Four FdJ riders missed the time cut for the mountainous Stage 9.
A mountain stage can be cruel to every kind of rider. For the overall classification guys and climbers, matching rivals on the climbs and risking crashes on the descents makes for a stressful and painful day. Indeed, we saw several riders lose time or withdraw because they crashed, most notably Richie Porte of Team BMC who was 2nd place at the start of the day. However, mountainous stages are also bad for the more muscular, heavier sprinters, who fear the time cut, especially when the overall contenders race so hard and fast to gain time advantages on their rivals. For Team FdJ, French National Champion Arnaud Demare and three of his teammates couldn't keep up with the large group finishing just ahead of the time cut, rolling in at about the 37 minute mark. Almost half the FdJ team crossed the line after the 40 minute time cut, leaving only 5 riders in the Tour.
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