Canadian Michael Woods delivered an impressive solo effort to achieve the biggest win of his cycling career by winning stage 9 of the Tour de France on Sunday at the summit of a legendary climb at the event.
Woods covered the 182.4 km distance between Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat and the Puy de Dôme in four hours 19 minutes 41 seconds.
France’s Pierre Latour was second, 28 seconds behind Woods, and Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric completed the stage podium, 35 seconds behind the Canadian. American Matteo Jorgenson was fourth.
“I have never won a stage of the Tour. “It’s something I talked about and wanted to do, but it’s something I never could and I eventually did,” said Woods, who was born in Toronto and grew up in Ottawa.
“I still feel like I need to pinch myself at a moment. I can’t believe I did it. I’m really proud of myself, really proud of my team. It’s something special,” he added.
Israel-Premier Tech team colors Woods was part of an early breakaway that formed the main contenders early in Stage 9.
Woods managed to catch Jorgenson 500 meters from the lead after his 24-year-old rival dropped out of the front group with less than 50km to go.
Woods then easily let go of Jorgenson and reached the summit of the Puy de Dôme, a famous volcanic crater in the Massif Central region of southern France that last hosted a stage there 35 years ago.
“Because Jorgenson is so strong […] I knew it was going to be very, very difficult to come back and I had my doubts about it,” Woods said after the race.
“But I wasn’t too worried about it. I just focused on myself and kept believing. Whatever the result, I wanted to do my best all the way to the top. »
A group of 14 experienced drivers managed to escape shortly after the start of the race. On the hilly roads of the Limousin, the peloton initially kept them in sight. They finally managed to escape and took the lead by more than 16 minutes.
There were many attacks in the breakaway and Jorgenson managed to break free with 47km to go. The young American continued to press the streets until the end of the final climb, building a gap of a minute, but it didn’t last.
“With a mile to go I started to feel drained and before I knew it Mike was there and passing me which surprised me but there was absolutely nothing I could do,” said Jorgenson.
One second in two years
Woods’ triumph is the second Canadian cyclist in the Tour de France in as many years.
In 2022, Hugo Houle won the 16the Stage, a 178.5km race between Carcassonne and Foix, on July 19th. On the same day, Woods had finished third.
In 1988 Steve Bauer also won the first stage of the Tour de France. Today Bauer is Sports Director at Israel-Premier Tech.
“Mike showed us once again that he is one of the best climbers in the world […] I couldn’t be prouder of my personal relationship with Mike and the other Canadians on our team,” said Sylvan Adams, owner of Israel-Premier Tech, citing Houle and Quebecer Guillaume Boivin.
Houle finished the race in 85e Place on Sunday, 26 minutes and 12 seconds behind his Canadian compatriot. Boivin did slightly better than Houle with a 77e place, 24 minutes 21 seconds behind Woods.
“I’m 36, I’m turning 37 this year, I’m not getting any younger,” noted Woods, who also has two stage wins in the Tour of Spain.
“My ultimate goal was to win a stage in the Tour de France and I could see the window closing,” admitted Woods.
After starting the day at 32e Woods is 28 minutes and 16 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Jonas Vingegaard in the standings. He has moved up 10 places in the standings and is now 19 minutes and 39 seconds behind Vingegaard, who still leads the standings.
Vingegaard’s lead over Tadej Pogacar has shrunk to 17 seconds.
The cyclists enjoy their first of two days off on Monday before tackling day tene Stage with a distance of 167.2 km between Vulcania and Issoire.
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