00:02I think it always comes back to like the passion that I have for riding my bike that peacefulness
00:09the freedom the competitiveness it seems like someone's trying to drag me away from it but it
00:15just keeps me dragging me back in Michael Matthews has broken both wrists in a training
00:20crash by fire by fire engine driver on wrong side of the road long side of the road been ruled
00:25out
00:25of racing for the foreseeable future especially with this last incident that I had where I broke
00:31both of my arms I was saying to myself I'm I'm done I'm done recycling this is this is enough
00:36this was
00:37this was crossing the line somehow that love came back and it didn't die there's been some amazing
00:46moments and there's been a lot of very low moments in the Tour de France so that experience in life
00:54is like no other that you would ever experience as a human being for 21 days
00:58Matthew van der Poel 200 meters to go through the middle Tim Merlier once again we have seen a really
01:05nice lead-out from Alpesim what was we seeing Adia back-to-back stages for Merlier he had it's clear
01:15that he hesitated after after not winning yesterday that there was some hesitation in beginning and then
01:20Merlier came from behind with a lot of speed it was already too late to be able to to compete
01:26to
01:26to fight for the victory you you helped out Jasper yesterday do you still have energy for today yeah I
01:36hope so I felt pretty okay in the final yesterday so hopefully yeah it's gonna be a big battle for
01:41sure
01:41for the breakaway today
01:52four categorized climbs on a shorter route due to the heat too hard for sprinters plus too easy for
01:57the GC fight usually equals a breakaway win
02:06the first attempt to escape the first 6m of this stage
02:12guys wake up be in the front
02:19into the back of the peloton Merlier is not having a good start to this race no
02:24Madge takes the front the sprint starts Gamay and his team move up on the outside Jake Stewart comes
02:31up to block Mads Pedersen in he's doing a good job of doing it to give Gamay an opportunity but
02:37Philipson doesn't have the legs so Gamay's gonna have to go but Pedersen goes very early and Gamay and
02:43Philipson don't have the legs to go with this Pedersen is going to speed away speed of Gamay as he
02:49tries to get back on terms but Mads Pedersen in the green jersey completely outwits all the other
02:55sprinters and he takes 25 points straight after the sprint the attacks commenced yet it was proving
03:04difficult as they were neutralized around 46 kilometers an hour highlighting the intensity
03:09and dangers of the stage another big attack finally a big group did detach themselves 16 riders together
03:23until two chose to kick on with Simmons and Tobias Johansson but plenty of strength to counter the
03:30move with Tom Pitcock Alex Baudin and Mathieu van der Poel in attendance and it was Pinarello's
03:35Englishman who led the hunt on the second climb of the day you are the strongest rider in the strong
03:43group here meanwhile Maz Pedersen fell off the back of the UAE powered peloton at the Souk Omei summit
03:56Hickcott earned the maximum five points but it was the UAE's pace that had the brake concern so eight
04:03escapades powered on to keep the dream alive while they fought it out the effort and heat was still
04:09having its effect a grandstand finished 50 kilometers to go and just admit it in hand
04:34there we go
04:36there we go
04:38this is the moment where van der Poel tries to split the group take the strongest with him
04:44and Tobias Johansson is one of them Pidcock isn't able to because Alex Baudin is getting distanced and
04:50Pidcock is on his wheel Pidcock has made a little mistake there in sitting on the wheel and he's not
04:59going to be happy now he's trying to kick it he's just giving it a proper smash to see if
05:05that works
05:05no he's dropped something Pidcock well he gave it a proper smash with a foot if in doubt give it
05:13a smash
05:14not recommended though not when you're paying for it don't do that at home van der Poel puts in a
05:21big turn
05:24can he win two years running stages of this Tour de France
05:31when he won last year he said it'd been a long time Pidcock is the same
05:35he hasn't won since 2022 since that famous stage to Alpe d'Huez
05:58the TV camera moves out the way Baudin checks over his shoulder 690 meters of
06:05racing to go and on the front is van der Poel Pidcock gets ready to strike in second place with
06:13this
06:13sprint van der Poel gets ready for a huge strike of power and Baudin just sits in the wheels
06:20Johansson gets ready they can hear now the finish line commentator it's looking like they're going to
06:26sprint it out the peloton is hunting them down in the background three and a half hours of racing and
06:33it comes down to this Johansson little big deep breath 300 meters of racing now to go
06:40Pidcock has not decided to go Baudin is still on the back
06:45and we just saw in the glance there Pedersen and Michael Matthews at the front of that sprint
06:49they're going really fast and Matthew van der Poel goes
06:51Matthew van der Poel opens up the sprint on his wheel is Johansson
06:56Pidcock looks like he hasn't got the legs to go
06:58Matthew van der Poel with a massive turn of power and he just outpowers them
07:05Matthew van der Poel his third stage win in the tour
07:09Ganner wins the bunch sprint ahead of Pedersen ahead of Matthews their heads go down
07:28It took four years between his first and second stage wins now the Dutchman has earned stage
07:34victories in successive tours for the very first time it's never come easy for the
07:38Alpesen big hitter on the tour but that makes it all the sweeter
07:42yeah it was a super hard day start of the tour was not great for our team it's really
07:50nice to go to the first rest day with a win maybe it's a one-day festival but at least
07:57it was a nice one
08:08a third stage win he'll now be targeting two in the same edition
08:13Johansson ahead of Pidcock on the stage nine podium
08:19Pogacar in yellow without much movement except from a former champion
08:24Egan Bernal sneaks into the GC top 10
08:28Pedersen re-establishing a decent green jersey gap the Dane now with 45 points in hand over the chasing pack
08:37Pogacar in polka dots it'll be interesting to see how it plays out when the race resumes on Tuesday
08:46as you were in the best young rider category Isaac Del Toro getting used to the podium duties
08:51on his first Grand Boucle after red-hot temperatures and racing a well-earned break on the first rest day
08:58of 2026
09:01I go slower and I'll slide off the rocks
09:03JACK SELLF
09:05The E юsting Conference
