May 17/26 20:50 pm - Giro Stage 9

Posted by Editoress on 05/17/26
 

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) confirmed his dominance in the mountains, taking a solo victory in the ninth stage, a 184-kilometre route between Cervia and Corno alle Scale. The Dane once again proved to be the strongest among the favourites on the final day before the second rest day, reducing the gap in the GC, although Portugal's Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) managed to retain the pink jersey after staying with the main group.

The Tour de France winner attacked on the final kilometre of the last climb and secured his second stage win this year, following his victory two days ago on the Blockhaus. Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) finished second, 12 seconds behind, and Davide Piganzoli (Visma-Lease a Bike) completed the podium at 34 seconds back.

Movistar and the breakaway staged a very aggressive day.
The stage began at a very high pace from the start in Cervia, with numerous attacks and multiple breakaway attempts. After several initial moves, a large breakaway group formed, with a strong Spanish presence thanks to Lorenzo Milesi and Einer Rubio, both of Movistar Team.

Other riders who joined them included Davide Ballerini, Jonas Geens, Martin Marcellusi, Tim Naberman, Mattia Bais, Sakarias Koller Løland, Giulio Ciccone, Diego Ulissi, and Toon Aerts. The breakaway group built a maximum advantage of nearly three minutes while Bahrain-Victorious and Decathlon-CMA CGM took control of the peloton.

The breakaway maintained a realistic chance of contesting the stage win for much of the day. Davide Ballerini was fastest in the intermediate sprint at Marzabotto, while Einer Rubio put on a show in the mountains, cresting the third-category climb of Querciola in top position, ahead of Lorenzo Milesi and Diego Ulissi.

Movistar's offensive continued on the Red Bull Kilometre in Vidiciatico. Rubio triumphed ahead of Giulio Ciccone and Diego Ulissi, adding six bonus seconds that reinforced his prominence on the day.

Ciccone shook up the race before Vingegaard's decisive attack
The final stretch towards Corno alle Scale definitively whittled down the field. Giulio Ciccone launched an attack with eight kilometres to go and opened a gap at the front, although he never managed to distance himself sufficiently from the group of favourites.

Behind, Visma-Lease a Bike gradually increased the pace with Victor Campenaerts and later with Davide Piganzoli, while Decathlon-CMA CGM tried to set up a move by Felix Gall.

With 2.4 kilometres to go, Gall attacked from the main group and Vingegaard immediately responded on his wheel. Both chased down Ciccone before the Italian finally cracked.

The Dane waited until the final kilometre to launch his decisive attack. Vingegaard changed pace about 900 metres from the finish and quickly opened up a gap that Gall couldn't close. The Visma-Lease a Bike leader crossed the finish line solo in a time of 4:20:21 to achieve the 50th professional victory of his career.

Eulálio retains the pink jersey before the time trial.
Afonso Eulálio again struggled against the accelerations of the favourites, although he managed to limit his losses and retain the overall lead before the rest day and the decisive time trial between Viareggio and Massa.
Vingegaard continues to close the gap on the lead and further strengthens his status as a strong favorite to win the Giro d'Italia in his debut in the Italian race. The Dane is now 2:24 behind the Portuguese rider, while Felix Gall moves up to third place at 2:59.

The best-placed Canadian was Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) in 6th at 46s back. Derek Gee-West is 14th in the GC at 6:15 back.

Giro d'Italia Stage 1
New Leader at Giro after Stage 2
Giro d'Italia Stage 3
Giro d'Italia Stage 4: New leader
Giro d'Italia Stage 5, another new leader
Giro d'Italia Stage 6

Gee Moves into top 15 after Giro Stage 7

Giro d'Italia Stage 8