ussel after a hard, chaotic day over the revised route from Malemort, beating Tobias Halland Johannessen and Tom Pidcock from the front group. Alex Baudin finished fourth on the same time, while the main GC group came in just behind with Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro, Jonas Vingegaard, Florian Lipowitz, Juan Ayuso and Lenny Martinez all safely together.
That means the yellow jersey picture is almost exactly where it was before the stage. Pogačar still leads Vingegaard by 2:42, with Del Toro third at 3:27, Evenepoel fourth at 3:30 and Ayuso fifth at 3:34. The top nine stayed intact, but Egan Bernal moved into 10th after Mathias Vacek lost time.
The bigger change came in green. Mads Pedersen used the day well, taking the intermediate sprint and finishing sixth on the stage to move to 268 points. That gives him a 45-point lead over Biniam Girmay before the first rest day, with Tim Merlier slipping to third after being dropped early.
Our full report on Mathieu van der Poel’s stage 9 win in Ussel covers the race action, while the stage 10 preview looks ahead to the Massif Central restart after the rest day.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Charly LópezYellow jersey: Pogačar gets the quiet day he needed
For Pogačar, stage 9 was a successful day because nothing changed.
That sounds simple, but it mattered. This was a shortened stage, run in brutal heat, with a restless breakaway, repeated climbs and a late chase that kept the front of the race alive into Ussel. It was not the kind of day where a yellow jersey rider wants to spend unnecessary energy.
Pogačar finished in the same group as Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Del Toro, Ayuso, Seixas, Lipowitz and Martinez. That preserved the same top-five GC gaps that had stood after Bergerac.
The Tour now reaches the first rest day with Pogačar still firmly in control. The gap to Vingegaard is not race-ending, but it is significant. The more immediate fight behind him remains tighter, with Del Toro, Evenepoel and Ayuso separated by only seven seconds from third to fifth overall.
General classification after stage 9
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time/gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tadej Pogačar | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 32:17:04 |
| 2 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | +2:42 |
| 3 | Isaac del Toro | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | +3:27 |
| 4 | Remco Evenepoel | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | +3:30 |
| 5 | Juan Ayuso | Lidl-Trek | +3:34 |
| 6 | Paul Seixas | Decathlon CMA CGM | +3:55 |
| 7 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | +4:00 |
| 8 | Lenny Martinez | Bahrain Victorious | +4:21 |
| 9 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl-Trek | +4:57 |
| 10 | Egan Bernal | Netcompany Ineos Cycling Team | +9:12 |
Bernal’s return to the top 10 is the only meaningful change near the front. Johannessen also moved up after finishing second on the stage, while Pidcock climbed after his third place.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Charly LópezWhite jersey: Del Toro still leads, but Ayuso remains close
The white jersey remains one of the race’s most interesting competitions.
Del Toro still leads the young rider classification, seven seconds ahead of Ayuso and 28 seconds ahead of Seixas. Martinez remains fourth at 54 seconds, while Davide Piganzoli moves up to fifth at 7:19.
That keeps UAE in a strong but complicated position. Pogačar has yellow. Del Toro has white and third overall. But Ayuso is still close enough that one missed split, one bonus-second opportunity or one bad final climb could change the young rider jersey quickly.
The next stage makes that especially relevant. Stage 10 to Le Lioran is exactly the sort of repeated-climb day where the white jersey contenders can be tested without the stage necessarily being designed as a full GC showdown.
White jersey standings after stage 9
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time/gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isaac del Toro | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 32:20:31 |
| 2 | Juan Ayuso | Lidl-Trek | +0:07 |
| 3 | Paul Seixas | Decathlon CMA CGM | +0:28 |
| 4 | Lenny Martinez | Bahrain Victorious | +0:54 |
| 5 | Davide Piganzoli | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | +7:19 |
| 6 | Lennert Van Eetvelt | Lotto Intermarché | +7:24 |
| 7 | Ramses Debruyne | Alpecin-Premier Tech | +9:48 |
| 8 | Pablo Castrillo | Movistar Team | +10:10 |
| 9 | Alex Baudin | EF Education-EasyPost | +40:10 |
| 10 | Valentin Paret-Peintre | Soudal Quick-Step | +53:19 |
Baudin and Valentin Paret-Peintre both moved into the top 10 after the breakaway day, which shows how quickly this classification can change beyond the main podium contenders.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Charly LópezGreen jersey: Pedersen turns a difficult day into a good one
Stage 9 looked awkward for the green jersey, but Pedersen made it work.
He took maximum points at the intermediate sprint, then finished sixth in Ussel. That added 40 points to his total and pushed him to 268. Girmay moved into second on 223 after taking 20 points at the intermediate sprint, while Merlier dropped to third on 213.
That matters because stage 8 had made the points race look much tighter. Merlier’s back-to-back wins in Bordeaux and Bergerac had cut Pedersen’s margin, but stage 9 swung the shape of the competition back towards the Lidl-Trek rider.
The difference is versatility. Pedersen can collect on days that are too hard for Merlier. He can score from reduced groups, intermediate sprints and breakaway-style finales. Merlier may still be the fastest pure sprinter when the bunch comes together, but Pedersen is now building his green jersey case across more types of stage.
Our analysis of whether Mads Pedersen can win green looks more closely at why stages like this suit him.
Points classification after stage 9
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mads Pedersen | Lidl-Trek | 268 |
| 2 | Biniam Girmay | NSN Cycling Team | 223 |
| 3 | Tim Merlier | Soudal Quick-Step | 213 |
| 4 | Jasper Philipsen | Alpecin-Premier Tech | 191 |
| 5 | Max Kanter | XDS Astana Team | 172 |
| 6 | Olav Kooij | Decathlon CMA CGM | 110 |
| 7 | Søren Wærenskjold | Uno-X Mobility | 89 |
| 8 | Tadej Pogačar | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 87 |
| 9 | Anthony Turgis | TotalEnergies | 79 |
| 10 | Isaac del Toro | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 72 |
Pedersen’s lead is now 45 points over Girmay and 55 over Merlier. That is not safe, but it is much healthier than it looked after the sprint stages. The Tour de France 2026 sprinters guide now has to be read with Pedersen’s all-terrain scoring as the key point, not just his sprint speed.
Philipsen still has points, but still no win
Jasper Philipsen remains fourth in the points classification on 191, but stage 9 did not solve his bigger problem.
He is still scoring. He is still close enough to matter in green. But he is also still waiting for a stage win, while Kooij, Merlier and now Van der Poel have all delivered big moments for their teams.
For Alpecin-Premier Tech, Van der Poel’s win changes the emotional picture. The team now has a Tour stage. That eases the pressure around Philipsen, but it also underlines how the sprint part of his race has not yet clicked.
Our piece on what is going wrong for Jasper Philipsen at the Tour de France explains why the issue is less about being absent and more about failing to convert.
Photo Credit: A.S.O./Charly LópezPolka dots: Pogačar still leads, Pidcock enters the picture
Pogačar remains the official leader of the mountains classification on 28 points, with Vingegaard second on 19 and Martinez third on 16. Because Pogačar is also in yellow, Vingegaard should continue to wear the polka-dot jersey on the road.
Stage 9 did move the edges of the classification. Valentin Paret-Peintre moved up to fifth after taking points from the breakaway, while Pidcock collected enough to enter the top 10.
That is worth noting before stage 10. The Le Lioran stage has far more climbing points available, including category 1 climbs on the Puy Mary and Col de Pertus. If the breakaway takes control, this classification could begin to move quickly.
Mountains classification after stage 9
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tadej Pogačar | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 28 |
| 2 | Jonas Vingegaard | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | 19 |
| 3 | Lenny Martinez | Bahrain Victorious | 16 |
| 4 | Alex Baudin | EF Education-EasyPost | 13 |
| 5 | Valentin Paret-Peintre | Soudal Quick-Step | 12 |
| 6 | Paul Seixas | Decathlon CMA CGM | 12 |
| 7 | Isaac del Toro | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | 10 |
| 8 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe | 10 |
| 9 | Nicolas Prodhomme | Decathlon CMA CGM | 9 |
| 10 | Tom Pidcock | Pinarello-Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | 7 |
The mountains jersey is still tied to the GC fight for now, but stage 10 could be the first day where a specialist or breakaway climber starts to build a proper challenge. Our Tour de France 2026 climbers guide sets out the wider contenders for that competition.
Team classification: Lidl-Trek still lead
Lidl-Trek kept control of the team classification after stage 9, even after placing riders in the break and then committing to Pedersen’s pursuit late in the stage.
They lead on 96:40:41. UAE Team Emirates-XRG moved up to second at 27:08, while Visma-Lease a Bike sit third at 36:22. Decathlon CMA CGM, EF Education-EasyPost and Netcompany Ineos also gained ground in the top six.
Lidl-Trek’s position still reflects the depth of their race. Ayuso and Skjelmose are inside the GC top 10, Pedersen leads green, and the team has repeatedly shaped breakaway and reduced-group stages. That is a broad race footprint, not a single-rider story.
Team classification after stage 9
| Rank | Team | Time/gap |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lidl-Trek | 96:40:41 |
| 2 | UAE Team Emirates-XRG | +27:08 |
| 3 | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | +36:22 |
| 4 | Decathlon CMA CGM | +1:01:55 |
| 5 | EF Education-EasyPost | +1:03:34 |
| 6 | Netcompany Ineos Cycling Team | +1:04:37 |
Stage 9 changed the supporting races more than yellow
The headline after stage 9 is that Pogačar is still where he wants to be.
He reaches the first rest day in yellow, with the same 2:42 advantage over Vingegaard and the same clear buffer over the rest of the podium contenders. There was no GC ambush, no split, and no heat-related mistake from the yellow jersey group.
But the day still mattered.
Pedersen rebuilt his green jersey cushion. Pidcock moved into the mountains top 10 and climbed in GC. Bernal returned to the overall top 10. Baudin and Paret-Peintre both improved in the white jersey standings. Van der Poel delivered Alpecin-Premier Tech’s first stage win of the race after several near-misses and sprint frustrations.
That is the real story of stage 9. Yellow stayed stable, but the races around it shifted.
What comes next on stage 10
The Tour now pauses for its first rest day before returning with a mountain stage from Aurillac to Le Lioran.
Stage 10 has seven categorised climbs and 3,800m of elevation gain, with the Puy Mary, Col de Pertus and Col de Font de Cère packed into the finale. That should bring the GC race back into play, but it also looks like a serious breakaway opportunity.
For Pogačar, it is a stage to manage. For Vingegaard, it is a stage to test. For Del Toro, Ayuso and Seixas, it is another white jersey danger day. For Pedersen, it is about surviving and maybe taking any early points that come cheaply.
The stage 10 live viewing and start time update has the UK timings, while our stage 10 preview breaks down the route and contenders.
FAQs
Who leads the Tour de France 2026 after stage 9?
Tadej Pogačar leads the Tour de France 2026 after stage 9. He is 2:42 ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, with Isaac del Toro third at 3:27.
Who won stage 9 of the Tour de France 2026?
Mathieu van der Poel won stage 9 in Ussel, ahead of Tobias Halland Johannessen and Tom Pidcock. Alex Baudin finished fourth on the same time.
Who wears the green jersey after stage 9?
Mads Pedersen leads the points classification after stage 9 with 268 points. Biniam Girmay is second on 223, with Tim Merlier third on 213.
Who leads the mountains classification after stage 9?
Tadej Pogačar leads the mountains classification with 28 points. Jonas Vingegaard is second on 19 and should wear the polka-dot jersey on the road because Pogačar is in yellow.
Who leads the white jersey after stage 9?
Isaac del Toro leads the young rider classification after stage 9. He is seven seconds ahead of Juan Ayuso and 28 seconds ahead of Paul Seixas.
Did the GC change on stage 9?
The top nine stayed the same, but Egan Bernal moved into 10th overall. Pogačar, Vingegaard, Del Toro, Evenepoel and Ayuso all finished safely in the same group.
Who leads the team classification after stage 9?
Lidl-Trek lead the team classification after stage 9, ahead of UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Team Visma | Lease a Bike.
