Ben O’Connor wins Tour de France stage and takes second in overall lead

Ben O’Connor from Western Australia stunned riders and fans, managing to leave behind seasoned climbers and win Stage 9 of the Tour de France on Sunday 4 July.

Ben O’Connor won Stage 9 on Sunday 4 July and moved up to second place overall in the fight for the yellow jersey.

O’Connor found himself at 14th place overall after Stage 8 and managed to get in the breakaway and eventually leave behind both Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita on the final climb to win the stage.

With other riders falling several minutes behind, O’Connor managed to move up to third place overall and then first place while in the breakaway.

Tadej Pogacar managed to limit the damage in the final few kilometers, taking back some time overall from O’Connor and ensuring he retained the yellow jersey and the lead while O’Connor ended up in second.

Rigoberto Uran managed to gain time and move up into third place overall.

Tour de France dropped by Mathieu van der Poel to focus on the Tokyo Olympics

Mathieu van der Poel, who lost the race lead and yellow jersey to Pogacar on Stage 8  did not start Stage 9 from Cluses to Tignes.

Van der Poel only has a few weeks before the Tokyo Olympics begin on 26 July and the Alpecin-Fenix team decided he only had one week to be part of the Tour de France.

He will now rest and train for the Olympics and will return to the Tour next year.

Ben O’Connor shakes up the overall standings

O’Connor was also given the most combative title for the stage.

Mattia Cattaneo and Sonny Colbrelli finished five minutes after O’Connor in second and third on the stage.

Mark Cavendish maintains the green jersey for the sprint points lead, Quintana took the lead on the King of the Mountains classification and polka dot jersey and Pogacar also still holds the white jersey for the best young rider.

Monday 5 July will be a rest day for the riders before Stage 10 on Tuesday 6 July.