A flurry of numbers, statistics, and points of reflection from the ninth stage of the Tour de France.

3: EVEN HAPPIER, NEVER TWO WITHOUT THREE
Tim Merlier raises his arms for the 3rd time at the Tour, after his victorious sprints in Pontivy 2021 (stage 3) and Dunkirk 2025 (stage 3). He has a 100% success rate as these are the only sprints disputed by the Belgian.

5: MERLIER-MILAN 5-0
Tim Merlier is Jonathan Milan's nemesis. When they finished 1-2 in Grand Tours, the score is 5-0 for Merlier: 3 times at the Giro last year, twice this year at the Tour. Milan only managed to beat Merlier to second place in the UAE Tour this year, stage 4.

5/5: NEW SPRINT IN CAVENDISH CITY
Châteauroux hosted its 5th Tour finish, and the victory was decided with a 5th group sprint. Tim Merlier succeeds Mario Cipollini (1998) and Mark Cavendish, winners in 2008, 2011, and 2021. This "Manx Missile" dominance earned Châteauroux the nickname Cavendish City!

10: BITTNER, THE NEW CZECH HOPE
Fourth today, Pavel Bittner achieved the best result for the Czech Republic in... 10 years! The last time a Czech rider finished so high was on July 9, 2015, when Zdenek Stybar won stage 6 in Le Havre. Only two Czechs have won at the Tour: Jan Svorada and Zdenek Stybar.

44: POGACAR EQUALS HINAULT AT THE SAME AGE
Tadej Pogacar wins his 44th Yellow Jersey at 26 years old, the same number as Bernard Hinault at the same age! Record holder Eddy Merckx had already worn it 63 times at 26 years old.

173: THE LONGEST BREAKAWAY FROM THE START
Present in the breakaway at the start of the stage with Jonas Rickaert, Mathieu Van der Poel was in the lead for 173 kilometers, at an average of 49.9 km/h. It's the longest breakaway since the start of the 2025 Tour. The Dutchman was caught by the peloton 650 meters from the finish line.

3: SOUDAL QUICK-STEP LIKE IN 2021?
With Remco Evenepoel (3rd stage) and Tim Merlier (5th and 9th stage), Soudal Quick-Step is the most successful team in this Tour with 3 victories. The last time they won at least 3 times was in 2021. The 3rd victory then was obtained by Mark Cavendish in... Châteauroux! The team finished the Tour with a total of 5 victories, matching the 2017 record.

50.013: MAXIMUM SPEED
The first riders of the day finished in 3h 28' 52" after 174.1 km of racing, for an average speed of 50.013 km/h. This is the second fastest stage in Tour history.

1982: BELGIUM CONQUERS VICTORIES
Tim Merlier wins the 494th victory for Belgium at the Tour, already the 4th in 2025. This is the first time Belgians have won four of the first nine stages since... 1982! The winners then were Ludo Peeters (1st stage), Daniel Willems (3rd stage), Pol Verschuere (7th stage), and Frank Hoste (8th stage).

8: FOR THE MOUNTAIN, WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT TODAY
The mountain classification leader, Tim Wellens, has only 8 points after 9 stages. Such a low total hasn't been seen since 2018 when Toms Skujins was leading with 6 points after 9 stages. This is mainly due to the relatively low mountain profile so far, before more significant climbs arrive, starting today. Stage 10 between Ennezat and Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy features 8 climbs, of which 7 are category 2. 37 points are up for grabs tomorrow, compared to the 34 awarded so far.

2: RICKAERT LIKE VAN DER POEL
Alpecin-Deceuninck has won 13 Tour stages, but the combativity award given to Jonas Rickaert is only the second in its history! The Belgian succeeds his teammate Mathieu Van der Poel (with whom he was in the breakaway today), awarded after stage 12 of the 2023 Tour. It was also on July 13th then!

2/3: TWO BELGIANS ON THE PODIUM
With Tim Merlier (1st) and Arnaud de Lie (3rd), Belgium placed two riders on the stage podium for the first time since 2023, and the final 1-2 of Jordi Meeus and Jasper Philipsen (stage 21 on the Champs-Élysées). This is also de Lie's third top-3, after stages 3 and 8 last year.