It is always the case that Grand Tours incorporate "off-road" sections into their courses, but there is some controversy about the gravel roads of Troyes in stage 9 of the Tour de France.

In the past, the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix and the gravel roads of the Plateau de Glières were also memorable. However, Sunday's stage was a day of the biggest gravel roads ever developed.

The peloton took on the 32.3-km "Chemin Blanc" stage, which was 199 km long. Anthony Turgis won the day, and although there were no major GC moves on the day, riders and team staff still voiced strong opinions about the gravel.

Points leader and two-time stage winner Biniam Girmay was one of the riders who energized the race. A star of the Eritrean Classic, he was part of the group that chased the breakaway group in hopes of earning points for the green jersey and a stage win.

He finished the day in ninth place, opening up a six-point gap as he and Mathieu Van der Pol were unable to chase down the Turgis group. He was less positive about the gravel surfaces, however, as he was unable to catch up with the group of Truguis.

"Today was different from what was in my profile," he said. On paper I expected it to be a gravel race, but there were some really steep climbs." The sectors were also different from the recons a few months ago."

"We expected to arrive with 40-50 riders, but we were surprised, especially after the first two sectors where we reached the intermediate sprint. I was surprised especially after the first two sectors where we reached the intermediate sprint.

"I was in an uncomfortable place today." I thought, "Okay, maybe I can survive," but in every sector and in the last kilometer, I felt really bad. But I wanted to get as many points as possible. We didn't get the first group back, but at least we got a couple of points before the rest day."

Race leader Tadej Pogachar was one of the voices in favor of gravel. The Slovenian native has, of course, won titles in Strade Bianche and Haen Paraiso Interior. He explained after the stage why he attacked so many times that day: "I like to ride gravel. It's in my nature, I guess."

Another voice against gravel was the teammate of Pogachar's yellow jersey rival, Remco Evenpoel. Yves Lempère, a Belgian Classics specialist, is no stranger to such races, even if he races more often on Flemish cobblestones than on gravel roads.

Similar to Gil May's comments, he told Het Nieuwsblad after the stage that the race profile did not show the very steep climbs experienced by the peloton.

"The approach to the sector was like having to ride the Koppenberg. It's very steep. So you start each sector with sore legs. Even though I was putting out great wattage, I couldn't get into the sectors. That says it all.

"The sectors were a little too close together and there was too much gravel. At Strade Bianche, the gravel was more compacted and there were wheel marks from cars. Here it was loose gravel. It's all about luck, not having bad luck or being behind someone who can't control the bike. Today it was a little too much."

Klaas Lodewijk, one of the director sportifs coaching Evenpoel and Lampert in this Tour's Sûre-Quick Step, was also surprised by the gravel conditions.

"The last six sections were just raised gravel," he said. 'The organizers made it artificial. [The organizers] put down artificial gravel. "

Team boss Patrick Lefebvre has long been strongly opposed to the inclusion of such roads in the Grand Tour and criticized it again in a newspaper column last week. The Belgian's views are almost identical to those of Rolf Aldag, the director of Red Bull-Borla-Hansgrohe, who has been a vocal opponent of the inclusion of such roads in the Grand Tours.

"I still don't like it in the Grand Tours. I like to watch, but unfortunately it's not spectating, it's part of the race," Aldag said. There's a lot invested in the team. If Lemko slips in sector 8 and breaks his collarbone, will he still enjoy watching the race?

"It didn't happen near Alexandre Vlasov, who crashed hard, but it could happen on other stages. So I think we should leave it to the experts to race. We can race with the experts in the future, like Paris-Roubaix and Strade Bianche."

Ardagh, however, admitted that the race was interesting as the breakaway group fought for the stage win while yellow jersey contenders Remco Evenpoel and Tadej Pogachar returned to the peloton for an attack battle.

"I have to say from a spectator's point of view, I was very impressed with what Tadej was doing up there and how Visma reacted. There's no doubt it's interesting. So I can see why people say they like it."

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