THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGNERES-DE-BIGORRE, France — Italy’s Riccardo Ricco won the ninth stage of the Tour de France on Sunday, and Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg retained the overall lead after the race entered the Pyrenees mountains.
The Italian got his second stage victory this year, finishing more than one minute ahead of the main pack which included Team Columbia rider Kirchen.
Ricco, a 24-year-old on the Saunier Duval team, burst out of the pack on the final ascent with 30 kilometres left in the 224-kilometre ride from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre.
"It was totally improvised," said Ricco, adding that he jumped out when several rivals in the pack appeared vulnerable. "I went all out to the finish … I was really fast today."
Ricco also won Thursday’s sixth stage in the smaller Massif Central range, proving his mastery of mountains.
"Let’s say that this is really my turf, my domain," Ricco said. He finished one minute four seconds ahead of Russia’s Vladimir Efimkin in second, and another AG2R rider Cyril Dessel of France in third — 1:17 behind.
The stage took the 170 riders along seven climbs, including two ranked category 1 — the 13.2 kilometre Peyresourde pass and the slightly shorter Aspin pass — where Ricco showed his burst of speed.
Kirchen said he was just happy to keep up with his main rivals and retain the yellow jersey for a fourth straight day. He leads Australia’s Cadel Evans, who is second, by six seconds.
Christian Vande Velde of the United States rose to third in the standings, 44 seconds behind Kirchen.
Stefan Schumacher, a German who won Tuesday’s individual time trial, lost ground on the last climb and fell to fourth overall, 56 seconds back. Among other expected title contenders, Denis Menchov of Russia is fifth, 1:03 behind, and Spain’s Alejandro Valverde is sixth, 1:12 back.
.Cycling’s most prestigious race was jolted earlier Sunday when Evans, one of the top pre-race favourites in the three-week race, crashed about halfway into the stage, apparently while negotiating a downhill curve.
The Australian bloodied his left elbow, thigh and knee in the spill. Evans rode alongside the car of Tour race doctor Gerard Porte, who cleaned up the injuries and appeared to apply a bandage near the rider’s left shoulder.
Evans finished in the main pack of contenders just behind Dessel, also 1:17 back.
After the stage, Evans said he was okay but wanted to undergo further checks.
Riders embark Monday on a second day in the Pyrenees with a 156-kilometre ride from Pau to the Hautacam ski resort, featuring two climbs so hard that they defy classification in cycling’s ranking system.
The Tour ends July 27 in Paris.