The ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday almost set a record. Mainly due to a long attack by teammates Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert, it became the second-fastest stage ever.
The riders cycled the 174 kilometers between Chinon and Châteauroux in less than 3.5 hours. Stage winner Tim Merlier is credited with an average speed of 50.013 kilometers per hour.
In the 112-year history of the Tour, there is only one stage (excluding time trials) in which it went faster. In 1999, Mario Cipollini won the flat fourth stage from Laval to Blois with an average speed of 50.36 kilometers per hour.
As can be seen in the overview below, there are no other stages in the history of the world’s largest cycling race in which the average speed was higher than 50 kilometers per hour.
Fastest Tour Stages
The lightning-fast stage is mainly due to Van der Poel and Rickaert. The duo from Alpecin-Deceuninck attacked from the start and rode more than 160 kilometers in the breakaway. Van der Poel was only caught by the peloton 750 meters from the finish.
The large group had to put in a lot of effort to catch the two escapees. “I have never seen anything like it,” said team leader Steven de Jongh of Lidl-Trek to the NOS.
It helped that the course in the middle of France was almost flat. The ninth stage is the only road stage of this Tour in which there was no categorized climb. The wind, on the other hand, was not (constantly) in favor of the riders. Due to the crosswinds, the peloton split into echelons several times in the final.
The Tour peloton will not immediately get a chance to recover from the fast stage. Normally, Monday would be the first rest day, but because of the French national holiday Quatorze Juillet, racing will continue. The rest day is only on Tuesday.