Merlier claims stage nine as Van der Poel bid falls short

Tim Merlier, frustrated 24 hours earlier after a puncture on the run-in to Laval, won stage nine of the Tour de France in Cavendish City, as Chateauroux was renamed for the day in recognition of Sir Mark's trio of stage wins in 2008, 2011 and 2021.

- Jeremy Whittle

Another sweltering stage - also the second fastest in the history of the Tour - drew out a two-man breakaway, with Mathieu van der Poel and his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jonas Rickaert joining forces immediately after the start only for Van der Poel to eventually be caught in the final kilometre.

But it was a stage too many for Joao Almeida, Tadej Pogacar's key Team Emirates teammate who, as the Slovenian had feared, abandoned the Tour because of the injuries sustained on Friday at Mûr-de-Bretagne.

Pogacar, the race leader, said: "There are still two weeks to go and losing a rider is a little bit to our disadvantage, but I'm pretty confident in my team."