From our special correspondent in Tignes,

This 9th stage between Cluses and Tignes was feared by the peloton.

Primoz Roglic and Mathieu van der Poel even took the lead on Sunday morning by not appearing on the starting line.

Six hours later, the second alpine day was fatal for no less than 10 riders, between three withdrawals and seven riders out of time (set 37'20 after the winner).

Considerable damage obviously caused by the stage profile, with five passes (including the first outside the Tour de France category) in 145 km, but also by terrible weather conditions.

Between incessant rain and incredible cold in the middle of summer, "down to -2 ° C felt in descents" according to a doctor from the Cofidis team, everything was in place for a massacre.

"It's one of my worst days on the bike," sighed Nacer Bouhanni, very marked crossing the line, more than 35 minutes after Ben O'Connor (AG2R Citroën Team).

It's worth a stage I did in the snow on the Giro.

"

"A sad ending" for Bryan Coquard

Two years after an even more epic scenario, with a finish finally canceled in Tignes due to a mudslide, the Savoy resort offered a new poisoned gift to the runners, ready to go after themselves. For his first Tour de France, the South African Nicholas Dlamini (Qhubeka Nexthash) was therefore keen to join Tignes, even though he knew he was out of time after a fall in a descent.

He arrived at 7 p.m., after 5:50 a.m. of suffering, an hour and a half behind Ben O'Connor.

An incredible story that says a lot about the minds of those accustomed to the gruppetto.

B & B Hotels sprinter Bryan Coquard also said goodbye to this 108th Grande Boucle on Sunday, for less than three minutes.

"A sad ending", sighs the person concerned, "frozen in the descent of the Saisies" and not recovered from his three falls at the start of the Tour.

"Everything is more complicated when the fingers are frozen"

“When he found himself in trouble, I gave him gels and coke,” says one of the sports directors of the French team, Samuel Dumoulin. I did everything to stimulate him, but we realize that we don't have a lot of leverage on a rider with his back blocked by the cold, after his three falls at the start of the Tour. He fought to the end like a warrior. It's still a shame that the organization is so intransigent about deadlines, when I see these conditions that will go down in history. "

How exactly were the runners able to prepare for this race, knowing that the rain was going to be even more terrible than the day before?

"We anticipated as much as possible the need for warm clothing in the two team cars accompanying the riders," said Maxime Robin, trainer at Total Energies.

Some were able to regularly dry their clothes in the vehicles during the stage.

The priority was also to eat well and drink well, because everything is more complicated when the fingers are frozen.

"

"Not a lot of sports where you take a lot of money like that"

Images have marked the history of the event, such as escaped runners taking the time to stop to cover themselves more, or Nairo Quintana having to be helped to walk after crossing the line.

Monday's rest day has rarely been so good for the peloton.

“We lost a few years of life expectancy after such a day,” says Fabien Doubey (TotalEnergies).

There aren't a lot of sports where you charge a lot like that.

"

“I have never experienced something as crazy as this first week of the Tour, adds Ole Gabriel Rasch, sporting director at Ineos.

Each day has truly been an emotional roller coaster.

"Shall we do it again on Tuesday?

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