Van Aert wins Giro stage nine as Roglic & Pidcock crash

Wout van Aert of Belgium won the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia with a stunning sprint finish.

Van Aert, who was a member of Visma-Lease a Bike, held off Mexican Isaac del Toro, who had finished in second place but held the general classification lead.

Del Toro launched his assault along the gravel with just under 50 kilometers to go, forging a coalition that included Van Aert and Ineos Grenadiers’ Egan Bernal.

With only 400 meters left, Van Aert overtook Del Toro on the steep finish at Piazza del Campo, which Bernal had slipped back after about 20 kilometers.

After going through a challenging period of recovery with a knee injury, the stage winner was clearly emotional.

“I’m very grateful for this victory.” Van Aert, a 30-year-old, said, “I can’t explain it.

It feels great to win this stage after going through a long stretch without showing any signs.

I had to fight my entire way through Siena’s streets to reach the top. I had to move in the final three corners because I know the final stretch pretty well.

Primoz Roglic, the 2023 Giro champion, and Tom Pidcock, the Great Britain duo, were delighted, but they were involved in a minor collision with around 51 kilometers to go and suffered punctures.

With its challenging gravel sections along the 181 km route from Gubbio to the Tuscan countryside to Siena, Olympic mountain bike champion Pidcock, 25, was a front-runner to win the stage.

Both finished the stage, with Roglic taking 19th place and Pidcock 15th overall, but the latter, who was one of the pre-race favorites, lost a significant amount of time in the overall classification.

Del Toro, who had just 17 seconds to go, took the lead early in the day, and the Slovenian is now 10th.

1. Van Aert (Bel/Visma-Lease a Bike) 4 hrs 15 minutes 8 secs

2. At the same time, Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and

3. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) + 58secs

4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) at the same time

5. Simon Yates (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike) + 1 minute

6. Same time as Anthony Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Voctorious).

7. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 1 minute, 7 seconds

8. Arensman, Thor (1min 10 secs), Ned/Ineos Grenadiers

9. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) at the same time.

1. Isaac del Toro (Mex/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 33 hrs 36 mins 45 secs

2. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) + 1 minute, 13 seconds

3. Antonio Tiberi (Ita/Bahrain Victorious) + 1 minute 30 seconds

4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) + 1 minute, 40 seconds

5. Giulio Ciccone (Ita/Lidl-Trek) + 1 min 41 secs

6. Simon Yates (GB/Visma-Lease a Bike) + 1 minute 42 seconds

7. Egan Bernal (Col/Ineos Grenadiers) + 1 min 57 secs

8. Emirates-XRG US/UAE Team Brandon McNulty + 1 minute, 59 seconds

9. Emirates-XRG (GB/UAE Team) + 2 minutes, 1 second.