Belgian cyclist Wout Van Aert produced a brilliant late move to win stage nine of the Giro d’Italia on Sunday, edging out Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro, who takes over the overall race lead. Van Aert, riding for Visma–Lease a Bike in his first Giro appearance, held off Del Toro after both riders broke away from the main group.
The 181km stage from Gubbio to Siena featured gravel roads similar to those used in the Strade Bianche race – a surface where Van Aert has had past success. Despite looking tired in the final kilometre, the Belgian recovered just in time to pass Del Toro and claim victory, while Giulio Ciccone finished third.
Former Giro favourite Primoz Roglic had a rough day, crashing and suffering a puncture, which caused him to drop to 10th place overall, now over two minutes behind Del Toro.
Van Aert, who first made a name for himself on these roads back in 2018, called this win “very special,” adding, “I knew the final well, so I planned my move for the last few corners.”
Del Toro had already secured the pink jersey after early race leader Diego Ulissi was dropped by the peloton. He now leads the general classification by 1 minute and 13 seconds over Spain’s Juan Ayuso, with Antonio Tiberi in third.
Stage 10, coming up on Tuesday after a rest day, will be a 28.6km individual time trial from Lucca to Pisa.
