Tour de France 2023: Michael Woods claims first stage win on summit finish for stage nine

Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard on stage nine of the 2023 Tour de France

Canadian climber Michael Woods timed his ride to perfection to claim his first stage win on the Tour de France.

Matteo Jorgenson was more than a minute clear as he began climbing the dormant volcano of Puy de Dome on stage nine.

But the American was caught by Israel Start-Up Nation rider Woods less than 500m from the iconic summit finish.

Tadej Pogacar then attacked defending champion Jonas Vingegaard, making up eight seconds on the overall race leader to close the gap to 17 seconds.

Two-time winner Pogacar finished 13th on the day, a place ahead of Denmark’s Vingegaard, more than eight minutes after the 36-year-old Woods.

British pair Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock were the next riders over the summit, seeing Pidcock climb two places to seventh of the general classification standings while Yates is sixth, moving within five seconds of his twin brother and early race leader Adam, who is fifth.

Jorgenson had gone clear 47km from the finish but was denied a place on the podium altogether as he was passed by Pierre Latour and Matej Mohoric in the last few metres before the line.