Round 1 of the breakaway world championships.The course is shortened because of the ongoing heat wave, the grey area of the profile above is skipped.Fast and friendly: there are no slow days on the Tour de France any more but this was still a majestic day to watch from the sofa and enjoy the scenery and heritage roll past while pondering the best way to stay cool. Hide in one of the many limestone caves? Sit in the shade on the banks of the Dordogne or Vzre? Cold slices of flan and clafoutis? None of the riders had it so easy in the heat but plenty were able to lurk at the back for a long time.There was sport and early breakaway rider Liam Slock dropped two companions and had a minutes lead with 10km. Chapattes Law got repealed long ago but it set up suspense to rouse some from their Saturday sieste.Merlier was again the quickest in the finishing straight. Roughly 15th place going into the last corner with 500m to go, he launched with about 400m to go. He was 10th with 200m was 10th and, benefitting from their slipstreams, overtaking riders like they were queuing traffic before getting on terms with Jasper Philipsen, Olav Kooij and having the reserves left to kick past. If you havent seen the overhead footage, its on Youtube.Two sprint wins for a rider who is the opposite of the sprinter stereotype as someone with little ego; theres even talk he could willing become Paul Magniers lead-out when age catches up and he accepts someone else is faster.Its notable that Merlier won and the other places went to Girmay, Kooij and Philipsen, they seem reliably ahead of the rest. Merliers 70 point win puts him 15 points short of Mads Pedersen but advantage Pedersen for the coming days again.The Route: 155km reduced from 185km because the red weather alert in the Corrze department. The map shows the new route.This is not a mountain stage but a hard day out. With the course skipping some scenic villages and small roads, the intermediate sprint comes earlier but its still on a climb to Beynat with 2km at 5% to the sprint so advantage Pedersen.The official climb of Naves is followed by a very similar but unmarked climb.The Suc au May featured in the 2020 Tour, its where Marc Hirschi rode away for the stage win. Its 3km at 10%. The descent starts on a small road then picks up something bigger for most of the way down.The Cte de la Croix du Pey is 95% of the Col de Lestards and while listed as 4.8km long, its a question of measurement as its starts climbing out of Treignac 8km before the top. Midway theres a good 2.5km at 7-9%. This makes it a key moment in the stage, a place for stronger climbers to exploit.Mont Bessou used to be a fixture for the Tour du Limousin every August and here its a main road and a drag with a small kick to the mountains point.After the descent into Meymac and out theres an unmarked climb that stings, 2km at 5% with some 10%. These days no riders are surprised as the whole course is mapped but its still got to be cleared and a chance for anyone unsure of their sprint to jump.From here on theres 14km, including a big road that connects the A89 autoroute to the Ussel.The Finish: with 1km to go the route crosses a bridge over the Dige river. From here it climbs up at 5% before easing to the line.The Contenders: a big day for the breakaway and plenty of teams will have been studying this day more than the Alpe dHuez stage as its open to plenty. Climbs like the Suc-au-Mey and Croix-de-Pey will entice some climbers while the amount of long drags and the final kilometres will appeal to many others.Quinn Simmons, Mads Pedersen and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) are all candidates for the stage, the only issue is whether Simmons and Vacek go all in for Pedersen again to sustain his green jersey bid or if they get room for themselves; Vacek could even take yellow if hes in a move that gets eight minutes.When the route was unveiled this looked like a stage for Ben Healy (EF) but is the form there? He was one of several sat on the back of the peloton during Stage 8 to save energy. As ever even he has said he cant sprint so will want to go solo. Georg Steinhauser and Michael Valgren bring more options, Richard Carapaz even more.15th on GC, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) is stage hunting and ought to be ideal here but he is also nursing a saddle sore.Movistar pairing Raul Garcia Pierna and Pablo Castrillo get hillier roads to suit after featuring on the stage to Foix.Luke Plapp (Jayco) is suited to this course but a rare winner, Michael Matthews has a shot if he can cope with the climbing.The headline writers pick should be Marco Frigo (NSN) as his family name means refrigerator in French.Now to outsiders. Do Alpecin-Premiertech reach for Mathieu van der Poel? Its hilly for him in the heat and hes not looking imperial. But if not today, its Stage 17 or Paris.Romain Grgoire (Groupama-FDJ) gets terrain to suit but hes been wilting in the heat of late so not an easy pick and is even saying he wants to sit things out and get to the rest day; team mate Clment Braz-Afonso is the local rider but hell find it hard to win.Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) is a breakaway specialist but this is a hilly day, it might explain why he was on the move yesterday. Team mate Anthon Charmig is more suited but his Aura Tour stage win is big for him already.The route suits Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) but hes 34 and lost his sizzle; hes had health and form issues this season so it was a surprise he was selected even. Still he won a Giro stage last year thanks a longer raid.Can UAE spare any riders? Tim Wellens is an outsider. Arguably Visma-LAB need to try this tactic more, we might see Victor Campenaerts.Carapaz, Simmons, VacekHealy, Plapp, Aranburu, Garcia Pierna, Pidcock, Van Eetvelt, Frigo, Debruyne, Van der Poel, PedersenWeather: sunshine and up to 38C at the start but with altitude and woodland later things should be cooler after. A 5-10km/h breeze will blow from the east.TV: KM0 is at 1.45pm and the finish is forecast for 5.40pm CEST.The post Tour de France Stage 9 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.