CANADA’S MICHAEL WOODS charged up the Puy de Dome to beat Matteo Jorgenson to a breakaway victory on stage nine of the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar clawed back a few more seconds on race leader Jonas Vingegaard.

Woods took almost two minutes out of Jorgenson on the steep gradients of the dormant volcano, making its first appearance in the Tour for 35 years, rounding the American with 450 metres left to take his first career Tour de France stage at the age of 36.

The two were part of a 14-strong group who had gone clear early on the 182.5km stage from Saint Leonard de Noblat, hitting the final climb with an advantage of more than 15 minutes on the peloton.

Woods said: “I’m still having a pinch myself moment. I can’t believe I did it. I’m really proud of myself, I’m really proud of my team, it’s special…

“I’m 36, turning 37 this year, I’m not getting any younger. I’ve always talked about winning a stage at the Tour de France and I’ve finally achieved it.”

By the time the main contenders crossed the line, some nine minutes after Woods, Pogacar had put in an attack inside the last 1,500 metres to claw back eight seconds on Vingegaard, whose advantage in yellow is down to 17 seconds going into Monday’s rest day.

British duo Simon Yates and Tom Pidcock were the next riders home, with Yates recovering a little over the losses caused by a late crash on Saturday, and Pidcock putting in an encouraging ride that lifted him to seventh overall as he tests himself in the general classification.

Jai Hindley, third overall, paced his way up after being dropped to minimise his losses and now sits two minutes and 40 seconds off yellow, still more than a minute and a half clear of Rodriguez in the last podium position.

Adam Yates is fifth, four minutes 39 down, just in front of brother Simon and Pidcock in seventh.