GUN Australian cyclist Richie Porte is third on the line of Tour de France betting, but he is a long way off the two men jostling for favouritism.
Porte, who is the $26 third favourite with Sportsbet.com.au, is currently 14th in the overall individual time classification, but reigning Tour winner Chris Froome is already on top of the leaderboard and is a $1.80 favourite to stay there.
Colombian racer Nairo Quintana is the $2.10 second favourite, but he is 23 seconds behind Froome after stage nine and will have his work cut out catching the Team Sky jet.
Porte, who says he loves the Pyrenees, made up some strong gains on his nearby rivals on Sunday, but is still over two minutes behind the yellow jersey.
The BMC Racing leader spent time with the chasing group on the way home in Froome, Quintana and Orica-BikeExchange’s Adam Yates, but fell away in the final metres.
“I needed to get time back so that was what I was thinking about,” Porte said after the race.
“The team were fantastic today, they worked quite well together and it would have been nice to have got a bit more of a gap but I’m guessing that they’re not going to let me ride away like that.
“I feel good, it’s just nice to get the first proper base of racing done.
“Physically, I know where I am and that’s in a good place.”
The big news out of stage nine was the withdrawal of two-time winner Alberto Contador.
The ill and injured Spaniard went for broke in the early stages, but did not have the legs to keep it up and ended back with the peloton.
After a few minutes sitting off the back and speaking with members in his Tinkoff team car, the 33-year-old got off his bike and into the car, ending his tour less than half way through.
After two crashes on the opening five stages, Contador was always going to be up against it.
“I could not keep going,” Contador said.
“This morning I had a fever.
“And I did not feel good since I crashed on the first day.
“I will undergo tests to find out what is going wrong.”
Among the favourites at the start of the tour, Contador’s withdrawal will make things easier for the likes of Froome, who acknowledged as much after the stage.
He said Contador’s withdrawal was a “big loss for the Tour de France”.
“We are not going to have to chase his attacks 100 kilometres out anymore,” Froome said.
“It’s one less thing for us to worry about, but it’s maybe a shame for the race.
“I was quite surprised to hear he got into the car today.
“He attacked on the first climb and was up front so obviously he wasn’t feeling too bad at the start, but of course he was still suffering with injury.
“It’s a shame he’s no longer in the race.
“With him it was only going to make it a more exciting race than it already is.”
Froome, who whacked an annoying spectator on stage eight, kept both his cool and his grip on the yellow jersey as a massive storm bombarded riders with hailstones.
“It was a tough stage and the weather only made it tougher,” Froome said.
”One minute we were pouring water over our heads and putting ice packs down our back, the next minute we had ice falling from the sky with the hailstones and the temperature dropped to 10 degrees.
“It went from one extreme to the other.
“It definitely made it harder for us.
“It’s great to still be in yellow after a tough two days like that.”
Froome crossed the line with fellow Brit Yates and Movistar’s Quintana, but he was some six minutes and 35 seconds after Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin.
Rated a $501 chance to win the tour, Dumoulin got home in the 184.5 kilometre stage from Vielha Val d’Aran to Andorre Arcalis.
“I didn’t do much in the breakaway, just a few pulls so I was one of the strongest I guess,” Dumoulin said.
“I’m a time triallist and it’s difficult to close on me.
“I was still afraid they would come back, I could feel my power going down and I was slowing down so I was a little bit scared, but no one came back and it was a really special day.”
The Dutchman, 25, has now won stages in three consecutive grand tours, after doing so on the Vuelta a Espana last year and the Giro d’Italia earlier this year.
Stage 10 heads from Escaldes-Engordany to Revel in a 198-kilometre mountain monster that will again be a test of body and mind for the remaining Tour hopefuls.
It commences on Tuesday, after the riders enjoy a much-needed rest day in Andorre.
2016 Tour de France market
Chris Froome ($1.80)
Nairo Quintana ($2.10)
Adam Yates ($34)
Fabio Aru ($41)
Daniel Martin ($41)
Tejay Van Garderen ($41)
Romain Bardet ($51)
Joaquin Rodriguez ($67)
Sergio Henao ($81)
Alejandro Valverde ($101)
Bauke Mollema ($151)
Roman Kreuziger ($151)
Wilco Kelderman ($201)
Geraint Thomas ($201)
Louis Meintjes ($251)
Pierre Rolland ($301)
Thibaut Pinot ($301)
Rafal Majka ($401)
Warren Barguil ($401)
Emanuel Buchmann ($501)
Amael Moinard ($501)
Frank Schleck ($501)
Alexis Vuillermoz ($501)
Gorka Izaguirre ($501)
Greg Van Avermaet ($501)
Haimar Zubeldia ($501)
Ilnur Zakarin ($501)
Jakob Fuglsang ($501)
Jan Bakelants ($501)
Jarlinson Pantano ($501)
Jerome Coppel ($501)
Jesus Herrada ($501)
Alberto Losada ($501)
Jon Izaguirre ($501)
Julian Alaphilippe ($501)
Jurgen Van Den Broeck ($501)
Kristijan Durasek ($501)
Laurens ten Dam ($501)
Lawson Craddock ($501)
Adam Hansen ($501)
Dario Cataldo ($501)
Wout Poels ($501)
Luis Leon Sanchez ($501)
Mathias Frank ($501)
Michael Matthews ($501)
Mickael Cherel ($501)
Mikel Landa ($501)
Mikel Nieve ($501)
Cyril Gautier ($501)
Peter Sagan ($501)
Peter Stetina ($501)
Damiano Caruso ($501)
Brice Feillu ($501)
Daniel Moreno ($501)
Robert Kiserlovski ($501)
Rohan Dennis ($501)
Daniel Navarro ($501)
Romain Sicard ($501)
Daniel Teklehaymanot ($501)
Ruben Plaza ($501)
Rui Costa ($501)
Sebastien Reichenbach ($501)
Serge Pauwels ($501)
Arnold Jeannesson ($501)
Simon Gerrans ($501)
Simon Geschke ($501)
Stef Clement ($501)
Stephen Cummings ($501)
Steve Morabito ($501)
Tanel Kangert ($501)
Diego Rosa ($501)
Domenico Pozzovivo ($501)
Thomas De Gendt ($501)
Thomas Voeckler ($501)
Tom Dumoulin ($501)
Tony Gallopin ($501)
Tony Martin ($501)
Vasil Kiryienka ($501)
Vincenzo Nibali ($501)
Eduardo Sepulveda ($501)
Edvald Boasson Hagen ($501)
Winner Anacona ($501)
Odds provided by Sportsbet.com.au