Tour De France Stage 9 Odds

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• TOUR DE FRANCE STAGE 9 ODDS. Chris Froome @ 8.00; Thibault Pinot @ 10.00; Fabio Aru @ 10.00; Daniel Martin @ 11.00; Romain Bardet @ 15.00; Richie Porte @ 17.00; Pierre Rolland @ 19.00; George Bennett @ 29.00; Nairo Quintana @ 33.00; Rafal Majka @ 34.00; Simon Yates @ 41.00; Esteban Chaves @ 51.00; Jakob Fuglsang @ 51.00; Alberto Contador @ 51.00.
• Tour de France 2017 Stage 9 Preview as betting.betfair.com brings you the odds and betting tips for the stage from Nantua to Chambery.

The last part of the Col de Marie Blanque is likely to be of crucial importance. These 4 kilometres climb at almost 12% to the top and after a short section on a plateau the riders plunge down the flanks and into the valley. The last 8 kilometres run false flat uphill to the stage finish in Laruns.

One could argue that this route is tailor-made for the Julian Alaphilippe of last year. The puncher ate the steepest ramps of the Marie Blanque for breakfast, although the 4 kilometres at almost 12% are not isolated – they are preceded by 3.7 kilometres at 5.7%. His form is not as spectacular, but when he is in the mix in the breakaway he could make a difference on this sector before showcasing his downhill skills.

Otherwise, the route is not too demanding, especially when you consider that these are the Pyrenees. Halfway through the race the riders crest the combo Col de La Hourcère and Col de Soudet. The first is 11.1 kilometres long and slopes at 8.8% and following a short descent the route continues to climb for 3.8 kilometres at 8.5% on the Soudet. Apart from these inclination, the riders are mainly treated to undulating roads on the Tour de France’s ninth day of action.

Not for the first time this Tour the legitimate question springs to mind: breakaway men of GC riders?

Tour De France Stage 9 Odds 2019

Favourites 9th stage 2020 Tour de France

*** Davide Formolo, Julian Alaphilippe, Alexey Lutsenko
** Marc Hirschi, Nicolas Roche, Jesús Herrada, Rudy Molard
* Primoz Roglic, Tadej Pogacar, Nairo Quintana, Adam Yates

Take a look at the route of the 9th stage on the Tour de France.

Stage 8: 141km – Cazères-sur-Garonne to Loudenvielle – Saturday, September 5

There are no summit finishes in the Pyrenees in this year’s Tour, but Saturday’s opening salvo in the big mountains is a serious stage that could affect the fight for the yellow jersey.

The primary difficulties are mostly in the back half of the stage. After an initial ascent of the Col de Menté, the race then tackles the Hors Categorie Port de Balès (11.7km at 7.7 percent average), and then the Col de Peyresourde, which gets a Category 1 ranking with 9.7km of climbing at 7.8 percent average.

The northern approach to the Balès was paved only in 2006, and it’s steep and ramp-y, including a 2km-long section in the middle at 10 percent average (with some spots to 14 percent) before backing off slightly to the summit. It’s also narrow; there’s not much room for a group to maneuver. But the real story with the Balès is the trip down the other side, which is exposed to weather, high-speed, and narrow; Graeme Fife’s guidebook Great Road Climbs of the Pyrenees calls it “…a truly hairy descent.” And if there’s fog, visibility is limited (current forecast is partly cloudy, with little chance of precipitation).

The Balès is far enough from the finish that it may serve mainly to soften up riders’ legs rather than spring attacks. Expect Jumbo-Visma and perhaps INEOS Grenadiers to set a high pace on the climb to discourage attacks, as well as keep the likely early breakaway at a reasonable gap. But aggressive riders may push the pace on the descent in the hopes of putting pressure on less-confident bike handlers. There’s zero flat ground in the valley between the Balès and the final climb for dropped riders to close any gaps that opened on the descent.

As for the Peyresourde, again, Jumbo and INEOS will likely do their team-time-trial thing to keep riders from jumping off the front. It’s a good climb for a high, steady pace, as it doesn’t vary much in steepness. Most likely, if there’s an attack, it will come high on the climb as riders try to get a gap they can hold on the descent, where the superteams’ firepower is less effective.

The final descent isn’t as tricky as the Balès; it’s steep to start but straight; most of the switchbacks are lower down on the mountain. But farther down it’s a bit more technical until the course bottoms out with 3km to go for the final sprint to the finish. Expect anything from a single, bold escapee to a small group of favorites to contest the stage.

Riders to Watch

Tour De France 2020 Stage 9 Odds

An early breakaway is almost a certainty, although after Stage 7’s difficulties it’s hard to say who might have the legs. If that group is large and motivated, they may get enough of a gap for at least a couple of survivors to make it to the finish ahead of the favorites group.

Tour De France Stages 2020

Among contenders, Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Emirates) may want to try to steal back some of the time he lost today; Bahrain-McLaren’s Mikel Landa and the Trek-Segafredo duo of Bauke Mollema and Richie Porte might be similarly inclined. Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde is always a threat on a day like this.

Tour De France Stage Results

When to Watch

As Stage 7 showed, timetables are a guide, not a bible. But we’d expect the most interesting part of the stage to start on the Port de Balès, which the riders will summit as soon as 10:15 a.m. EDT by the fastest projected speed. If you pull up your feed around 10 a.m., you should catch the last part of the climb, the crucial descent, and the final climb and descent of the Peyresourde for a likely finish around 11 a.m.

How to Watch