Giro d'Italia: Roglic wins stage 9 as Yates loses major time

Image 1 of 50

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) won stage 9 of the Giro d’Italia in San Marino, his second stage victory of the race. The Slovenian finished the individual time trial in 51:52, beating Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) by 11 seconds over the 34.8km course, while Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) was third, a minute back.

It was another dismal day in Italy, with rain pouring all day at the start, and later finishers doused by a hellish rainstorm on the climb, which only got worse as time passed by.

Roglič and Campenaerts managed the weather just fine though, and were the only men to break a 40kph average speed. The former pink jersey holder set the fastest time up the climb to the finish to overhaul the Hour Record holder, who had suffered a mechanical 1.5km from the line.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) was best of the rest among the GC men, finishing fourth, 1:05 down. Meanwhile, on a day which saw only 12 riders finish within two minutes of the winner, Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) had a nightmare, losing over two minutes on the climb and shedding 3:11 to Roglič by the finish.

Mikel Landa (Movistar) finished slightly faster than Yates, his time of 54:55 good for for only a top 30 placing. Miguel Ángel López (Astana) was another rider to disappoint; after his impressive outing in Bologna, he ended up outside the top 40 with a time of 55:37.

Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) held on to the pink jersey, finishing 3:34 behind Roglič. As a result, his advantage over Giro favourite Roglič falls from 5:24 to 1:50.

“It was again a nice time trial for me. I did my best so I’m happy with it,” Roglič said after the stage. “It was just different – [Campenaerts] had really dry conditions and I had rain so I couldn’t take any risks in the corner. Then I went all-out in the end.

“I went really slow in the corners in the beginning but otherwise then on the flat and on the climb [the weather] it didn’t matter so much.

“We’ll see at the end [who is still in the mix]. It’s still a long way to go, a lot of kilometres, a lot of mountains, so it’s always nice to have some seconds in your advantage and be focussing on the days to come.”

How it unfolded

The 34.8-kilometre time trial between Riccione and the microstate of San Marino would be the first major GC flashpoint since the first day, and another chance to gauge how the big names are faring, almost midway through the race.

Beginning with a ride inland and 22 kilometres of flat roads, it was the 12.8-kilometre climb to the finish that would provide the most interesting challenge. Nominally a 4.5 per cent climb, the rhythm-altering false flats and descents camouflaged an average of almost 7 per cent on the uphill sections. Yet more rain would make the challenge even tougher.

As expected, the early starters weren’t pulling up any trees on the wet roads, with times ranging between 57 minutes and 1:01 the norm. That all changed with the 30th man down the start ramp though, Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal).

The Belgian blitzed the timesheet, putting in a time of 52:03, minutes faster than any other rider at that point. He could’ve gone faster too, but suffered a mechanical in the final 2km, before switching to a road bike which was bizarrely set up in a huge gear.

The rain fell harder during the stage – especially at the start in Riccione – making an hour on the TT bike even more miserable. Chad Haga (Team Sunweb) was the only man to get close to Campenaerts’ time in the next hour, finishing in 53:06, over a minute down.

Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) put in a good time – dead on 54 minutes – to go third fastest, but as he crossed the finish line, attention was turning back to the start, and the GC riders heading out to start their rides.

By that time, 15:30 in Riccione, it was still pouring rain at the start ramp, though that would give way to dryer roads mid-stage, and damp roads, but no rain, in the final kilometres.

Fortunes were contrasting at the 11.7km time check. Bob Jungels (14:27), Simon Yates (14:32), Mollema (14:37) and Nibali (14:42) put in good starts, while Miguel Ángel López (15:13) punctured early on, and Mikel Landa was slower at 15:21. Roglič, meanwhile, was predictably the fastest of the GC men with a time of 14:16.

At the finish, Tanel Kangert (EF Education First) was the first man within a minute of Campenaerts at 53:02, while Richard Carapaz (Movistar) and Kangert’s teammate Hugh Carthy also impressed, briefly going top five at 53:47 and 53:22, respectively.

Yates lost time on the road to the second time check, crossing ten seconds down on Nibali, while Landa and López were outside the top 50 riders. Roglič, went third-fastest, putting down a time of 27:41 ¬– 48 seconds up on Yates.

Mollema set the pace for the GC men, going fastest up the climb and crossing the line in 52:52 to go second. Soon after the Dutchman finished, the rain started up again at the finish, complicating matters for those still out on the course.

Nibali’s 52:57 was a strong, well-paced ride, only shedding 11 seconds to Mollema on the final climb, which he raced in the rain. Yates was more disappointing though, a time of 55:03 meaning he’d lose minutes on the day. The Briton was only 40th fastest up the climb to the finish, losing over two minutes to the fastest men there alone.

Roglič, the favourite to take the stage win, duly did just that, going fastest on the climb with a time of 24:11 to beat Campenaerts’ time by 11 seconds. All that remained after was the wait and see if Conti would hold onto pink. He duly did, though he and the rest of the top ten endured a torrential downpour as they completed their rides.

Full Results