Mathieu van der Poel claimed the third Tour de France stage victory of his career with a powerful sprint finish on stage nine, which was shortened because of extreme heat as temperatures approached 40°C.
The 31-year-old Dutchman outsprinted Denmark's Tobias Johannessen and Great Britain's Tom Pidcock after the trio broke clear from the rest of the field.
Pidcock was chasing only the second Tour stage win of his career, but his hopes were dashed by a mechanical issue affecting his bike's shifting system, believed to involve the chain cassette or derailleur.
Sunday's 156.8km stage from Malemort to Ussel was reduced by around 30km after French authorities issued a "red alert" for extreme temperatures.
Defending champion Tadej Pogačar crossed the line with the chasing peloton, six seconds behind Van der Poel, to retain the overall leader's yellow jersey heading into Monday's first rest day.
Van der Poel described it as a "super-hard day" but admitted the conditions were more manageable than during the opening stages of the race.
"I was struggling and finding it difficult to recover, even from the easier stages," he told TNT Sports. "The past few days I've felt a bit better and today I finally had some legs to go for it."
The victory adds to Van der Poel's previous Tour stage wins in 2021 and 2025. The Dutch star is also a three-time winner of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Pidcock's challenge was effectively ended around 25km from the finish when his shifter malfunctioned, leaving him unable to change gears.
Although he managed to stay with the lead group, the British rider was unable to respond when Van der Poel launched his decisive sprint.
"My shifter stopped working," Pidcock said. "I couldn't change gear. My bike was perfect the whole race and then today, when the win was there, it doesn't work.
"Anyway, Mathieu is a difficult one to beat in a sprint finish like that. It would have been difficult regardless, so I'm happy with a good day's racing. It's a nice way to head into the rest day."
