Stage 9: Aigle to Châtel Les Portes du Soleil
Date: July 10, 2022
Distance: 192.9km
Stage timing: 12:30 – 17:15 CEST
Stage type: Mountain
The second day of racing for the 2022 Tour de France in Switzerland promises to be by far harder than the first, with the 15.4km Pas des Morgins climb ending just 20km from the finish in Châtel.
It will surely be far too hard for a super puncheur sprinter like Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and far more suited a breakaway of talented and hungry climbers or perhaps even offer another showdown between Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and his overall rivals.
Pogačar lost UAE Team Emirates teammate Vegard Stake Laegen due to COVID-19 on Saturday morning but gained another four seconds with his third place in the Lasusanne sprint.
He now leads Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) by 39 seconds, with Geraint Thomas at 1:14 and the rest of the top ten spread over two minutes. Pogačar has not yet done enough to secure overall victory but he is clearly in charge and in yellow, with no one so far able to better him on any terrain.
Stage 9 from Aigle to Châtel via 192.9km loops into the Swiss mountains and will be a new test for Pogačar and his six remaining teammates. He will likely prevail and perhaps even domninaste yet again but it will be fascinating to see if any chinks appear in his armour.
Most of the stage takes place in Switzerland, visiting the UCI headquarters and the World Cycling centre on the way out of Aigle and then visiting further roads used for the Tour de Romandie.
From the start in central Aigle, the peloton will travel down the Rhône valley to return to the shores of Lake Geneva via Montreux and Vevey to Bourg-en-Lavaux where the fourth-category Côte de Bellevue begins. After the 4.3-kilometre climb, the route makes a detour north to the canton of Fribourg where the intermediate sprint is contested in Semsales before turning south again in Bulle.
Back in the Vaud canton, the second-category Col des Mosses and the first-category Col de la Croix are climbed before descending back to Aigle. The Côte de Bellevue is a perfect launch pad for a breakaway group to go clear and for the better climbers to get in the attack.
The Col des Mosses and the Col de la Croix will surely entice the true contenders for the polka-dot jersey to show their hand and try to accumulate points and so eventually strip Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) of the jersey.
The stage winner, whether it comes from a break or from the overall contenders, will emerge on first-category Pas des Morgins as the race heads towards the French border and the high Alpine peaks of the week ahead.
The Pas des Morgins climbs for 15.4 kilometres at an average 6.1%. The first 11km are the steepest at between 5.9% to 8.6%, with a series of spectacular hairpins coming mid-climb.
Having crossed the border into France with 9.1km to go, riders will descend and so can catch their breath until just before the four-kilometre mark, where the road rises again to the finish at Pré la Joux on the higher outskirts of Châtel. The penultimate kilometre of this unclassified finishing climb is the steepest at 7%.
With no need to hold back as Monday is a rest day, riders hoping for a breakaway will be especially hungry and ambitious. However the overall contenders could also be up for a race.
“It’s bonkers so isn’t it?” said Geraint Thomas about the Tour and the open, aggressive racing so far.
“We’ve only had two bunch sprints which is crazy for the Tour. That’s the way it’s going. Breaks aren’t working out so far. It’s definitely a different start to the Tour than it used to be.”
Thomas is not convinced a breakaway can escape the clutches of the peloton and the battles between his Ineos Grenadiers team, Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates and the strength of Jumbo-Visma.
“This race seems to be different, we have to expect the worst and hope for the best. We’re definitely ready for a super hard final, so some guys might go all in,” Thomas warned.
