Tour de France 2021 Favourites stage 9: First high altitude finish

image: Cor VosThe 9th stage is a relatively short ride - 145 kilometres - with five climbs. The race serves Le Tour's first uphill finish in the high mountains. The finish climb into Tignes is long and steady. (Slideshow route/profile)

There is an even distribution of climbs in the 9th stage. After 20 kilometres the riders crest the Côte de Domancy – 2.5 kilometres at 9.4% –, after which the route continues to rise for another 6.5 kilometres. At kilometre 50 the Col des Saisies – 9.4 kilometres at 6.2% – is the second summit of the day.

By now, the breakaway should be established. Are the attackers able to hold on until the finish line? Could be, since the next climbs are not extremely hard. On the other hand, the 9th stage serves the first summit finish in the high mountains, so some GC riders will want to put down a marker.

The ensuing climbs, Col du Pré – 12.6 kilometres at 7.7% – and Cormet de Roselend – 5.7 kilometres at 6.5% – are linked together by an undulating section of around 7 kilometres.

The final verdict will be given in a 21 kilometres climb with an average gradient of 5.6%. In ski resort Tignes the route continues 2 kilometres on the flat before the finish line appears.

Chances are that the breakaway will be successful. After Pogacar’s powerplay on stage 8, GC riders are not very likely to attack him. So unless the yellow jersey is up to something himself, an attacker should turn out on top.

Favourites stage 9 Tour de France 2021

*** Bauke Mollema, Tadej Pogacar, Simon Yates, Jakob Fuglsang
** Esteban Chaves, Thomas De Gendt, Ruben Guerreiro, Ben O’Connor
* Sepp Kuss, Julian Alaphilippe, Guillaume Martin, Mattia Cattaneo

Another interesting read: route 9th stage 2021 Tour de France.