Kooij triumphs in Giro d'Italia after blood-curdling finale, during which Pogacar delivered final blow to Narváez

Olav Kooij has won the ninth stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Dutch sprinter of Visma | Lease a Bike was the strongest in the sprint after a challenging finale in and around Naples. Tadej Pogacar stayed out of trouble and maintained the lead in the overall classification.

The stage kicked off without Alexey Lutsenko (Astana-Qazaqstan), who did not start, as the riders tackled their final challenge before a well-earned rest day following nine intense days of racing. The route led the peloton from Avezzano to the famed city of Naples, featuring four uncategorized climbs in the last fifty kilometers. On paper, this offered a prime chance for attackers, but the sprinters, particularly those adept at climbing like Jonathan Milan, Kaden Groves and Kooij, were expected to be competitive in the hilly finale.

Alpecin-Deceuninck secures excellent starting position

Alpecin-Deceuninck had a lot of confidence in Groves. The team heavily influenced the early race dynamics in the opening phase. As a result, the team managed to let a breakaway of just two riders escape: Team Polti Kometa's Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon. Manuele Tarozzi of VF Group-Bardiani tried to bridge the gap to the breakaway, but did not succeed.

Consequently, it wasn't the day for breakaway riders, contrary to initial expectations. However, several riders still harbored ambitions for the stage. The peloton came alive again with 140 kilometers remaining on an uncategorized climb. Lorenzo Milesi and Davide Ballerini, among others, tried to escape the peloton. The sprint teams quickly squashed these breakout attempts, restoring calm to the race.

Race rocked by crash Thomas; Merlier and Jakobsen quickly in trouble

The calm lasted until the last sixty kilometers. With four climbs looming, nerves and consequently, the pace and risk in the peloton increased significantly. A significant scare occurred when Geraint Thomas, third in the GC, fell. His teammate Tobias Foss and Maximilian Schachmann also crashed. Initially, the damage seemed minor, although Schachmann was visibly troubled by his elbow.

Despite the high pace in the peloton, Thomas quickly returned with the help of his teammates. Meanwhile, it was all hands on deck for the sprinters as they reached the challenging hill zone around Naples. Here, the battered Tim Merlier quickly found himself in trouble, as did the sprint duo from DSM-Firmenich PostNL, Fabio Jakobsen and Tobias Lund Andresen.

On the next climb, none other than Julian Alaphilippe opened up the race. His attack led a group of five riders to break away from the peloton. Alongside Alaphilippe were Kevin Vermaerke, Nicola Conci, Lewis Askey, and Ewen Costiou. The five quickly caught up with the breakaways, after which Alaphilippe accelerated again. Only his compatriot Costiou could keep up this time.

Pogacar single-handedly sabotages Narváez' chances of second stage win 

While the others were reeled back in by the peloton, the two Frenchmen gained a half-minute lead over the peloton. Led by Lidl-Trek, however, the group quickly closed the gap. Meanwhile, Costiou struggled, forcing Alaphilippe to continue solo. The energetic Frenchman fought valiantly, but with seven kilometers to the finish, he was overtaken by Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers).

The winner of the opening stage created a six-second gap on the peloton with his attack. Due to the fast and hectic finale, it was unclear which sprinters were still present. The presence of a Visma | Lease a Bike rider at the front suggested that Kooij might still be there. The purple jersey of Milan was unmistakably visible. Caleb Ewan also held his ground well.

His team, Jayco-AlUla, and Lidl-Trek took it upon themselves to reel in Narváez. The Ecuadorian headed into the final kilometer with a lead of over ten seconds. The sprint train of Lidl-Trek went all out to catch the leader. It was a close call, and suddenly Pogacar picked up the pace. It turned out to be the fatal blow for Narváez. Milan surged past him, but it was Kooij who overtook Milan at the line.

Results of stage 9 Giro d'Italia 2024

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