{"id":8132,"date":"2025-05-19T14:31:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T12:31:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=8132"},"modified":"2025-06-17T14:44:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T12:44:09","slug":"roglic-bites-the-dust-van-aert-wins-del-toro-takes-giro-lead-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2025\/05\/19\/roglic-bites-the-dust-van-aert-wins-del-toro-takes-giro-lead-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogli\u010d Bites the Dust, van Aert Wins, del Toro Takes Giro Lead on"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anyone wondering why the second Sunday stage of the Giro d\u2019Italia did not have any big mountains in it has their answer. Stage 9 had a few modest climbs, but its five sectors of white gravel, which were part of this year\u2019s Strade Bianche (which means \u2018white street\u2019), produced tons of drama and turned this Grand Tour topsy-turvy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As a result, Wout van Aert (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) won his first race of the year and the fiftieth of his career, the 21-year-old Mexican Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG) is the new race leader, and the GC hopes of pre-race favourite Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d<\/a> (Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe) appear to have literally bitten the dust.<\/p>\n

Crash + flat tyre = Giro defeat?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When the Giro resumes on Tuesday, with an ITT, del Toro will wear the race leader\u2019s maglia rosa<\/em> with a lead of 1:13 over teammate Juan Ayuso, with the hard-luck Rogli\u010d sitting down in tenth at 2:25 (!) and looking at a big mountain to climb. His luck and his ever-present smile were turned upside down on the second gravel section of the stage when, with about 51 km left to ride on the 181 km course from Gubbio to Siena, Lucas Hamilton of INEOS Grenadiers crashed on a turn and took several riders down with him, including Rogli\u010d.<\/p>\n

The Slovenian fell, suffering scrapes and cuts, but his bike was tangled up with that of another, and by the time he got back on the saddle, he was almost a minute behind the small lead group, which included van Aert and del Toro. To make matters worse, he then suffered a puncture and had to wait for a team car, which cost him another minute and put him well behind his main rival for the victory, Ayuso, who had also been impeded by the crash. The Spaniard finished the stage 1:07 behind van Aert but 1:15 ahead of Rogli\u010d, and now leads him by 1:12 in the GC standings.<\/p>\n

Del Toro races into Giro lead, van Aert celebrates<\/strong><\/h2>\n

That crash left six riders in front of the peloton, including del Toro, van Aert and Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers). The group was reduced to three and then grew to four when Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) appeared out of nowhere to join the leaders. But on the final gravel sector, with about 18 km left to ride, del Toro hit the pedals hard on a tough climb, and only van Aert could follow.<\/p>\n

The two then raced together to the finish line, at Siena\u2019s iconic Piazza del Campo, with the young Mexican doing most of the work. When they crested the final 900 m climb (maximum ramp of 16%), the Dutchman surged into the lead and removed the weight of the world\u2019s expectations from his shoulders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s easy to say this victory means a lot to me, I almost cannot explain it,\u201d said van Aert, who had been ill before the start of the Giro<\/a> and had made uncharacteristic blunders earlier in the race. \u201cThis is where my road career started back in 2018, and to win this stage after a long period without delivering, finally again, it feels so good. Siena is a special place to me, and I’m an emotional person. Places like this motivate me, they inspire me, and I just feel like it was meant to be\u2026 It was an emotional win for many reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not only was this the fiftieth win of van Aert\u2019s road racing career, and his second win in Siena (he won the 2020 Strade Bianche), but it also fulfilled his goal of having at least one stage victory in each of the Grand Tours. So there was real rejoicing when he embraced his wife and two sons after the stage.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n