Giro d'Italia: Tiralongo wins stage 9 in San Giorgio Del Sannio

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Paolo Tiralongo (Astana) soloed in to take the win on stage 9 of the Giro d’Italia from the day's breakaway, with Stephen Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) second and Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin) third.

"Today I was part of a great team. I found the right breakaway. My job was to wait for my teammates on the final climb, but things didn’t turn out that way," Tiralongo said. "It is an unexpected win."

Alberto Contador defended his race lead ahead of the first rest day, although the gap during the stage was large enough for the lead to change hands. The Tinkoff-Saxo rider attacked out of the chasing field along with co-favourites Fabio Aru (Astana) and Richie Porte (Sky) with about 12 km remaining. The loser of the day was Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep), who missed the cut and fell even further back.

"I would have preferred to have ridden more conservatively from the final climb to the finish, but Aru asked me to work with him because Urán was behind us, and it was important to put time into him," Contador said. "We worked together, even if he sprinted to gain back a second, but I’m very happy with where I am after nine stages. I have the Maglia Rosa, and I have a rest day for my shoulder and legs to recover."

Aru sprinted with 100 meters remaining, hoping to pick up a few seconds on Contador, who led him in the GC by only four seconds. The Italian picked up one second, and is now only 3 seconds down in second place, with Porte third at 22 seconds.

“Right now it looks like it won’t be easy to take the pink jersey away from Contador,” Tiralongo said after the stage. “He’s a real champion, but there is still time. For us, it is important to concentrate on Fabio Aru. I was in the break group to support him, and then saw that it could work out for me.”

Contador was happy to have defended his lead, and called it “the most unusual stage I have ever experienced.”

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How it unfolded

The stage got off to an early start in Benevento, and the field set off on the 215 kilometers at a high pace. The day, with constant ups and downs and a total of 4000 vertical meters of climbing, seemed perfect for an escape group to find success, but it took a while for the group of the day to form.

Finally, after 52 km, a group of 11 got away: Carlos Betancur (AG2R), Paolo Tiralongo (Astana). Sonny Colbrelli (Bardiani-CSF), Amael Moinard (BMC), Kenny Elissonde (FDJ), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Ryder Hesjedal and Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin), Simon Geschke (Giant Alpecin), Maxim Belkov (Katusha) and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo).

It was a high-powered group, with former Giro winner Hesjedal, and two riders from the previous day’s break, Betancur and Kruijswijk. They quickly pulled away and took a lead of 4:30 with them as they started up the first climb of the day, the Cat. 2 Monte Termino.

That gap had jumped to 5:53 at the top of the climb, giving Moinard the virtual leader’s jersey. Geschke was the first over the top, followed by Betancur and Tiralongo.

After the descent, the climbing started again immediately. Sergio Paulinho jumped from the field on the way down, and quickly gained one minute in pursuit of the lead group. Their gap dropped dramatically on the climb, down to four minutes.

The first sprint of the day, on the climb, went to Hesjedal ahead of Moinard and Herrada. Colbrelli, celebrating his 25th birthday, was the first to pay tribute to the pace and drop back from the lead group. Belkov soon followed him and Paulinho was unable to keep up his lead, falling back into the peloton.

That peloton was around 50 riders strong as it hit the top of the cat. 1 Colle Molella, a mere 2:06 after the reduced lead group. Geschke was first at the top, giving himself the mountain jersey, followed by Betancur and Kruijswijk.

Astana was determined to wrestle control of the race its way, and sent Dario Cataldo on the attack on the descent. Tinkoff-Saxo and race leader Alberto Contador were having none of that, and pulled him back as promptly as they could.

Slagter jumped from the lead group and was able to claim the second intermediate sprint and three seconds time bonus for himself.

The lead group apparently gained an advantage on the descent. A motorcycle crashed on a sharp curve, and the chasing peloton was slowed to pass the scene of the accident. The road surfaces were generally not in the best condition, as well as being narrow and with tight curves.

Slagter did not wait for his companions after the sprint but kept going, building up a lead for himself. The peloton was said to have fallen back to five minutes, with that going up to six minutes with 50 km – and one more ranked climb – to go.

Tiralongo continued the Astana offensive by attacking with 42km to go, and was joined by Herrada. They were not allowed to stay away, however.

Elissonde was the next to give it a try, with just over 15km to go. He kept looking back to see if anyone would join him, and it was Tiralongo who then shot right past him. But once again they were hauled back.

Although it appeared at times that Tinkoff-Saxo would not be sorry to see the leader’s jersey change hands before the rest day, the Russian team picked up the pace as they started up the day’s final climb, cutting the gap to Slagter to under four minutes. Tiralongo attacked again on the ascent of the Passo Serra, this time slowly pulling away.

Back in the pack, Contador had only man at his side, with five Astana riders and a handful of Sky riders. Aru then mad his move, taking Contador and Porte with him, as well as Landa. The gap was down to only 2:46 behind Slagter, and the quartet starting catching and passing those who had fallen back from the break.

Landa and Aru led the group, with Contador and Porte contented to let them do so, and in fact, refusing to take hints they should take their turns.

Slagter made it to the mountain ranking alone, taking the top points, but Tiralongo was rapidly closing the gap on him. The rest of the former break group had splintered in the meantime. Landa led the group of favourites over the top at 1:20 down, with the field another 25 seconds or so back. Uran was in that chasing field, losing further time.

With 8.1 km remaining, Tiralongo caught Slagter. Aru pulled alongside of Contador, gesturing and apparently speaking, and the Spaniard finally took a turn at the front. The group also turned up the speed a notch, and the Uran group fell further back.

Slagter and Tiralongo took 1:35 into the final five kilometres, but soon Slagter had to fall back, no longer able to keep up. With just over four km to go, the Astana rider was on his own.

"The team car told me to go for it, so I rode the final 5 km at 100%. On the hard final climb, I caught Slagter, then I held on as the finish line approached," Tiralongo said.

Kruijswijk pulled away from the remnants of the break group with some 3 km left, but ahead, Tiralongo grinned and gestured thumbs up on his way to the win. His lead had narrowed but he still had plenty of time for an extended victory celebration – and also becoming the oldest man to win a stage in the Giro.

The Dutch rider crossed the line 21 seconds later, with Geschke leading the small chasing group at 24 seconds to take third.

About 30 seconds after the Geschke group, the group of four around Contador came towards the finish. With about 100 meters to go, Aru jumped and sprinted towards the line. His strategy worked, and he picked up one second.

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