Stay on the wheel - news after Stage 9 TDF

A Frenchman wins the stage and leads the Tour

Big surprises in today's stage through the heart of the Central Massif from Issoire to Saint Flour. The 208km route included 7 category climbs and another late intermediate sprint 30km from the finish. Bigger news was the massive crash that affected many of the riders at 102 km into the race, eliminating Alexandre Vinokourov, David Zabriskie, Jurgen van den Broeck, and Frederik Willems. Other withdrawals were Wouter Poels, Pavel Brutt, and Amets Txurruka. Plus Juan Manuel Garate did not begin the stage today. The condition of Andreas Kloden's back pain resulting from the crash will be revealed after the rest day tomorrow.

It was decided by the peloton themselves to slow the pace and wait for a large number of riders remounting their bikes or slowed by the major fall (although Voeckler, Casar and Sanchez did not wait, nor did the offending car stop). Meanwhile the breakaway was allowed to extend up the road from close to 3 minutes to over 7 minutes. Luis Leon Sanchez won the stage, but Thomas Voeckler set the pace at the front gaining 1'49" in the lead and earning the coveted yellow jersey.

I wrote an Updated Rider List and withdrawals at Tour de France earlier today and also covered more about today's Stage 9. So much for the summary of the day, time for reading and viewing the news yourself and discovering more:

RECOMMENDED READING AND VIEWING AFTER STAGE 9 TOUR DE FRANCE

2011 Tour de France organizers eject Euro Media car that struck two riders on stage 9
Hoogerland happy to be alive after crash in stage 9 (CyclingNews)
Tobe's blog 
Klöden Suffers Back Injury in Stage 9
Vinokourov: "I never expected such a dramatic end on the Tour de France"
Andrew Hood’s 2011 Tour de France notebook, stage 9 (VeloNews) Full medical report
Has The 2011 Tour de France Really Been More Dangerous? (Cyclocosm) 
VIDEO: Stage 9 Major Crash (03:20 English) (nbcsports) (play button at lower left)
VIDEO: Slomo of the French TV car taking out riders in the break (nbcsports) (play button at lower left)
VIDEO: Interview with Johnny Hoogerland  after Stage 9 (in Dutch) and Podium
VIDEO: Interview with Cadel Evans after Stage 9 (OzCycling) 
VIDEO: Interview with Tommy Voeckler after Stage 9 (OzCycling) 
VIDEO: Tour Talk with Frank and James Stage 9 (Bicycling)
Images from the day are from sirotti/reuters (Steephill.TV)
O'nev cyclismo photographia - Stage 9, this guy has real travel experiences

Now for some fun:
Hardly serious with Jens Voigt
Breakfast with Bernie
Jens Voigt Facts (fun) 

Tweet of the day: Vaughters Jonathan Vaughters: Everyone: thanks for the concern, but DZ is fine. No head injury. His personality made the Frech docs think he wasn't "right".but he's fine

Current GC Standings after Stage 9 2011 Tour de France (full results). Again please visit PedalDancer.com earlier post today Updated Rider List and withdrawals at Tour de France

1.	VOECKLER Thomas	181	TEAM EUROPCAR	38h 35' 11"
2.	SANCHEZ Luis-Leon	47	RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM	38h 37' 00"	+ 01' 49"
3.	EVANS Cadel	141	BMC RACING TEAM	38h 37' 37"	+ 02' 26"
4.	SCHLECK Frank	18	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	38h 37' 40"	+ 02' 29"
5.	SCHLECK Andy	11	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	38h 37' 48"	+ 02' 37"
6.	MARTIN Tony	175	HTC - HIGHROAD	38h 37' 49"	+ 02' 38"
7.	VELITS Peter	179	HTC - HIGHROAD	38h 37' 49"	+ 02' 38"
8.	KLÖDEN Andréas	74	TEAM RADIOSHACK	38h 37' 54"	+ 02' 43"
9.	GILBERT Philippe	32	OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO	38h 38' 06"	+ 02' 55"
10.	FUGLSANG Jakob	13	TEAM LEOPARD-TREK	38h 38' 19"	+ 03' 08"

Looking forward to Stage 10 - on Tuesday. Tomorrow is a rest day in the Tour de France. Mondays are always rest days, but that means the Etape du Tour is happening!

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