Tour de France 2026 Route stage 9: Malemort

Tour de France 2026 Route stage 9: Malemort – Ussel

Sunday, 12 July - The 9th stage is the last test before the Tour de France's first rest day. Without any towering mountains, the riders still face a tough day in the saddle, with an elevation gain of 3,500 metres over 185 kilometres, thank to a string of energy-sapping hills.

If you get creative with the names of the start and finish towns, this looks set to be a brutal stage. Take off from Malemort – with mal (pain) and mort (death) hardly a promising omen – and ride to Ussel, which in Norwegian and Danish means bad and miserable. Any rider would feel a sense of doom just reading the route.

The profile doesn’t exactly offer relief either. The route undulates all day, racking up a hefty amount of climbing. Right from the start, the terrain rises before the Puy Boubou (2.8 kilometres at 4.1%), Côte de Lagleygeolle (5.2 kilometres at 3.9%) and Côte de Miel (6.6 kilometres at 3.9%) are likely to ensure a lively first hour in the saddle.

Midway through, the Côte des Naves (2.8 kilometres at 6.7%) and Puy de Lachaud (3.6 kilometres at 5.3%) throw in some extra challenges, before the stage’s toughest test appears: the Suc au May, offering almost 4 kilometres at 7.7% just past the halfway mark.

Some 15 kilometres later, the riders tackle the Côte de la Croix de Pey, 7 kilometres at 4.9%. From the descent, the road undulates uphill to the Mont Bessou, which rises at 8.5% over the final 800 metres. At the summit, 24 kilometres remain.

Shortly after descending into Meymac, the last notable rise appears: the Côte des Gardes. After this 2.2 kilometres climb at 4.8%, there are 14 kilometres left to the finish.

Both Malemort and Ussel will host the Tour de France for the first time. It will be fascinating to see what kind of battle unfolds between pain and death and bad and miserable.

Fancy riding the route yourself? Download GPX 9th stage 2026 Tour de France.