Stage 9 of the 2013 Tour de France promises to be action packed, with five big climbs sure to give us a clear indication of who is capable of challenging Chris Froome for overall honours. Join us for live updates and commentary from 10.00pm AEST.
Froome stormed into the yellow jersey with victory in Stage 8, a mountaintop finish in the ski resort of Ax-3-Domaines.
None of his rivals able to keep pace with the Kenyan-born Birth after he was set up to perfection by Team Sky team-mate Richie Porte.
Froome now leads Porte in the General Classification by 51 seconds, with Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde 1:25 minutes behind in third position.
The day starts with a Category 2 climb – the Col de Portet-d’Aspet, followed by afour straight Category 1 climbs, the last of which is the La Horquette d’Ancizan, a 10 kilometre climb with an average gradient of 7.5 percent.
The summit of the last climb is followed by a 20 kilometre descent to the finish line, so significant moves by the GC contenders aren’t expected – but we do expect to see some riders struggle with the tempo likely to be set by the boys from Sky.
With big names like Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck all seemingly struggling on yesterday’s stage, seeing how they fare tonight will be intriguing.
Join me for all the live action from 10.00pm AEST.
Follow Jason on Twitter @jasonkohlmorgen
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Thanks for joining us here at The Roar for Stage 9 of the Tour de France.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Peter Sagan can't have lost too much time - he's receiving the green jersey now. Not a bad ride Peter.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Sounds like Chris Froome has decided he'd rather make his way to the team bus than attend the presentations. He must have had a change of heart, he's on the podium now and looking relatively happy.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Still no Chris Froome. I don't think we've heard the last of this.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Romain Bardet named Most Combative Rider for the day, well deserved.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Chris Froome apparently is not attending the yellow jersey presentation. If this is true, there are going to be some very angry organisers. Interesting goings on indeed.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Dan Martin looks very, very happy as he gets presented to the crowd as the winner of Stage 9.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
The new to 10 of the overall rankings is: 1. Chris Froome (GBR) SKY 2. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) MOV at 1'25" 3. Bauke Mollema (NED) BEL at 1'44" 4. Laurens Ten Dam (NED) BEL at 1'50" 5. Roman Kreuziger (CZE) TST at 1'51" 6. Alberto Contador (ESP) TST at 1'51" 7. Nairo Quintana (COL) MOV at 2'02" 8. Daniel Martin (IRL) GRS at 2'28" 9. Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) KAT at 2'31" 10. Rui Costa (POR) MOV at 2'45"
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
The top 10 on Stage 9 1. Dan Martin (IRL) GST - 168.5km in 4h43'03" 2. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) AST at same time 3. Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) OPQ at 20" 4. Daniel Moreno (ESP) KAT at 20" 5. Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) KAT 20" 6. Cadel Evans (AUS) BMC at 20" 7. Wouter Poels (NED) VCD at 20" 8. Bauke Mollema (NED) BEL at 20" 9. Daniel Navarro (ESP) COF at 20" 10. Maxime Monfort (BEL) RTL at 20"
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Dan Martin says he is grateful Jakob Fuglsang came with him, he felt he couldn't have survived alone.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Big questions asked of Chris Froome today, he was isolated by some very smart riding by Movistar, but he had all the answers. Quintana attacked time and time again as they climbed Hourquette d’Ancizan, but Froome was able to shut them all down.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Plenty of time for the blur to become a part of your daily routine!
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
What a stage, it had everything. Froome still leads the GC, Valverde is second 1:25 back, Mollema third at 1:44, Ten Dam at 1:50, Kreuziger and Contador at 1:51.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Kwiatkowski actually grabbed third, 20 seconds behind Martin and Fuglsang.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Rodriguez and Kwiatkowski fight out 3rd, Rodriguez looks to have grabbed it. But today is all about Dan Martin of Garmin-Sharp, he's won a stage in the Tour de France.
Sam Brown
Roar Guru
A bit of a let down tbh, part of the Tour De France experience for me is the coffee addled blur that the work morning becomes.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Dan Martin wins! Fuglsang can't come past him. Chapeau
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Martin goes, Fuglsang grabs his wheel
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Fuglsang refusing to sprint.
jasonkohlmorgen
Roar Guru
Martin forcing Fuglsang to do the pacemaking...smart