Tour de France 2014 Stage 9 saw Tony Martin of the Omega Pharma-Quick Step come out victorious on Sunday. Meanwhile, the yellow jersey came Lotto Belisol's Tony Gallopin's way in Stage 9 as Vincenzo Nibali of the Astana lost the overall lead and the jersey.
"Since the cobblestone stage I have been thinking about the yellow jersey but it was a dream. And dreams and reality are not the same. But now I am so happy," The Guardian quoted Gallopin.
Gallopin took the lead when 70 kilometres were remaining. Interestingly the General Classification (GC) group did not press forward even as they saw the Frenchman advance. A Thibaut Pinot challenge aside, Gallopin rode on unchecked, reported CyclingNews.
"I did my best in the opening stages, and we knew that there was a chance to be in the breakaway, that it might be possible. Tomorrow I will try to enjoy the yellow jersey on Bastille Day. It will be a hard day, but to be in the yellow jersey on the national day of France will be incredible. I am so happy, and we will see what happens tomorrow," Gallopin said.
Solo runs seem to be catching on in Tour de France 2014. Stage 8 saw a breathtaking solo ending from Biel Kadri. Martin saw to it that Stage 9 had a spectacular solo effort too. His incredible effort came in the last 59 kilometres of the race. It was a display of time-trialing like no other.
The last 20 kilometres in Stage 9 were flat territory and this provided the contestants a very good opportunity to increase their pace after six arduous mountain climbs.
Alessandro De Marchi of the Cannondale was the first one to come out attacking here; however Martin soon overtook him in an aggressive burst, and launched into his incredible solo display thereafter.
"With three minutes' lead, I knew I had the race in my hand. It was an incredible feeling. In time trials, I often have to wait for a long time to know if I had won or not. The Tour de France organizers had scheduled only one time trial this year, so I invented a second one," Velonews quoted Martin.
In an excellent day for German sport, after Martin's Stage 9 triumph, Die Mannschaft lifted the World Cup in Brazil.
