As mentioned earlier, there are 14 gravel, or white road, sectors in stage nine.
Here they are listed according to their order of appearance in the stage, with the stars at the end of each line indicating the sector’s difficulty (** being harder), courtesy of the official Tour de France website:
Chemin de Bligny à Bergères (2km), km 47.3 *
Chemin de Baroville (1.2km), km 67 *
Chemin des Hautes Forêts (1.5km), km 96.8 **
Chemin de Polisy à Celles-sur-Ource (3.4km), km 105.2 *
Chemin de Loches-sur-Ource à Chacenay (4.2km), km 118.6 *
Chemin du Plateau de la Côte des Bar (2.2km), km, 131.9 *
Chemin de Thieffrain à Magnant (3.9km), km 140.8 *
Chemin de Briel-sur-Barse (2.2km), km 151.9 *
Chemin du Ru de Paradis (1.2km), km 165.7 *
Chemin de Fresnoy-le-Château à Clérey (1.8km), km 169 *
Chemin de Verrières (1.5km), km 175 *
Chemin de Daudes (1.9km), km 178 *
Chemin de Montaulin à Rouilly-Saint-Loup (2.2km), km 182.3 **
Chemin de Saint-Parres-aux-Tertres (3km), km 189.4 **
They’re off! The peloton will have an 8km neutralised sector before the official start of today’s race.
Prior to the rollout, there was a one minute silence for the 25-year-old Norwegian André Drege, who died during stage four of the Tour of Austria.
The rollout is expected in just a few minutes. Here’s some of the pre-start action via the official Tour de France X account:
🔴Watch the signature podium live from Stage 9 of the #TDF2024 in Troyes 🔴 Suivez la podium signature de la 9ème étape du #TDF2024 en direct https://t.co/cSWEk5AVX4
Yellow: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 31hr 21min 13sec
Green: Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) 216pts
Polka-dot: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) 33pts
White: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick-Step)
Jonas Abrahamsen of Team Uno-X Mobility crosses the finish line during stage eight of the Tour de France 2024. Photograph: Tim de Waele/Getty Images
Stage seven report: Biniam Girmay’s second stage win in the 2024 Tour de France in Charles de Gaulle’s home village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises was overshadowed by the death of the 25-year-old Norwegian André Drege during stage four of the Tour of Austria. Jeremy Whittlereports from Colombey-les-Deux-Églises …
Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4min 36sec
William Fotheringham on stage nine: As France goes to the polls in the second round of Macron’s snap election, on the Tour it’s a tense day of constant small climbs and 14 stretches of gravel roads through the Champagne vineyards. It will be dusty and spectacular, and there will be punctures and crashes, particularly if it rains. Pogacar will relish this, having twice won the very similar Italian Strade Bianche race; cyclo-cross specialists Van der Poel and Wout van Aert could also shine.
Welcome to the Guardian’s latest Tour de France live blog and a stage that introduces gravel to the parcours which will, most likely, bring some chaos to the peloton. Don’t just take my word for it. Jai Hindley of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe told Rouleur magazine ahead of today’s stage: “I think it will be super stressful, the guys told me that the gravel is going to be chaotic and also the roads in between are shit.”
Of the near 200km route on stage nine that begins and ends in Troyes, 32km of it will be on gravel. That’s 14 segments of unpaved terrain facing them. This could suit riders who have off-road credentials such as Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Matej Mohorič, so they will be ones to watch. Will they be going for a win in this unique stage of the 2024 Tour de France?
Send me your thoughts and questions via email. It’s always great to hear from you and I also love hearing about where you’re following the live blog from, so include that if you want.
