Ben O’Connor moves into Tour de France contention after stage nine victory

Primoz Roglic and Mathieu Van Der Poel abandoned the race before the start of the stage

Ben O’Connor took victory from a breakaway on stage nine of the Tour de France (Christophe Ena/AP)

Ben O’Connor won stage nine of the Tour de France from a breakaway to move up to second overall as Tadej Pogacar used a late attack to strengthen his already commanding advantage in the yellow jersey.

Racing in miserable conditions, O’Connor raced away from fellow escapee Sergio Higuita still with 17km of the final climb up to Tignes to go at the end of the 145km stage from Cluses, eventually winning the day by more than five minutes from Mattia Cattaneo.