Jonas Vingegaard held on to the Tour de France overall lead on the Puy de Dome volcano Sunday as Canada's Michael Woods took a prestigious stage win for his Israel Premier-Tech team.
France's Pierre Latour crossed in second place with Slovenian Matej Mohoric rounding out the podium as the attention switched to the key fight between the favourites several minutes down the steep slopes.
"I didn't think I could make it, it was so silent up there," said the 36-year-old Woods who overtook American Matteo Jorgenson in the home straight with the Movistar rider wilting.
Two-time Tour champion Tadej Pogacar launched an attack from 600m on the baking slopes but defending champion Vingegaard followed him over the summit finish line just seconds adrift.
Dane Vingegaard still leads ahead of Monday's rest day by 17 seconds as the expected fireworks never materialised on a hot July day.
An early escape raced over 16 minutes ahead of a peloton more concerned with how they could cope on the tough slopes than harbouring hopes of a win.
Pogacar was a full 8min 19sec slower than Woods at the finish of the 182km stage nine as he finished first from the main contenders.
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