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Michael Woods saved his move for late on the steepest slopes of the Puy de Dome, and he timed it to perfection as he swept past lone attacker Matteo Jorgenson just 500 metres short of the line to secure his maiden Tour de France victory.
“I’m proud of myself and proud my team. It’s special to win here," said Woods. "I’m 36 years old, turning 37 this year, I’m not getting any younger. I’m 36, turning 37 this year.
"To win a Tour de France stage was my ultimate goal and I could see the window closing on to me. That was the goal.
"I wish I could say this victory today was planned but how the cards played, I was the most marked man. I had to be patient and not thinking about the win when I was racing behind Jorgenson. I wasn’t thinking of catching him but only to give the best of myself."
On a day dominated by the spectre of the monstrous climb to the summit finish of the Puy de Dome at the end of the stage there was always going to be a big fight to get into the breakaway.
Woods made the early break as it slipped away surprisingly easily with 14 riders in the opening kilometres.
Some teams tried to bridge across, but the break was gone, and the peloton eventually sat up and let the gap grow out to a maximum advantage of 17 minutes.
Attacks peppered the breakaway from a long way out, with Jorgenson attacking solo with 48 kilometres remaining the one to stick. The American pushed out his advantage with a strong ride, arriving at the base of the Puy de Dome with over a minute’s advantage and a 1’40 to Woods’ group.
The fans lined the roads of the lower slopes, but the upper roads were protected as a conservation area and had a curiously quiet atmosphere as the slopes got even steeper.
Woods used the vacant ascent to make his move, charging across the gap to Jorgenson, finally overhauling him within 500 metres of the line, allowing himself a small celebration to the camera in the final few hundred metres as Jorgenson capitulated behind.
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Stage 9 - Full Replay - Tour de France 2023
The Canadian crossed the line for his first Tour de France stage win, with Jorgenson fading to finish fourth, with Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious) overtaking him in the final metres to finish second and third respectively.
The battle for the general classification played out a long way behind on the road as the peloton conceded the stage win to the breakaway. It was again Jumbo-Visma who drove the pace on the final climb, with the final turn of Sepp Kuss enough to reduce the group to the elite climbers, even dropping Australian general classification (GC) hopeful Jai Hindley.
Tadej Pogacar attacked with 1.5 kilometres remaining, drawing yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard clear, with the defending champion unable to close down the gap to his main rival for yellow. Pogacar ground his way up the final steep slopes to the line to take 8 seconds on Vingegaard, with all the other GC candidates trailing in their wake.
Hindley fought back to keep within touching distance of the main group of contenders until the Pogacar attack splintered the contenders. Hindley rallied to finish just 14 seconds behind Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers), his nearest competitor on the standings, staying in third with a handy buffer of 1’42.
Stage 9 results:
