Sun 14 Jul 2019 - South African champion Daryl Impey stormed to his debut Tour de France victory in style on stage nine into Brioude.

On Bastille Day, the 34-year-old made it into the decisive break of the day and proved to be the strongest in the 15-man move, eventually taking the victory in a two-up sprint. The win means that Impey has been involved in each of the team's four victories at the Tour de France.

Back in the peloton, team leader Adam Yates rolled home safely in the bunch along with his Mitchelton-SCOTT teammates, but the day belonged to Impey who claimed his first stage win in his seventh Tour.

Early Fight

As expected, there was a battle to get into the breakaway as soon as the flag dropped with Mitchelton-SCOTT amongst the early attacks as European champion Matteo Trentin and Australian time trial champion Luke Durbridge got into various failed attempts.

In the end it was road captain Impey who made it into the decisive attack as 14-riders edged clear of the field. Seemingly happy with the make-up of the move, the peloton sat up and spread across the road, with the break of the day established. The group eventually grew to 15 as Marc Soler (Movistar Team) bridged across on the opening climb of the day.

The escapees worked well together and stretched their advantage out to over 10-minutes with the peloton content to let the group contest the stage win with no danger to the general classification. But with Impey in the group, along with other fast finishers, the rest of the escapees were keen to shed the South African before the finale.

Thrilling Finish

With this in mind, riders began to attack over the penultimate climb of the day, but the initial move was quickly shutdown. It wasn’t long before the next attacks came as Lukas Pöstlberger (BORA – Hansgrohe) jumped away on an uncategorised ramp and with the rest of the break faltering in organising a chase, the Austrian was able to open up a gap of 45-seconds.

The pace in the chasing group proved to be too much for several riders in the break and group was halved as Pöstlberger was reeled back in on final climb. A counter move went immediately as Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) and Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) attacked clear, leaving Impey in a small chase group behind. But as the summit approached Impey sensed the leading duo were edging away and the Tour Down Under champion attacked across to the pair.

The leading trio had a sizeable gap on the remains of the breakaway but knowing Impey was a danger in a sprint finish, Benoot attacked. However, the move could only drop Roche as Impey hauled himself onto the Belgians wheel and the duo raced clear of the dropped Team Sunweb rider. With just five kilometres to go it was clear the fight for the win was between Impey and Benoot, with the latter opening up the sprint as the line approached. However, the experienced Impey used his superior turn of speed to come around his rival and take a historic Tour de France stage win.  

Dary Impey:
“That is pretty much for me, from the Tour de France perspective, something that was really missing and this is my seventh time riding the Tour de France. I’ve been in quite a few breakaways and to finally nail it today, it’s just a dream come true, I really don’t have any words.”

“It was a stage I kind of marked for a breakaway, yesterday was a bit unfortunate as the break went straight away and today we were pretty active, Luke and Matteo were active at the start. I just kind of found the lucky move, I didn’t have to do too much to get in there, then we all just worked really well together and I kind of just believed in myself and played it quite smart there at the end I think.”

“I haven’t actually been that emotional at the finish for a long time, so it’s fantastic to win at this level, the Tour de France. I think the last stage victory for South Africa was Robbie Hunter in 2007, so it’s been a long time between drinks and to win on Bastille Day that’s fantastic, that’s a magic memory.”

“This is a dream come true, this is something I really wanted to do and you know it’s so difficult at this level, so when all the stars line up like they did today, I can’t be any prouder, it’s fantastic and I know South Africa will be cheering on and thanks to my family as well, they’ve supported me the whole way through this.”

Matt White (Sports Director):
“Daryl has been a part of every Tour de France victory we’ve had. In 2013 he led Simon Gerrans out to win, in 2016 he led Michael Matthews out to win and he was part of the team time trial in 2013, and today he won on his own. So, he’s been a part of every victory we’ve had in this organisation at the Tour de France and many more.”

“We’d earmarked stage eight and nine as stages that very much suited the characteristics of Daryl and Matteo. So obviously having one of the two in the breakaway was going to be key, having someone fast to finish it off. When we saw the composition of the break that was one box ticked, but it was a very, very strong group. I don’t know off the top of my head but there’s probably four or five Tour de France stage winners in that group, so it was never going to be an easy win.”

“The crucial moment for Daryl’s win was when he bridged across and left the two fastest guys. Once he got across to the front group, that was one thing, but he was definitely the fastest guy to finish off the sprint.”
 

 
Daryl Impey © Photo A.S.O.

Tour de France 2019 Stage 9 Results:
1. Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-SCOTT) 4:03:12
2. Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) ST
3. Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Merida) +0:10

General Classification After Stage 9:
1. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) 38:37:36
2. Giulio Ciccone (Trek - Segafredo) +0:23
3. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ) +0:53
12. Adam Yates (Mitchelton-SCOTT) +1:47
 

Alaphilippe enjoys Quatorze Juillet in maillot jaune
Sunday 14 July 2019 
 

Julian Alaphilippe’s special day started at the team bus, where he was greeted by the hundreds of fans who came to see the first French rider in half a decade to sport the iconic yellow jersey on July 14, continued briefly at the sign-on – where he made his way through a sea of enthusiastic supporters – and then over the 170.5km-long hilly course between Saint-Étienne and Brioude.

Featuring three ranked climbs, stage 9 didn’t pose a problem to the peloton, who decided to take it easy and leave a 15-man breakaway fight for glory. Surrounded by his Deceuninck – Quick-Step teammates, who devoted all their energies to working for him, Julian savoured his time in the spotlight, twenty-four hours after igniting a devastating attack that netted him a second spell in the yellow jersey.

With the stage win being played out between the escapees, the peloton enjoyed a quiet day, which not even an attack on the final climb couldn’t disturb, and arrived at the finish a quarter of an hour after winner Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), in the applause of a generous public who gave Julian – the third Frenchman since the turn of the century to wear the yellow jersey on Bastille Day – a raucous welcome.

“It’s difficult to describe what it means to wear the maillot jaune on July 14, but what I can tell you is that it was more beautiful than the first time I wore it, at the beginning of the week. I spent the entire stage together with my teammates, who controlled it and protected me, for which I am very grateful”, said Julian, who now has five days in yellow, an all-time record for a Deceuninck – Quick-Step rider.

The 27-old Frenchman, who is living his best season yet, which so far includes 11 victories and a lengthy stint at the top of the UCI Individual Classification, continued: “The support I got from the public was phenomenal and is something I will always remember. Hearing my name from the moment I get out of the bus until I arrive in my hotel room is something very special and makes me fight even harder to keep the maillot jaune it for as long as possible.”

 Lotto Soudal: Strong Benoot finishes runner-up in Brioude

After the impressive solo of Thomas De Gendt in Saint-Étienne yesterday, Lotto Soudal again battled for a stage victory in the Tour de France today. In a hilly stage with finish in Brioude, Belgian Lotto Soudal rider Tiesj Benoot was part of a fifteen-rider move that would go for the stage win. The breakaway was gradually thinned out until only Tiesj Benoot and Daryl Impey remained at the front. The duo would eventually sprint for victory and it was the South African who took his first ever stage win in the Tour. Tiesj Benoot could – after an impressive performance – step on the podium to collect the fourth most aggressive rider prize for Lotto Soudal. Tim Wellens keeps on wearing the polka dot jersey.

Tiesj Benoot: ‘I targeted the victory today and did not ride this stage to win the most aggressive rider award, obviously. To finish second of such a strong breakaway is already huge but when you’re in such a position, you want to win of course. With Daryl Impey, I probably had the quickest rider of the break alongside me. The South African is able to win reduced bunch sprints, then you just know it will be difficult. I tried to surprise Impey in the sprint and corner him but that wasn’t enough to turn it to my advantage.”

“During the stage, I felt really strong, I tried to take the initiative myself in order to thin out the group of fifteen, which also succeeded. It seemed that I would have been able to beat Roche but Impey is of course a different story, the section downhill to the finish also did not play into my hands.”

“I wasn’t feeling great the past two days, so this performance brings good news. I clearly found my good legs back. With still eleven stages to go, there will come some more opportunities. The team is in a good flow and I am sure there will be some more chances for Thomas, Tim and myself to get in the breakaway during the second and third week.”

Tour de France #9: Daryl Impey takes superb victory The South African champion, Daryl Impey (Mitchelton-Scott), won stage 9 of the Tour de France ahead of Tiesj Benoot (Lotto-Soudal) and Jan Tratnik (Bahrain-Merida).  Stage 9 of the Tour de France looked like a good day for a breakaway on paper and given yesterday's tough day of racing, it was even more likely that the peloton would give an escape some freedom today.  That's exactly what would happen as 15 riders went clear in the beginning part of the 170km stage. It was a very strong lead group and Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka had representation in the form of Edvald Boasson Hagen.  With a gap of over 10-minutes, the race within the race began, as the breakaway riders started to attack each other with around 45km to go. Unfortunately, Boasson Hagen was one of the first riders in the break to come into difficulty as he, Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) and two others were detached from the front of the race.  Upfront, it Impey that was flying the South African flag proudly and he managed to ride away with Benoot over the final climb of the day, before out sprinting him to take a deserved stage win.  Boasson Hagen and Martin would roll across the line some 7-minutes down on the stage victor, the peloton a further 9-minutes back. With no main GC threats in the break today, the overall classification remained largely the same heading into tomorrow's stage 10.  " The goal was to try and be in the break and see how it goes from there. It was a really hard stage yesterday and so that made things a bit too tough for me today. I gave it a try, just without success. The legs weren't great today but I hope to get another chance on a better day." - Edvald Boasson Hagen  Image: Getty Images