Cobbled classics specialist Mathieu van der Poel claimed his third Tour de France win Sunday with victory in the ninth stage of the Tour de France 2026, which was shortened due to intense heat.

The 31-year-old Dutchman, a former world champion, won a sprint amongst his three breakaway companions with Tobias Johannessen taking second and Tom Pidcock third.

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"It was a super hard day," Van der Poel said. "The start of the Tour was not great for our team, but I think, like always, we stayed calm. We have a really nice group here, and we kept believing that it will turn around... but it's really nice to go to the first rest day with a win."

Having worked as a sprint lead-out man for his Alpecin Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen - who had finished fourth and fifth in the sprint stages - in the previous two days, Van der Poel finally had a chance to go for a stage win for himself.

Reigning champion Tadej Pogačar came home in the chasing peloton, six seconds behind the winner, to maintain his lead in the overall standings ahead of Monday's first rest day.

The four-time champion leads two-time winner Jonas Vingegaard by 2 minutes, 42 seconds, with Mexican Isaac del Toro a further 45 seconds back.

Van der Poel, a three-time winner of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix - the two most important one-day cobbled classics - had previously won Tour de France stages in 2021 and 2025.

And although he won a record eighth cyclocross world title earlier in the year, this season had not gone to plan.

It was the first year since 2021 that Van der Poel had failed to win one of the prestigious Monument one-day classics, though he did claim the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and E3 Saxo Bank classics.

"It's only my third victory, so it shows how hard it is for me to win a stage in the Tour," Van der Poel said. "It will always be special to win one. Sometimes, it looks really easy because in the past seasons we (Alpecin) always succeeded in winning a Monument or winning sprints in a Tour, but we know that it will not always come that easy. That's also why we just keep working and keep believing in it, and we do our best - that's all we can do."

Mathieu Van der Poel Says 'Roads Were Horrible' In Tour de France 2026 Stage 9

Sunday's stage was shortened by around 30 kilometers due to a "red alert" weather warning in the central Correze region.

Temperatures once again reached close to 40C, though in parts on the stage it was closer to 30C.

There was a furious battle from the beginning of the 154.6-kilometer run from Malemort to Ussel to make it into the day's breakaway.

It was not until about halfway through the stage that an eight-man breakaway finally went clear on the steep 3.8-kilometer Suc au May climb.

The group never eked out a lead of more than a minute and a half, but they worked well together.

Van der Poel then attacked out of that group with 25 kilometers left on the final categorised climb of the day, the 900-meter, and equally steep, Mont Bessou.

Only Norwegian Johannessen, Frenchman Alex Baudin and Briton Pidcock were able to follow, and then it was a full-throttle charge to the finish line with a 50-second lead over the significantly reduced peloton.

The breakaway riders had plenty in the bag and even slowed down in the final kilometer in a cat-and-mouse game before the final sprint.

But when Van der Poel launched that, it was clear that he would be too strong for the others.

"I was not so sure," he admitted. "I spent a lot of energy trying to keep the break alive. There was a lot of pressure from the bunch. The roads were horrible for a breakaway with a headwind the whole day. We fought for it, and I'm happy to finish it off."

Tour de France 2026 Stage 9 Results – Top 25

1. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:27:51 (B10)
2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 3:27:51 (B6)
3. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 3:27:51 (B4)
4. Alex Baudin (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:27:51
5. Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS) – 3:27:57
6. Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek) – 3:27:57
7. Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) – 3:27:57
8. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 3:27:57
9. Nicolas Breuillard (TotalEnergies) – 3:27:57
10. Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 3:27:57
11. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 3:27:57
12. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:27:57
13. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 3:27:57
14. Alex Aranburu (Cofidis) – 3:27:57
15. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:27:57
16. Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 3:27:57
17. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 3:27:57
18. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 3:27:57
19. Florian Lipowitz (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 3:27:57
20. Jonas Vingegaard (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 3:27:57
21. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek) – 3:27:57
22. Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 3:27:57
23. Afonso Clément Braz (Groupama - FDJ United) – 3:27:57
24. Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 3:27:57
25. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 3:27:57

Tour de France 2026 Overall Standings – Top 25 After Stage 9

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 32:17:04 (B26)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 32:19:46 (B12)
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 32:20:31 (B14)
4. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 32:20:34 (B4)
5. Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) – 32:20:38
6. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) – 32:20:59
7. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) – 32:21:04
8. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain - Victorious) – 32:21:25
9. Egan Bernal (Lidl - Trek) – 32:22:01
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Netcompany INEOS) – 32:26:16
11. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) – 32:26:34 (B6)
12. Sean Quinn (EF Education - EasyPost) – 32:26:39
13. Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – 32:26:44 (B4)
14. Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step) – 32:26:49
15. Davide Piganzoli (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 32:27:50
16. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché) – 32:27:55
17. Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) – 32:28:00
18. Yannis Voisard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) – 32:29:25
19. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin - Premier Tech) – 32:30:19
20. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) – 32:30:37
21. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) – 32:30:41
22. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 32:31:35
23. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost) – 32:32:28 (B4)
24. Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) – 32:34:02
25. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) – 32:35:46

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