Tour de France 2022 result LIVE: Bob Jungels wins Stage 9 after remarkable solo ride with Tadej Pogacar fifth

There have been more withdrawals this morning an several riders will not take part today. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) has not made the start due to Covid-1 whilst Kasper Asgreen (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) and Ruben Guerreiro (EF Eduaction-Easypost) miss the stage with non-Covid related illnesses.

It’s the first time that Martin has abandoned a stage race since he turned pro with Wanty in 2016.

“I felt my throat was sore and I asked to be tested and I turned out to be positive,” said Martin, who was 13th in the overall standings after Saturday’s eighth stage.

“The decision was taken in a collegial manner by the concerned team doctor, the Covid-19 doctor for the event and the UCI Medical Director, on the basis of the available clinical elements”, added the UCI.

During the Tour de France, there are four jerseys that can be won by the riders, each with their own distinguising features.

The Yellow Jersey is worn by the current leader of the Tour de France. After eight stages of the 2022 edition Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar is in posession of the iconic jersey.

For the sprinters’ points classification, the reward is the Green Jersey. Belgium’s Wout van Aert was victorious in yesterday’s ride picking up his second stage win of the tour.

Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen is the current King of the Mountains leading Pogacar by a single point meaning that he wears the Polka Dot Jersey.

The young rider of the tour is currently Great Britian’s Tom Pidcock who wears the White Jersey due to holder, Tadej Pogacar, currently leading the Tour in the yellow jersey.

The 2022 Tour de France sees 176 riders compete for the famous yellow jersey or maillot jaune which rewards the overall winner of the race.

While the yellow jersey, won in 2020 and 2021 by Slovenian prodigy Tadej Pogacar, is the most famous and prestigious of them all, there are three other colours to look out for in the peloton taking on this year’s Tour de France route.

The green, polka dot, and white jerseys all have their own meanings, histories and significance for their respective holders.

The 2022 Tour de France begins in Copenhagen on Friday 1 July and finishes in Paris on Sunday 24 July, where Slovenian superstar Tadej Pogacar hopes to be wearing yellow and be crowned champion for the third year in a row.

Standing in his way is the sheer strength and depth of Dutch team Jumbo-Visma, who carry multiple threats including Pogacar’s national teammate Primoz Roglic and last year’s Tour runner-up, Jonas Vingegaard. Ineos Grenadiers are without their leading light Egan Bernal, the 2019 champion who is still recovering from injury, but they do have the in-form Geraint Thomas fresh from winning the Tour de Suisse, as well as potential stage winners Adam Yates and Tom Pidcock.

Here is a stage-by-stage look at this year’s route.

Geoffrey Bouchard and Vegard Stake Laengen became the first Tour de France riders to pull out of the race with COVID-19, their teams said on Saturday.

Shortly after Bouchard’s withdrawal, UAE Team Emirates said Norwegian Laengen, a team mate of overall leader Tadej Pogacar, had tested positive.

“Vegard tested negative yesterday morning during the routine internal team testing protocol. But he reported sore throat symptoms late last night,” team doctor Adriano Rotunno said.

“The COVID-19 antigen test was positive, and the diagnosis was confirmed on a PCR test this morning. As per protocol, for his, the team, and the peloton’s safety he will be withdrawn from the race.”

Frenchman Bouchard, 30, won the mountains classification at the 2019 Vuelta a Espana and in last year’s Giro d’Italia.

“During the (seventh) stage (on Friday) I did not feel well. It’s a huge disappointment because we were just getting to my favourite terrain, the mountains,” AG2R-Citroen’s Bouchard said in a team statement.

AG2R-Citroen said that the rest of their squad, from whom Bouchard had been isolated, were negative for COVID-19.

In Monaco, Tadej Pogacar blends into the city. He walks invisibly through the streets and potters freely around his local supermarket. Even in his favourite bike shop, the best cyclist in the world queues among the muggles without being disturbed. “I like to go inside and see what’s new, and of course I don’t mind if there’s customers in front of me, it’s normal,” he says.

By all measures a double Tour de France champion should be one of the most recognisable athletes on the planet, a bonafide global superstar unable to walk through a hotel lobby without dark glasses and an entourage, but somehow Pogacar has not yet transcended the sport. One suspects if he was from cycling’s European heartlands or the US with a name that rolled off the tongue, his profile might be a little different. His “TP” brand with an eagle motif and a “never give up” tagline is yet to take off quite like Roger Federer or Tiger Woods.

But understated and low-key is how Pogacar approaches life and cycling, just riding for the joy of it, an ethos which has brought rich rewards so far. After winning back-to-back Tours de France, an historic third next month would set him firmly on course to becoming one of cycling’s all-time greats, and what makes it all possible is just how little he is driven by his own sporting legacy. “For me that’s not something that I would enjoy after [my career] too much and brag about it. I work hard to win a lot of races, but for me the priority is just to be a good friend to my friends and have good relations with the people I want in my life.”

Stage nine takes this Tour de France into the mountains and this final ride before Monday’s rest day could set up another battle between the big general classification stars.

The majority of this 193km route is in Switzerland, starting in Aigle where an immediate category four climb (Cote de Bellevue, 4.3km at 4% gradient) offers a platform for the breakaway to form.

A sprint and two more category climbs follow before a long descent into France and one final mountain before a run to the finish. Take a look at how Stage 9 shapes up for the contenders:

Here’s what the riders have to look forward to today:

Here’s how the battle for the yellow jersey is shaping up:

1. Pogacar 28hrs 56’ 16”
2. Vingegaard +39”
3. Thomas +1’ 14”
4. A. Yates +1’ 22”
5. Gaudu +1’ 35”
6. Bardet +1’ 36”
7. Pidcock +1’ 39”
8. Powless +1’ 41”
9. Mas +1’ 47”
10. Martinez +1’ 59”

The stage is scheduled to start at around 11.45pm BST with the expected finish at around 4:45pm BST.

Tour de France coverage can be found this year on ITV4, Eurosport, Discovery+ and GCN+ (Global Cycling Network).

Live racing each day will be shown on ITV4 before highlights typically at 7pm each day. ITV’s website lists timings here.

Eurosport and GCN+ will show every minute of every stage. More on Eurosport’s coverage here and the GCN+ coverage here.

It is also being shown on Eurosport’s Discovery+ streaming service, with broadcast info here.