Stage 9 of the 2022 Tour de France brought a welcome respite from Big Name dominance as veteran Bob Jungels of AG2R-Citroen found solo glory at the end of a long breakaway. The rider took some daredevil lines in the descent, risking life and limb to stay ahead of the pack.

It was all Bob Jungels in the final kilometer.

The victory is all the sweeter in the wake of his diagnosis of endofibrosis, which required surgery and caused him to miss last year’s Tour de France and more. In the ultra-competitive world of pro cycling, there’s no guarantee coming back from such a condition, never mind winning a stage in the grandest stage race of the year. The rider was ecstatic and the team jubilant with the unexpected, yet well-deserved triumph.

Competing for the “feel good story” prize, French rider Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) threatened to capture Jungels in the final 20km. But he could not find the juice to make the catch. Instead, Pinot was himself caught by two others on the breakaway, Jonathan Castroviejo (Ineos Grenadier) and Carlos Verona (Movistar). Regardless, Pinot has been racing up to a higher standard lately, reminding observers of the old GC-threat Pinot after years of irrelevance. Pinot took the Most Combative prize for Stage 9.

Some notable non-starters as of Stage 9 will force some teams to scramble: Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Kasper Asgreen (Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl) and Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Easypost) all bid adieu to the 2022 Tour de France.

Elsewhere in the race, it’s business as usual. The Slovenian wunderkind Tadej Pogacar (UAE) keeps the yellow jersey. Wout van Aert (JV) keeps the green jersey. And Magnus Cort Nielsen (EF) finally gives up the polka dot jersey after multiple stages of collecting no KOM points. The Dane will spend his remaining strength supporting EF’s GC ambitions as well as gunning for stage wins. Simon Geschke (Cofidis) becomes the new King of the Mountains.