Van Aert and del Toro had broken away from their companions Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek) up to the Colle Pinzuto and completed the remaining 15 kilometres in pairs. The Mexican did most of the work. Van Aert then put his experience to good use on the final climb up to Piazza del Campo, getting ahead of his rival before the final decisive bends and then not allowing him to pass.

"The victory means a lot to me, I almost can't explain it," said van Aert. It was not only the 50th of his career, but also the first at the Giro, which also means that the Belgian can now boast successes at all three Grand Tours. "I think it had to happen here. Here, where my career began on the road." Still wearing the jersey of the then second-division rider Vérandas Willems-Crelan, van Aert, who had previously only attracted attention as a three-time world champion in the cyclo-cross, achieved his first major result on the road at Strade Bianche in third place. "Winning this stage, especially after such a long time without delivering, feels so good." It was the 30-year-old's first victory since the 2024 Vuelta.

Roglic the big loser after crash

Del Toro could console himself with second place and the pink jersey. The 21-year-old now leads the overall standings by 1:13 minutes ahead of his captain Juan Ayuso, who finished seventh as part of the crumbling chasing group. Third place was secured by Giulio Ciccone (Lidl - Trek) in a duel with Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost). The duo finished fifth behind Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain - Victorious), who was also part of the group, and fourth overall.

The big loser of the day was Primoz Roglic. The Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe captain crashed in the second gravel segment of the day and lost a lot of time because he missed the group around Ayuso, which was also held up by the crash. Van Aert and del Toro had been leading the peloton at the time of the crash and, like Bernal, had escaped unscathed. It was the decisive scene of the stage. It completely shook up the classification.

Roglic is now only tenth overall, 2:25 minutes behind. Alongside the Slovenian, Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) is one of the losers in the battle for the overall classification. Storer had crashed before this scene. Max Poole (Team Picnic - PostNL) also had to abandon his GC ambitions. He crossed the finish line five minutes behind.

Pedersen and Fortunato defend their jerseys

After the day, Team XDS - Astana was as good as won. The team, which in Diego Ulissi and Lorenzo Fortunato not only provided Rosa, but also the best climber, played no role at all. Both arrived in Siena more than five minutes behind. Fortunato at least defended his mountains jersey. Mads Pedersen (Lidl - Trek), who initially harboured ambitions for the stage win but was taken out after a crash, also remains in the Maglia Ciclamino.

The German pros were also unable to make their mark between Gubbio and Siena. Florian Stork was the best in 54th place, five and a half minutes behind.

Highlights of stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia

>> The TOUR live blog for the Giro d'Italia 2025

>> This is the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025

>> That was stage 7 of the Giro

Giro d'Italia 2025 - Results of the 9th stage

How the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025 went

The first attack at kilometre 0 was successful. Kaden Groves (Alpecin - Deceuninck), his team-mate Quinten Hermans, Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Milan Fretin (Cofidis) broke away from the peloton, which had not yet picked up speed. Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché - Wanty) and Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step) followed, but then needed 18 kilometres to catch up. At times it looked as if the peloton didn't agree with this group, but then the gap grew to a maximum of two minutes.

The race situation then remained constant until the first sector, Pieve a Salti. On the first eight kilometres of gravel, the field was sifted out for the first time. Ulissi and Fortunato dropped back first. However, the favourites in the overall classification all stayed together, even though this group had already shrunk to 30 men.

Crash in the second sector characterises the course of the stage

In the second sector 2, Serravalle, which was a good nine kilometres long and followed shortly afterwards, there were several crashes. When the Ineos pro Lucas Hamilton slid off in a bend in the first third, he took part of the group of favourites with him. Bernal, del Toro and van Aert got away, Ayuso was held up, Roglic crashed and suffered wounds to his elbow and hip. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) also crashed.

Because Roglic then suffered a defect and Pidcock also had to change bikes several times, there were considerable gaps. The group around Bernal, which quickly joined the remaining breakaway riders because the Colombian still had two helpers with him, subsequently opened up a gap of 40 seconds on a group around Ayuso, Carapaz, Ciccone and the Yates brothers, with Roglic and Pidcock riding together a further 40 seconds behind.

The gaps remained constant in the immediately following sector 3, San Martino in Grania, the most difficult section because it had a mountain classification. Afterwards, however, when more tarmac was on the agenda again, the gaps widened a little, so that it was one minute for the Ayuso group up to Colle Pinzuto - and 1:40 for Roglic and Co.

Van Aerts' experience secures him victory

There, del Toro tried another stage in the leading group. Only van Aert was able to parry the attack. Bernal and Mathias Vacek (Lidl - Trek), who had catapulted forward from the chasing group as a soloist, had to let the two go and were ultimately caught by the chasers again.

Van Aert and del Toro, on the other hand, made it to Siena. The Mexican had done almost all of the leading work up to that point. This was also initially the case on the final climb up to Piazza del Campo. At the 600 metre mark, del Toro left the saddle and almost tore himself apart to get rid of the man on his rear wheel. But van Aert also bared his teeth and held on. The Belgian then passed him with 400 metres to go, knowing full well that there was no chance of overtaking on the predominantly slightly downhill and twisty section.

In the last bend 100 metres before the finish, van Aert was on the battle line, took a lot of risks and even touched the barriers slightly. But he stayed on his bike and brought home the victory he had been longing for.