Cort and Schultz had the most energy left after a combative final climb of the stage to the aiport in Megeve, sprinting away from the rest of the breakaway group on the uphill drag to the finish line. Schultz was in the lead until the final metre, when Cort edged ahead in the throw to the line, the Australian just centimetres short of a landmark stage win in his debut at the Tour de France.
“It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe what just happened today,” said Cort, who claimed his second Tour de France stage win. “I was on the limit for so long on this climb. [Alberto] Bettiol was really strong and spent many kilometres on the front so I could sit on and save some energy.
“I lost contact with the group a couple of times in the last kilometres. Luckily, it went all back together and I was there.
“For a rider like me, there is nothing bigger than this victory. This is what I can chase here, at the biggest race in the world. I’ve been lucky to land another stage win on the Tour de France.”
For Schultz, it was a bitter pill to swallow at the end of such a hard effort, with the Australian coming so close to writing his name in the record books as a Tour de France stage winner.
“I’ve never really been in a position to contest a Tour de France stage win,” said Schultz. “It was almost perfect. But you know Magnus Cort, he’s such a great rider and has won stages in so many Grand Tours.
“I’m really happy with second, but I’m also really upset. It’s not every day you get to try and win a stage of the Tour de France. I’ll keep trying and see where we get to.”
A large group eventually forced its way clear of the peloton after a hard battle over the early kilometres of racing.
Australian Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) already had a stage win to his name, but made his way into the early move alongside fellow Australian Schultz.
Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels) made the most of the climbs out on route, claiming the top spot on two of the four categorised climbs during the race.
The breakaway was given a lot of leniency from the peloton, with UAE Team Emirates happy to just keep the gap pegged to near Lennard Kämna’s (BORA-hansgrohe) overall deficit on the general classification, as the closest rider to Tadej Pogačar’s overall lead in that early move.
Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) put in a big attack through the valley, and the Tour of Flanders winner held up to a 40-second gap with the large breakaway group chasing behind. The race was halted unexpectedly with protestors blocking the race route, all the riders stopping with the time gaps maintained as the roads were cleared by police.
The race got back underway with the final climb to the airport at Megève the main challenge remaining. It was an attack-filled affair at the head of the race, with Bettiol being chased down eventually as the cut and thrust of move and countermove of the riders behind saw the lead on the road see-saw.
Luis Leon Sanchez (Cofidis) put in what looked like the winning move with a few kilometres remaining on the climb, building a lead of just under 30 seconds as the group watched each other behind.
That prompted an attack from Matteo Jorgenson (Trek-Segafredo), matched by Schultz with the Australian taking it upon himself to attack again and bridge over to Sanchez, though he couldn’t leave the veteran Spaniard behind as the route flattened out ahead of the uphill kick to the finish line.
This prompted a slow down in proceedings, with Jorgenson rejoining the front pair, and Dylan van Baarle (INEOS Grenadiers) jumping over from behind. The slow pace continued well into the final kilometre until a big group joined the front four, Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis) sweeping past the group, with Schultz and Sanchez the first ones able to respond.
Sanchez opened up the sprint first, but it was Schultz with Cort on his wheel shooting past the Spaniard. The Australian fought hard all the way to the line, but Cort’s superior sprinting pedigree and his energy conservation in the final kilometres of the climb paid dividends as he just beat Schultz in a photo finish.
The Tour de France continues with a day in the high mountains as the race continues with Stage 10 that finishes atop the Col du Granon. Watch on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker from 8.05pm AEST, with the SBS and SBS On Demand broadcast beginning from 9.30pm AEST.
