Mathieu van der Poel won his third career Tour de France stage in a sprint finish on stage nine, which was shortened by 30 km because of temperatures approaching 40C.
The ninth stage, from Limoges to Ussel, was truncated as race organisers invoked the extreme-heat protocol. Van der Poel prevailed in the reduced bunch sprint to claim the most prestigious win of his 2026 campaign, describing it as a "super-hard day" while admitting the heat was "for sure" more bearable than in the Tour's opening days.
The Dutchman had previously won Tour stages in 2021 and 2025 and is a three-time winner of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Race leader Tadej Pogacar retained the yellow jersey, with the general classification unchanged by the heat-hit stage.