Michael Woods won stage 9 of the Tour de France on an escape, while race leader Jonas Vingegaard lost more time to Tadej Pogacar.

On the steep last part of the dormant hill Puy de Dome, Woods caught up to the American Matteo Jorgenson by about two minutes.

Early on the 182.5-km stage from Saint Leonard de Noblat, Jorgenson and Woods were two of 14 riders who got away.

With his late charge, Pogacar caught up to Vingegaard by eight seconds.

Two-time winner Pogacar finished the day in 13th place, one spot ahead of Dane Vingegaard. He was more than eight minutes behind Woods, who is 36 years old.

The Slovenian now trails his biggest rival for the yellow jersey by just 17 seconds.

“It would have been better to stay with him and not waste any time, but as I’ve already said, the first week didn’t work for me,” Vingegaard said.

“I think there are stages where I do better, so it’s good for me to be in yellow after the first part of the race. I can’t wait to see the Alps.”

Stage 9: What Happened Cavendish breaks his collarbone in a crash that ends the Tour on stage 8. Cavendish’s team may offer him a spot in the Tour in 2024, which would be a record. Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock were the next riders to reach the summit finish. Pidcock moved up two places to seventh in the general classification, while Yates is now sixth, five seconds behind his twin brother Adam, who was the early race leader and is now in fifth place.

Delight for Woods, sorrow for Jorgenson
Jorgenson, a Movistar rider who is known for his skills in time trials and his ability to climb, went clear about 47 kilometers from the finish.

And he had a big lead when he got to the hardest part of the famous climb, which was being used in the Tour for the first time in 35 years.

At that point, he was about 80 seconds ahead of a group led by Matej Mohoric, and Woods, who rode for Israel-Premier Tech, was 30 seconds behind him in a third group on the road.

But that lead got smaller and smaller over the last four kilometers, when the slopes got steeper and steeper until they reached 12%. Woods, who is a true climber, caught up to those in front of him and passed the 24-year-old American in the last 500 meters.

Jorgenson had a terrible end to the stage because Pierre Latour and Matej Mohoric both passed him in the last 50 meters, denying him a place on the podium.

Woods, on the other hand, who had already won two stages of the Vuelta a Espaa, was able to celebrate a well-known victory.

He said, “I still have to pinch myself.”

“I’m not sure how I did it. I’m very proud of myself, and I’m also very proud of my team. I’m 36 years old and will turn 37 this year. I’m not getting any younger. I’ve always said that I wanted to win a stage at the Tour de France, and now I have.”

Stage nine results

1. Michael Woods (Can/Israel-Premier Tech) 4hrs 19mins 41secs

2. Pierre Latour (Fra/TotalEnergies) +28secs

3. Matej Mohoric (Slo/Bahrain Victorious) +35secs

4. Matteo Jorgenson (US/Movistar) Same time

5. Clement Berthet (Fra/AG2R-Citroen) +55secs

6. Neilson Powless (US/EF Education-EasyPost) +1min 23secs

7. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz/Astana-Qazaqstan) +1min 39secs

8. Jonas Gregaard (Den/Uno-X) +1min 58secs

9. Mathieu Burgaudeau (Fra/TotalEnergies) +2mins 16secs

10 David de la Cruz (Spa/Astana-Qazaqstan) +2mins 34secs

General classification standings

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) 38hrs 37mins 46secs

2. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) +17secs

3. Jai Hindley (Aus/Bora-Hansgrohe) +2mins 40secs

4. Carlos Rodriguez Cano (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +4mins 22secs

5. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +4mins 39secs

6. Simon Yates (GB/Team Jayco-AlUla) +4mins 44secs

7. Thomas Pidcock (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +5mins 26secs

8. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +6mins 07secs

9. Sepp Kuss (US/Jumbo-Visma) +6mins 45secs

10. Pello Bilbao (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +7mins 37secs