Robbie McEwen, Australian Cyclist, Wins Ninth Stage of Tour de France - 2004-07-13

On Tuesday, in the ninth stage of the Tour de France cycling competition, Robbie McEwen, the Australian cyclist, achieved victory while Lance Armstrong, the five-time champion from the USA, finished among the main group of cyclists. McEwen, an experienced cyclist, completed the 160.5-kilometer route in 3 hours, 32 minutes, and 55 seconds. French cyclist Thor Hushovd took second place, and Stuart O'Grady from Australia came in third. About four kilometers before the finish line, Michael Prada fell, causing several other cyclists to collide and fall as well. Currently, in the overall points ranking, Thomas Voeckler, a French cyclist, remains in the lead. He has covered 1609 kilometers of the race route at an average speed of 43.967 km/h, in 36 hours, 36 minutes, and 31 seconds. Stuart O'Grady is in second place, 2 minutes and 53 seconds behind, and Swiss cyclist Sandy Casar is in third place, 4 minutes and 6 seconds behind. Lance Armstrong, riding for the US Postal Service team and striving to win the championship trophy for the sixth consecutive time, is currently in sixth place in the overall standings, 9 minutes and 35 seconds behind. The tenth stage of the competition will take place on Wednesday on a 237-kilometer route, which is the first mountainous stage of this year's competition. The race concludes in Paris on July 25.