04 Jul 2021
Battling Carapaz moves up to fifth
Related riders
Richard Carapaz
Geraint Thomas
TOUR DE FRANCE - STAGE 9: CLUSES › TIGNES, 144.5KM
Richard Carapaz fought in torrid conditions to finish seventh and move up to fifth overall after a gruelling ninth stage of the Tour de France.
Carapaz attacked his general classification rivals in the closing kilometres of the summit finish, animating the race to gain enough time to move up on GC heading into the rest day, finishing in a small group of rivals that ceded time to race leader Tadej Pogacar.
Ahead, Ben O'Connor won the stage from the early break to move into second overall, while Carapaz's late attack, set up by Geraint Thomas and Jonathan Castroviejo, helped move the Ecuadorian closer to the podium.
Earlier, Dylan van Baarle had battled to get into a successful early break as his teammates waited in the wheels of Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates behind.
The bunch dwindled on the mountainous stage, with Carapaz ably supported by Michal Kwiatkowski, Castroviejo and Thomas as the riders tackled over 4262 metres of climbing.
Thomas bounced back from his crash to put in a superb performance to setup Carapaz, taking turns to push the pace with Castroviejo, before the Ecuadorian accelerated with four kilometres remaining.
He was able to distance a number of his rivals, before Pogacar countered and distanced the group to add to his overall lead, with Carapaz finishing seventh on the stage to move up to fifth overall.
Carapaz attacked his general classification rivals in the closing kilometres of the summit finish, animating the race to gain enough time to move up on GC heading into the rest day, finishing in a small group of rivals that ceded time to race leader Tadej Pogacar.
Ahead, Ben O'Connor won the stage from the early break to move into second overall, while Carapaz's late attack, set up by Geraint Thomas and Jonathan Castroviejo, helped move the Ecuadorian closer to the podium.
Earlier, Dylan van Baarle had battled to get into a successful early break as his teammates waited in the wheels of Pogacar's UAE Team Emirates behind.
The bunch dwindled on the mountainous stage, with Carapaz ably supported by Michal Kwiatkowski, Castroviejo and Thomas as the riders tackled over 4262 metres of climbing.
Thomas bounced back from his crash to put in a superb performance to setup Carapaz, taking turns to push the pace with Castroviejo, before the Ecuadorian accelerated with four kilometres remaining.
He was able to distance a number of his rivals, before Pogacar countered and distanced the group to add to his overall lead, with Carapaz finishing seventh on the stage to move up to fifth overall.
Reaction
Geraint Thomas
"I had a chance to get into the stage, yesterday it started on a climb and I was out the back, and they kept racing and that's why I didn't get back. I felt 10 times better today, still swinging, don't get me wrong - that was a hard start - but I managed to just hang in there. After such a poor performance yesterday I was keen to rectify it today. An extra coffee on the bus and a bit more 'attitude' I guess.
"I felt ok once we got on the long climbs, we tried to up the pace at the end just to put the GC guys around Richard on the back foot a bit so he could have a go."
Geraint Thomas
"I had a chance to get into the stage, yesterday it started on a climb and I was out the back, and they kept racing and that's why I didn't get back. I felt 10 times better today, still swinging, don't get me wrong - that was a hard start - but I managed to just hang in there. After such a poor performance yesterday I was keen to rectify it today. An extra coffee on the bus and a bit more 'attitude' I guess.
"I felt ok once we got on the long climbs, we tried to up the pace at the end just to put the GC guys around Richard on the back foot a bit so he could have a go."
Gabriel Rasch
Geraint was much, much better, it was super nice to see him up there again, which is where he belongs.
DS Gabriel Rasch
"It was a super hard day again today, racing from the start in cold and wet weather. In the final, the guys had good legs and also, we weren't super comfortable with O'Connor up the road. We also wanted to test the other GC guys a bit, maybe we could get some gaps to the other GC contenders. In the end I think our plan worked. Today Geraint was much, much better, it was super nice to see him up there again, which is where he belongs."
"It was a super hard day again today, racing from the start in cold and wet weather. In the final, the guys had good legs and also, we weren't super comfortable with O'Connor up the road. We also wanted to test the other GC guys a bit, maybe we could get some gaps to the other GC contenders. In the end I think our plan worked. Today Geraint was much, much better, it was super nice to see him up there again, which is where he belongs."
Overall standings:
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 34:11:10
2. Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen) +2:01"
3. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) +5:18"
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +5:32"
5. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) +5:33"
1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 34:11:10
2. Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroen) +2:01"
3. Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-Nippo) +5:18"
4. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +5:32"
5. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) +5:33"
