Zwift Tour de France Power Rankings - Stage 9

An emotional win for Impey and a day for the lesser teams on the Power Rankings to get active in trying to nab themselves a stage win. The breakaway realised pretty early that they were being given enough leeway to win the stage, so it quickly became a battle of tactics and legs just between the 14 riders out front.

Tour de France 2019, Stage 9

Only on Bastille day! Source: Getty

It's often a tough task to tell at a glance which teams are doing well at the Tour de France, there are 22 of them going around France, each with their own objectives and strengths. 

To keep an eye on how each team is progressing, Cycling Central is running the Zwift Power Rankings during this Tour de France. It's a quick guide from stage to stage of which teams are excelling and which are unlucky or faring poorly. 

Rankings are done according to a matrix of stage results, jersey standings and a team's ability to race with panache and flair.

1. Jumbo-Visma (same)

Tony Martin would have been the favourite to take the win from this breakaway three years ago, but it's not the same Tony Martin today as of yesteryear. One of the first dropped, but it shows good intent. Jumbo-Visma are clearly not just satisfied to rest on their laurels and are continuing to stay in the hunt.

Best Results: Mike Teunissen 1st- Stage 1, Yellow Jersey 2 stages; Dylan Groenewegen 1st- Stage 7; Wout van Aert 2nd- Stage 5; George Bennett 4th overall; Steven Kruijswijk 7th overall; 1st- Stage 2 Team Time Trial

2. Deceuninck-Quickstep (same)

Julian Alaphilippe tried a cheeky little move off the front before the early break got formed, but the yellow jersey was of course not going be allowed to go anywhere, so it ended up being an easy, quiet day for the Belgian squad. 

Best Results: Julian Alaphilippe 1st- Stage 3, 3rd- Stage 8, Yellow Jersey 4 stages, 1st overall; Elia Viviani 1st- Stage 4; Enric Mas 11th overall; 3rd- Stage 2 Team Time Trial

3. Soudal Lotto (same)

Tiesj Benoot will be wondering what if after coming so close to his first Grand Tour stage win.The 2018 Strade Bianche winner was very impressive with his attacks on the final climb, but couldn't permanently shake Impey and was stuck in a hard place in the finale. He couldn't wait for the others to catch up and potentially kick him off second position, but also he knew he couldn't beat Impey in a sprint.

Soudal Lotto continue their aggressive showings and are getting top results to back it up, good value for their third in the Power Rankings.

Best Results: Thomas De Gendt 1st- Stage 8; Tiesj Benoot 2nd-Stage 9; Caleb Ewan 2nd- Stage 7, 3rd- Stage 1+4, Tim Wellens Mountains Jersey 6 days

4. BORA-hansgrohe (same)

Lukas Postleberger tried to push a brave attack to the finish, but was brought back under the pressure of the chase. He's been really impressive this year and it was good to see him get his chance at a stage.  

Best Results: Peter Sagan 1st- Stage 5, 2nd- Stage 1, 3rd- Stage 7, Green Jersey 6 days; Emanuel Buchmann 10th overall

5. Bahrain Merida (same)

Jan Tratnik and Ivan Garcia Cortina were the only team-mates in the breakaway and played their numbers quite well and looked good in responding to attacks. Third for Tratnik, a nice result for the domestique.

Bahrain Merida do need to continue this aggression, as Colbrelli has been limited to minor placings and Nibali is out of contention for yellow.

Best Results: Dylan Teuns 1st- Stage 6

6. Groupama-FDJ (same)

Pinot is the flavour of the month in France, and we're not talking about the wine. The French have been waiting for their big GC hope and it appears Pinot is it for 2019.

Best Results: Thibaut Pinot 2nd- Stage 8, 3rd overall

7. Mitchelton-Scott (up six positions)

An emotional win for Daryl Impey as he showed that he's more than just one of the best team-mates around, attacking, following, working and ultimately sprinting to get the victory. 

Sticking with Benoot over that last climb was no mean feat and Impey got a fully deserved victory.

Best Results: Adam Yates 12th overall; Matteo Trentin 3rd- Stage 5

8. Team Ineos (down one position)

Team Ineos had to briefly do some work as Bardet, Bennett and Porte tried a probing attack off the front of the race, but Kwiatkowski just maintained a decent tempo and the move went nowhere.

Best Results: Geraint Thomas 4th - Stage 6, 5th overall; Egan Bernal- 6th overall; 2nd- Stage 2 Team Time Trial

9. Trek-Segafredo (down one position)

Jasper Stuyven was very close to taking the win on the stage, closer than his fifth place finish would indicate. Probably the fastest sprinter there on current form, he committed to bring the Impey move back. If he had, there likely would have been a little time to rest up before the final dash to the line and  he would have been in a better spot to contest the finish. Knocking on the door for that win, but running out of suitable stages.

Richie Porte lightly tested his legs by following Bardet's probing move, but was mostly looking around seeing if anything was going to happen behind. Nothing did and he drifted back to the peloton. 

Best Results: Giulio Ciccone 2nd- Stage 6, 1 day in yellow; Jasper Stuyven 3rd- Stage 3; Richie Porte 18th overall

10. Wanty Groupe Gobert (down one position)

No breakaway presence, but Yoann Offredo - current favourite for the super combativity award - watch continues, this time he crashed into some traffic furniture in neutral, but got back on his bike and stayed with the peloton to the finish. Badly needs the rest day.

Best Results: Xandro Meurisse 3rd- Stage 6, 13th overall

11. Team Sunweb (down one position)

Nicholas Roche is a domestique these days, but he turned back the clock with his performance on Stage 9, looking strong, but got dropped before the top of the final climb and finished sixth.

Best Results: Michael Matthews 2nd- Stage 3; 4th- Stage 2 Team Time Trial

12. CCC (down one position)

There was a bit of a fight for the breakaway, but it wasn't super difficult, so it was a bit of a surprise that CCC didn't have a rider in there on a stage that shaped as one of their best opportunities to take a victory.

Best Results: Greg van Avermaet- 4th Stage 3, Mountains Jersey 2 stages

13. UAE Team Emirates (down one position)

UAE missed the move and Rui Costa got a very, very late call to try and jump across to it. He started out when the advantage to the 14 riders was a minute and fifty seconds and managed to get the gap down to thirty seconds, but it was a bridge too far for the former world champion. He did put out a social media post later, thanking his fans and saying "Count on me to try again."

Best Results: Alexander Kristoff 2nd- Stage 4, Dan Martin 16th overall

14. EF Education First (same)

Simon Clarke got into the break to turn the team's fortunes around from the unlucky last few stages where they lost van Garderen and Woods lost stacks of time on GC. He tried the first attack of the breakaway, but must have cooked himself a bit in the process and ended up ninth.

Best Results: Rigoberto Uran 8th overall

15. Movistar (up one position)

Marc Soler was the final addition to the break, having to bridge a gap of forty seconds to make the juncture, which probably took it out of him when it came to contesting the stage finish, ending up with sixth overall despite probably being the classiest climber there.

Best Results: Nairo Quintana 16th overall; Mikel Landa 17th overall

16. Astana (down one position)

Astana's tactics are a bit mind-boggling, they have all these great riders in the hills, but going into stages where a breakaway win is a real possibility they refuse to put anyone in the move.

Best Results: Jakob Fuglsang 9th overall

17. Dimension Data (same)

Edvald Boasson Hagen was the initiator of the move and the first one dropped from it. 

Best Results: Giacomo Nizzolo 4th- Stage 1

18. Cofidis (same)

Jesus Herrada got himself into the right move, but was well below where you'd expect a rider of his ability to be when the going got tough.

19. AG2R-La Mondiale (up three positions)

Finally some life from AG2R as Oliver Naesen got himself in an attack and took fourth place after a hard day of fighting in the finale.

20. Team Arkea-Samsic (same)

Anthony Delaplace got his highest ever stage finish at the Tour de France with his 10th place.

And yes that is also Arkea-Samsic's highest place finish of the 2019 race.

21. Total Direct Energie (same)

Romain Sicard was twelfth for Total Direct Energie, again their highest placing in the race.

Direct Energie have also committed the sin of not being particularly active in the breakaways in the first nine stages, but at least they've been present in the past two hilly ones that have suited their riders better.

22. Katusha-Alpecin (down three positions)

Nils Pollitt was the first one off the front of the peloton in the stage, but he didn't make the move when it went. He's also been the only Katusha-Alpecin rider sighted all race. Don't understand what they are doing.

After a good TTT, they have done nothing.

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8 min read
Published 15 July 2019 9:34am
By SBS Cycling Central
Source: SBS


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