Rigoberto Urán (Cannondale-Drapac) claimed stage 9 of the Tour de France in a photo finish ahead of Team Sunweb's Warren Barguil on a day that saw Richie Porte (BMC Racing) and Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) crash out of the race.
Urán led a select group of climbers across the line after Barguil, the last survivor of the early breakaway, was swept up on the run-in to the line. Race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished third on the stage to retain his yellow jersey.
Barguil was still holding on out front as the riders came over the top of the Mont du Chat, the final climb of the day. Froome, Urán, Porte, AG2R's Romain Bardet, Quick-Step Floors' Dan Martin and Astana's Fabio Aru and Jakob Fuglsang comprised the small group of overall contenders in pursuit, as both Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) lost touch on the hors-categorie gradients. On the way up the Mont du Chat, Froome suffered a mechanical, almost immediately spurring Aru on the attack. However, a number of riders in the select group of overall favourites appeared to disagree with Aru's decision to put pressure on the yellow jersey while he was dealing with mechanical trouble. That led to a calming of hostilities as Froome's teammates dragged him back to the group shortly thereafter.
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On the ensuing descent, Porte lost control rounding a corner at high speed, crashing hard and bringing Martin down with him. Martin remounted, but an injured Porte was unable to continue, although according to reports on the race broadcast, he was conscious and alert following the incident. The 32-year-old Australian was taken away from the race in an ambulance.
As the chase of Barguil continued, Bardet jumped off the front to bridge the gap. He closed down Barguil as the road flattened out and then sped past to push on solo as Barguil drifted back to the yellow jersey group. Bardet couldn't quite fend off his pursuing rivals in the closing kilometres, however, setting up a sprint.
Fuglsang led the group into the sprint, but Urán came around on his right with 200 metres to go. Bardet attempted to match the Colombian but didn't have the speed, but then Barguil surged into the picture, pulling almost even with Urán just as the riders hit the line to make for the second photo finish in three days at the Tour. Urán proved the winner by a tyre length.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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