Giro d'Italia 2019: Stage 9

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January 1 - June 2, Riccione, Italy, Road - WorldTour

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Hello and welcome to live coverage from stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia. 

Greetings Cyclingnews readers, I hope you're sitting comfortably, be it on your sofa, armchair or beanbag, if that's how you choose to live your life.

By now you should know the rules but to explain to new readers or those who have turned away from publications who have fixations on 'tweets of the week' and stories of such ilk, riders set off at one minute intervals over the course. Those gaps become greater as we roll down the list of starters until we get to the big hitters, in this case riders like Roglic, Yates and Nibali. The first rider off is warming up at the moment but he'll be in the start house shortly. Here's a run down on the start times.

As ever we start live coverage by turning to the book of Matthew (White, chapter 2019, vs 9). 

Here are the first ten starters for today:

Will Clarke has as pretty decent time trial in his locker and we should look to him  to set the fastest time, at the very least on the flatter sections of the course. When the road climbs in the second half the climbers should start to shine, so as White says the time trial has something for everyone. 

Here's the GC coming into today's stage. It doesnt include Bob Jungels who should be pushing for a top three on the stage. Conti should hold the maglia rosa going into the rest day unless he has a complete nightmare out there. Roglic is the man to watch though as he could put serious time into some of his rival this afternoon, and we're talking minutes rather than seconds. 

The first few riders have rolled down the start ramp but Scotson from FDJ could be another one of the early pace setters to watch, just in terms of laying down a marker on the flatter section of the course. The hour record holder starts in about 26 minutes and he's a contender for the top ten for sure today. Remember watching him ride a complete up hill TT last year in Romandie on his TT setup with aero helmet and all while every other rider opted for a road bike. Why you ask? He just likes spending time on his TT bike.

Nibali's coach, Slongo, was talking up his rider's chances yesterday, suggesting that Nibali and Yates could hold Roglic to around 40 seconds today. That would be a huge success for the pair given Roglic's dominance in the opening test against the clock and his pedigree against the clock. The Visma rider won a similar time trial at the Giro in 2016 but wasn't going for the GC back. Here's what Slongo had to say last night.

Meanwhile Scott Davies and Connor Dunne have both started their time trial efforts. 

Sutterin, Lezer and Bauer will all be on the road shortly.  Again they should coast along this flatter section of the time trial and post markers for the faster men to beat later on. Jos van Emden, who won the final TT of the 2017 Giro starts a bit later, but the course will prove to be too difficult for the Visma rider today. The 34km outing is perfect for his teammate, Roglic, however.

The big question for Simon Yates is how can he stacks up against Roglic. The British climber has made incredible progress in his time trialling in the last twelve months and even won a time trial earlier in the season. However, this is a major test of his GC credentials. He will need to limit his losses to Roglic, and then aim to put time into the rest of his rivals.

The Hour Record holder Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) is now on the course and eating up the flat roads. The question for the Belgian is whether he has the road miles in his legs to be competitive today. His natural ability should see him finish in the top ten or twenty but he could pay on the final climb.

Scott Davis for Dimension Data is currently leading at the first time check.

Campenaerts should roll through the first check soon and he's motoring along nicely. The sun is out, there's little wind and it's almost perfect conditions for a time trial like this. 

Campenaerts has already caught his minute man, Guillaume Boivin, who does a little double take before pushing on the pedals and putting in a bit more effort. Campenaerts is flying.

25km to go for the European champion who only moves out the TT position to take  a windy right hand corner. Then he's back on the TT bars and smashing out the watts. 

Back down the road and Bauer was fastest at the first check but Davies responds and goes fastest at the second  check.

Campenaerts, as you'd expect, is fastest at the first check by 19 seconds. 

Update from the first check

Here comes Caleb Ewan who will be floating on air after his win yesterday. A day off for the sprinter who will now consider how far he goes into this race before turning his attention to the Tour de France. Ackermann will be off next and he'll be chasing Ewan. That could be fun.

Here are the next block of starters:

Chad Haga  is out there and putting in some decent splits and currently sits second at the first check. However Victor Campenaerts is the man to beat at the moment with the Belgian putting in a storming ride among the early starters. He'll be climbing soon enough though and that will be the real litmus test for his effort.

The road is starting to climb as we see Victor Campenaerts remain rooted to the saddle and those handle bars that are proving to be envy of many a rider in the peloton. 

Victor Campenaerts is now 1'13 faster than the next rider on the road but the rain is starting to fall. I'm not sure that will be a huge factor given that the  second half of the TT is almost entirely uphill. 

Victor Campenaerts could be riding up a 20 per cent gradient and he'd still be in the same aero TT position, as we see Demare out on the course.

Latest from the 22km split:

Haga is putting in a strong effort but he's no match for Campenaerts at the moment with the American 42 seconds down on the Belgian for now. 

Scott Davies is the current leader of the race and occupies the hot seat but Campenaerts is coming. He has not moved out of the saddle once during this effort, even on the steeper gradient on this climb. 

The rain is falling with more consistency now and that could be a problem after all as there are a few small descents in the second half of the climb.  Campenaerts is still flying though and should have the lead by the time he comes over the line. Sutterlin has just finished in third, 1'24 down on the current leader.

Davies still leads from Knox at the finish, while van Emden is just coasting through the stage. The Dutch rider has more important days ahead as he looks to set up Roglic for the overall. Ackermann is about to catch and pass Ewan, if that's of interest. 

Here are the next block  of riders for the  TT:

Ewan is holding Ackermann  at a few feet and  is now warned by a member of the race jury.

Campenaerts changed bikes. And he's out of the saddle. My world has turned upside down. 

52'03 and he's 2'26 faster than Davies. That time will stand for a good while and who knows, could be enough to challenge for the stage win.

That was a terrible bike change from Campenaerts, as we see the replays. It wasn't planned at all and they gave him a bike that was in a huge gear, so he struggled to get going. That could be really costly later on in the day. 

Haga is coming to the line and no bike change for the American but he's not going to challenge for the lead, but it's still going to be a highly respectable second place on the stage for the Sunweb rider. He comes over the line in 53'06 and 1'03 off the lead. 

There's no let up in the rain and it's falling heavily at the finish. Campenaerts still leads from Haga, Davies and Knox.

Luke Durbridge is about to start the time trial. He will surely hold his effort back on the second half of the stage but like Bauer he might open the throttle on the flat sector of the course. Bookwalter is also out there for Mitchelton. The American has gone under the radar since his move from BMC but he's good enough to make the Giro team as we see Ackermann struggle on the main climb. 

Ion Izagirre is off next and he will be a rider to watch today in terms of seeing how a strong climber who can TT goes on this sort of course. 

Here's how things currently stand at the finish:

Van Emden is coming the line and he's soft pedaling to the extreme. Viviani comes over the line too and he has a bit more intent, clearly wanting a warm shower and a rest. Out on the course and the rain is pouring down on Caruso. 

Out on the road and Caruso is about to catch Agnoli for three minutes, as Durbridge races along the flat section. Surprised to see Caruso put so much into this test given he was ill earlier in the race and his strength and experience will be vital later in the race once we reach the mountains. 

Update from the finish:

Thomas De Gendt has given himself a good workout and comes to the line inside the top-ten.

Update from the finish:

There's also talk of it clouding over at the start, so we could have rain there too as Durbridge hits the climb he's already a minute or so down on the lead.

Here's the next block of starters to come:

Caruso is coming to the line and Nibali's man is perhaps putting in this level of effort for his captain. The former BMC rider is going to finish inside the top-ten for now with a time of... 54:32. 2'29 down on the current leader.

Ben O'Connor takes to the start and he nervously takes the first corner with all those white lines. If the weather holds then Campenaerts could make it two from two for Lotto Soudal. 

Kangert is next off the start ramp in his national time trial kit. He's a bit more confident through the first corner and even takes it out of the saddle as we see Pozzovivo take a few later corners very slowly. It's pouring. The kind of rain that makes you not want to leave the house, where you google whether you'll stay dryer if you run through the rain or just walk at a normal pace. 

Tao Geoghegan Hart is the next rider to start and he could well put in an impressive ride for the Ineos brigade. 

The GC riders will be out to play in the next few minutes:

This is a massive test for Landa, who is apparently off the Bahrain Merida next year. He needs to show Movistar that he's still a leader in this race after Carapaz won a stage and currently sits ahead of him. Landa's isn't great against the clock though, so he'll need to pull a performance out of the bag.

Roglic be warming up on the rollers. Sun glasses on, headphones wrapped around his head and wool stuffed up his nose. It's a strong look. 

Sivakov has now started his time trial as Carapaz gives his bars a wipe and then stares down the road. 3,2,1, he's off.

Our current top five at the finish: 

We've barely seen Chaves this week, but that's more to do with the dire profile of the first week. This is a big test for the Colombian who will go full gas on the climb today. 

Nibali, not that one, but the other one, Antonio, is coming to the line. He's not put in a bad time to be fair, as he rises from the saddle and takes 25th at the line. 

Jungels now starts and he's a good bet for a top-three today. The rain could be a factor but one can expect him to rise up the rankings by the end of the afternoon. The course really suits him a lot and he knows that this is a great opportunity for his GC ambitions. 

Turbo Durbo has taken a soaking out there and he comes to the line without making too much of an effort on the final climb. He's over three minutes off the lead. 

The next few starters are box office:

Victor Campenaerts, the man in the hot seat at the moment, was just speaking at the finish. He talked about the course, and his mechanical problems 1.5km from the line.

Miguel Angel Lopez starts his effort. He'll be one of the more intriguing riders to follow. Usually not the greatest against the clock, he surprised with his strong effort in Bologna, outpacing Tom Dumoulin on the flat section of stage 1.

Just 16 men left to head out now. Vincenzo Nibali starts. His trainer Paolo Slongo predicted that he'll lose 30-40 seconds today.

 Ulissi is heading towards the finish but he won't trouble the top time. Third with 54'00 for the UAE rider.

Simon Yates is off. He starts his TT out of the saddle and shows no fear through the first corner. 

Jungels made the top ten at the first check but a lot will depend on how his times stacks up against the other GC contenders. 

Both of the Team Ineos riders appear to be off the pace at the moment as we see Yates in full flow, despite the wet conditions, and just as I say that he slides around a corner in the wet. He kept it together, just, as we see Roglic start his effort.

Zakarin is 13th at the first check, so it looks like the weather is playing a significant factor, as we also see Landa and Lopez suffer through the opening checks. 

In the middle of the course the roads are dry as we see Zakarin and Jungels race  through those sectors, but at the start and finish it continues to rain. Henao comes over the line at the finish in 50th place. 

Nibali almost a minute down at the first check but we'll have to see how that compares to Roglic in a few minutes.

Mollema is ninth at the second check and he's putting in an impressive effort.

Split 2
1 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 26:50:00 +0:00
2 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:00:42
3 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:13
4 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:01:15
5 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:01:19
Finish
1 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 52:03:00 +0:00
2 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:01:03
3 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:57
4 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:02:21
5 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:02:26

Yates is ten seconds faster than Nibali at the first check.

It all depends on Roglic now. If he is close to Campenaerts at this stage then Yates and Nibali could be in trouble this afternoon.

Looks like Zakarin has caught Vuillermoz for three minutes.

Roglic is approaching the first split and this is the most important point of the Giro since the opening time trial. What can he do?

Reports in that Lopez had a puncture. 

Roglic has is 17 seconds up on Yates and 27 seconds up on Nibali at the first check. There's still a long way to go and we're heading towards terrain that should suit Nibali and Yates.

Tao Geoghegan Hart 11th at the line. 

Jungels has lost a few seconds to Nibali at the second time check. It's really close out there for now and it's hard to decide if Roglic is 'winning' or not. The next time check will be key.

Nibali is climbing now and he's in and out of the saddle as the rain lets up. His experience will be so important today and he's putting in a good shift for now.

Yates is 12th at the second check. He's now slower than Nibali and Jungels, and it suggests that Nibali is having a really good ride.

Zakarin is coming to the line now and he's going to post a solid time. He will not come close to winning the stage but here he comes in a time of 53'48. 

Jungels is the next rider to watch, as he closes in on the finish. Roglic is now 29 seconds up on Yates. I'd say that's par but there's still a long way to go, although it's all climbing from here. 

1 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:52:03
2 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:53:02
3 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:53:06
4 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:53:47
5 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:54:00

Carapaz is faster than Zarakin. 

The roads are drying out as we see Yates dancing up the climb while Nibali remains rooted to the saddle before finally lifting himself to a stand.

Carthy takes fourth, and he's quicker than Carapaz. That's a massive time trial from the British rider.

Jungels is now coming to the line. Big moment this for the GC riders. 

Roglic is turning the screw and he has 44 seconds on Yates now. 

Roglic is third at the second check and 51 seconds off the lead. Can he still win the stage?

Mollema is putting in a very respectable ride. 52'52. He's second at the finish and he beats Jungels, Carapaz and company.

1 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:52:03
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:52:52
3 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:53:02
4 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:53:06
5 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:53:08
6 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 0:53:22
7 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:53:47
8 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:53:47
9 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:53:48
10 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:54:00

The rain is falling on Nibali once more as the Italian looks to limit his loses to Roglic. He was ahead of Yates at the last check but the British rider is on the climb towards the finish. 

Landa has had a bad day. He's lost around two minutes to Mollema. Meanwhile, the maglia rosa starts his time trial.

Majka comes to the line, and he's lost time to a number of his rivals. 11th at the line and 1'53 down on the stage leader.

5km to go for Yates but no time checks to Roglic at the moment. 

Nibali is fast approaching the line. 

Here comes Nibali, around the final corner.

He will almost catch Lopez.

52'57 and third. Slower than Mollema but faster than a number of his rivals. 

Campenaerts is nervous as he sits in the hotseat. He knows that Roglic can still win this stage.

1 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:52:03
2 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:52:52
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:52:57
4 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:53:02
5 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:53:06
6 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:53:08
7 Hugh John Carthy (GBr) EF Education First 0:53:22
8 Mattia Cattaneo (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:53:44
9 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:53:47
10 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:53:47

And here comes Yates. 600m to go and he's rocking and rolling. He's losing time here. He's losing chunks of time on this climb. 

Yates has blown up a bit on this climb. 

Yates had a good start but the uphill section has been tough going for the British rider. Way, way down on where he wants to be.

55'03. That's two minutes lost to Nibali.

Yates started well on the course and was up on Nibali at the first check. On the climb he just seemed to be conceding time with every pedal stroke. All eyes on Roglic now.

Split 2
1 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:26:50
2 Chad Haga (USA) Team Sunweb 0:27:32
3 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:27:41
4 Jack Bauer (NZl) Mitchelton-Scott 0:28:03
5 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Groupama-FDJ 0:28:05
6 Scott Davies (GBr) Dimension Data 0:28:09
7 Bob Jungels (Lux) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:28:11
8 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Mitchelton-Scott 0:28:18
9 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:28:19
10 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:28:20

Chavez lost time out there too, around the same as Yates but they'll watch to see where Roglic finishes. If Yates loses three minutes to Roglic it would be a huge blow to his GC chances. Two minutes wouldn't be great either to be honest.

Here comes Roglic. He's just powering up the climb and he might also take the stage win. He's going to take it by a mile. We had not check on the climb but he's found so much time. 

51:52 and that's the stage to Roglic. That's a huge ride and he's scattered his rivals. 

Campenaerts should have won the stage had it not been for the mechanical. To be fair he did have the better weather though.

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:51:52
2 Victor Campenaerts (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:52:03
3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:52:52
4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:52:57
5 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:53:02

Nibali will take that, 1'05 to Roglic on the stage. It could have been a lost worse when you consider how badly Yates, Lopez and Landa have performed.

The Oomen has lost over three minutes as well. He will be going for stages from now on.

Back down the road and Conti is holding the maglia rosa. 

Conti is actually putting time into Rojas as the race leader hits the climb.

Here are how the GC riders stack up on today's effort:

The riders left out on the road were the riders who were in the break when Conti took the maglia rosa. 

It's basically Conti versus Rojas out there but the Italian has a healthy buffer on the GC and he should keep the maglia rosa as the Giro heads into the rest day. 

Before the rest finish, the GC stands
Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 36:10:22
Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:00:46
Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:00:49
Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:42
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:44
Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:01:55

This is how things stand on the stage so far:

The stage rather fallen flat now, even though we still have riders out there. To be a fly on the wall in the Mitchelton Scott team  bus right now. Their man Simon Yates is over three minutes down on Roglic right now and his GC battle hangs in the balance. Its' not over, not at all but today the British climber took a significant beating. 

Conti is coming to the line and he has about 2;30 to cover the last few hundred meters. Just for good measure he gets out of the saddle, in the pouring rain, and despite the conditions he'll be loving this. Fair play to the rider. Pink is safe.

Here's today's top ten and the GC after the stage:

Let's hear from the stage winner and race favourite:

Here are some of names on GC and how the race for the maglia rosa stands:

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) – 2nd, 52:03

"It’s a really nice TT parcours. It’s really a beautiful all-round TT parcours. Also, for the time triallists, I think you can still do a decent result on this parcours. I had a good feeling all the way, but still it’s a climbing TT on this finish.

You can find our quotes story from the finish, right here.

And you can find our race report, photos and results, just here.

Some will think that the race is over but it's far from it. Nibali, remember, was almost five minutes down on GC after stage 18 of the 2016 and still won. All is takes is one bad day for Roglic and his lead will be gone. Will he have a bad though? That's the key question. 

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