Tour de France 2019: Daryl Impey Wins Stage 9 on Bastille Day

Daryl Impey won Sunday's Stage 9 of the 2019 Tour de France, finishing off a long break on Bastille Day.

The South African was the strongest man in the breakaway, beating Tiesj Benoot to the line. The favourites for the general classification took the day off, with little action of note in the peloton. Julian Alaphilippe retained the yellow jersey.

Here are the results from Sunday's stage:

The profile of Sunday's stage promised fireworks, as short, steep climbs and tricky descents were likely to splinter the bunch ahead of the finish line in Brioude. The French riders were expected to be very involved, as Bastille Day tends to bring out the best in them.

The stage started on a sour note. Alessandro De Marchi was involved in a heavy crash early. The Italian was one of the main protagonists of Saturday's stage, but he was forced to abandon the race Sunday.

His team, CCC, provided an update on his condition:

At the front of the race, a large breakaway group formed ahead of the first climb, including the likes of Jasper Stuyven, Anthony Delaplace, Marc Soler, Nicholas Roche and Edvald Boasson Hagen. Their lead quickly grew, as did the chances of the stage winner being in the break.

Before long, their lead went over 10 minutes, and with no one in the group posing a threat to the general classification, the peloton allowed them to battle it out for the win.

Team Ineos' official Twitter account acknowledged the peloton would not take the headlines Sunday:

Lukas Postlberger tried his luck with an ambitious solo effort, breaking apart the chase group with some excellent riding before the final climb. Soler was dropped on the final climb, and three leaders eventually emerged.

Roche, Benoot and Impey had a narrow lead over the group containing Soler with 10 kilometers left. Roche cracked under pressure, and Benoot could not make a late move stick, instead losing out to Impey in the dash for the win.

In the race for the general classification, Romain Bardet tried to gain an advantage on the final climb, but he was reeled in. All of the favourites remained put the rest of the way.

Monday's Stage 10 will be the final stage before the rest day. The four categorised climbs could aid a breakaway, although the sprint teams will do what they can to bring the pack together ahead of the finish line in Albi. A bunch sprint seems likely, giving the top contenders for the points jersey another chance to shine.