The finishing straight in Naples remains a difficult place for breakaways. The 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia ended on the asphalt in the harbour of Italy's third largest city after 214 kilometres. It was about 50 metres too long for Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers). The Ecuadorian attacked out of the peloton on the last climb of the day a good five kilometres before the finish. His small cushion was used up less than 100 metres before the finish.
Led by the day's winner Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and second-placed Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), the assembled sprinters sped past the 27-year-old South American, whose legs gave out in the headwind in the final metres. When the Giro headed for Naples last year, Alessandro De Marchi and Simon Clarke were similarly caught just before the finish. They also had to watch - albeit after a much longer escape - as the field sped past them in the final metres and robbed them of their well-deserved reward.
Runaway Narvaez: "This is cycling"
The sprinters also had Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) to thank for the fact that Narvaez was still caught, as Pogacar, wearing the pink jersey, stretched out in front of the peloton in the absolute finale to close the gap for his man Juan Sebastian Molano, who ultimately finished third. Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan), a German, made it into the top 10 in tenth place.
Narvaez, who had already won the Giro opener in the sprinttook his bad luck in stride at first. "That's cycling. Sometimes you achieve great results, sometimes you don't. The most important thing is that I enjoy my time here and keep trying," he said after his eleventh place, which is what he ultimately achieved.
Winner Kooij, on the other hand, was much more emotional. "I've already won a few races, but I've been dreaming of this victory in a Grand Tour," said the 22-year-old, who is competing in his first three-week national tour in Italy. "This stage win was our big goal. The first sprints didn't go so well for us and today we really had to fight. It was a very tough finale. But the team got completely behind me, even though we weren't sure how it would turn out."
Shirt wearers stay the same
For a long time, the second longest stage of this tour was uneventful. A Polti-Kometa duo rode alone at the front for almost 200 kilometres and were only caught again in the hilly part of the stage shortly before Naples. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) launched an attack there, but only made it as far as the final climb. Narvaez went there and was caught in the final metres.
Meanwhile, everything remains the same in the special classifications. Pogacar defends his mountains jersey as well as the overall classification. Milan remains the man in the points jersey, Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) best young rider. Tomorrow, Monday, is a rest day.
Giro d'Italia 2024: Results - the top 10 of stage 9
- Olav Kooij (Visma - Lease a Bike) 4:44:22
- Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
- Juan Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) +0:00
- Alberto Dainese (Tudor Pro Cycling) +0:00
- Danny van Poppel (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0:00
- Madis Mihkels (Intermarche-Wanty) +0:00
- Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:00
- Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) +0:00
- Max Kanter (Astana Qazaqstan) +0:00
The current overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 32:59:04
- Daniel Felipe Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe) +2:40
- Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) +2:58
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +3:39
- Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) +4:02
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +4:23
- Lorenzo Fortunato (Astana Qazaqstan) +5:15
- One Rubio (Movistar) +5:28
- Thymen Arensman (Ineos Greandiers) +5:30
- Jan Hirt (Soudal - Quick Step) +5:53
How the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2024 went
Right at the flag for the sharp start, the Polti-Kometa duo Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon pulled away from the field. Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizane) also tried, but did not immediately catch up and then dropped back into the field.
It was a tough day for the duo - with 200 kilometres and a predominantly headwind in front of them. In the beginning, they pulled away by two and a half minutes, later it was three minutes. After intermittent games in the peloton, which briefly increased the pace, the gap then shrank, only to grow again afterwards. With 100 kilometres to go - and a headwind - the lead had dropped back to one and a half minutes. This time, however, there was only one direction.
Alaphilippe shows up again
With 60 kilometres to go, Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) were involved in a crash in the middle of the peloton. While the Welshman only had a broken chain, Schachmann had problems with his elbow. And unlike Thomas, who was escorted by four colleagues, he had to ride back into the peloton alone.
Unfortunately, the race restarted shortly afterwards. Attacks were launched again, albeit unsuccessfully, but the pace continued to rise. 35 kilometres before the finish, the only mountain classification of the day was reached on Monte di Procida (4th category). Alpecin-Deceuninck led the peloton at full speed over the crest, which already caused problems for some sprinters. The leading duo managed to get over by 45 seconds.
Then, as so often in recent days, it was Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal - Quick Step) who threw his hat into the ring. With 27 kilometres to go, he had caught Peitrobon and Maestri with a few chasers. Together with Ewen Costiou (Arkea-B&B Hotels), he went into the final 20 kilometres.
Pogacar as a steam locomotive on the last few metres
Ten kilometres before the end of the final climb, it was over - at least for Costiou. Alaphilippe escaped being caught with another attack, but was then caught after 2500 metres. At that moment, Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) flew past him and went into the descent and the last flat kilometres with a small gap.
Ultimately, however, it ended in maximum misfortune for Narvaez. The Ecuadorian was about 50 metres short in the headwind on the finishing straight. This was also because the man in pink, Pogacar, got in front of the peloton in the final metres for his sprinter Molano and closed the gap. In the absolute final, the sprinters took over. Milan opened up, but Kooij passed him.
