Anthony Turgis denies Tom Pidcock victory in ninth stage of the Tour de France

Anthony Turgis took victory from Tom Pidcock at the finish in Troyes at the end of a dusty and chaotic ninth stage of the Tour de France on the gravel roads of Champagne.

Turgis and Pidcock were among a group of riders who spent most of the 199km stage in a breakaway, with the race eventually shortened to a sprint, with Pidcock slamming his handlebars in frustration just metres from the second stage of the Tour de France.

Race leader Tadej Pogacar tested the endurance of his overall rivals several times on the 14 gravel stages that characterised the day, with Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic all struggling at different points.

However, by the end of the race there was no longer any time difference between the main contenders and they crossed the finish line a little less than two minutes after Turgis.

The inclusion of a stage covering some 32km of gravel sections – rife with dangers for those aiming for a yellow flag – caused much controversy in the run-up to the Tour, but there was no doubting its entertainment value.

A close fight to break into the breakaway group meant the pace was high from the start and things didn’t improve over the next four and a half hours.

Pidcock failed to reach the first split, but after the first gravel sector he managed to link up with Irishman Ben Healy and reach the bridge, leaving a 12-strong group at the head.

Their advantage grew to two and a half minutes early on but quickly shrank as Roglic lost ground behind the main peloton arms in the early gravel stages, prompting Pogačar to attack in a bid to put his Slovenian compatriots in trouble.

A mechanical problem forced Vingegaard to use the bike of his teammate Jan Tratnik. The pace was so fast that he was unable to change bikes before the finish.

Pogacar and Evenepoel tried to attack for the last 100km and at one point joined the breakaway group.

But every time they went forward, Vingegaard was able to respond without wanting to contribute, effectively neutralising the movement. The main contenders fell back, allowing Roglic to recover and the rest of the breakaway to fight their way through the stage.

Jasper Stuyven tried to attack at the end but was caught in the final kilometre before Turgis won the sprint.

Pidcock has previously competed on the gravel roads of Strade Bianche but admitted this stage was a real challenge for him.

“I weighed less than 57kg this morning, so when you consider that the average exercise is 280 watts for four and a half hours, that’s quite a lot,” said the Yorkshireman.

“It was the perfect scenario for me. I knew Stuyven would be the strongest if he left. I was hoping the guys would respond from behind, and it’s always difficult to let that play out, but you always have to understand that everyone in this group is there to win.”

Going into Monday’s rest day, Pogacar leads the overall standings by 33 seconds over Evenepoel, with Vingegaard third, 1min 15sec behind, and Roglic fourth, 21sec behind.

“I didn’t expect the gravel to be so (rough),” Pogacar said. “There were a lot of stones and it was hard to drive on them…

“I looked at Remco and he looked at me, so we went together, but it was a nice day.”

Before the start of the stage, a moment of silence was observed at the start in memory of Andre Drege, the Norwegian cyclist who died at the age of 25 in a crash during the Tour of Austria on Saturday.