Michael Woods bided his time and made his effort at exactly the right time, winning on Sunday’s stage of the Tour de France and conquering Puy de Dôme, a steep dome-shaped volcanic plug in the Massif Central that returned to the race after 35 years. Woods is only the third Canadian to win a stage of the Tour de France and does so a year after his compatiot and teammate Hugo Houle was the second. Woods took his third Grand Tour stage triumph after emergin from a breakaway also containing Guillaume Boivin. In the GC battle, Tadej Pogačar took back a little time on the yellow jersey Jonas Vingegaard.
The Course
There were four categorized climbs along the 182-km route from Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Puy de Dôme, but only the last one was crucial. The scene of an iconic side-by-side 1964 battle between Raymond Poulidor and Jacques Anquetil, this HC-rated climb was 12.6 km of 7.8 percent, its final 4 km over 11 percent as the narrow road skirted up the lava dome. There were no fans allowed on the dome.
Puy-de-Dôme is back on the #TDF2023 after 35 years!
We can’t tell you all how excited we are about this! pic.twitter.com/7cWmpU8qqb
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 9, 2023
Two Canadians, Guillaume Boivin and Michael Woods, were part of the 14-strong breakaway that formed early in the day and rolled up 9:00 by the 44 km mark. Nine teams were represented. Polka-dot-clad Neilson Powless was along to gobble up KOM points.
🏁 150 km to go
The boys knew they needed to be in the break and Boivin and Woods were quick to join the right move.
The group with G and Mike already has 4:30 minutes on the peloton. C’mon guys!
___
🇫🇷 #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/QMo7w1kfC5— Israel – Premier Tech (@IsraelPremTech) July 9, 2023
Powless plucked the single KOM points from atop Cat. 4s Côte de Felletin and Côte de Pontcharraud. Just before the penultimate climb, Cat. 3 Côte de Pontaumur, Boivin made a surprising attack that survived until the lower slopes.
When Powless took the maximum points the breakaway’s gap was 12:00. The Puy de Dôme conquerer was in the break.
Woods was part of a quintet that flared off the front after the penultimate climb. Weaker climbers wanted to hit the foot of the big climb with an advantage. After several accelerations, Boivin was dropped.
On a long uncategorized climb Matteo Jorgenson became the solo fugitive, with Woods and eleven others playing…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…