A double for Vingegaard
First, when he attacked with 5.5 km left to ride, he was accompanied by 22-year-old home favouriteGiulio Pellizzari (Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe) and had to work hard to drop him 1 km later. At that point, the rest of the stage seemed to be a formality and that the Dane would come out of it with a substantial lead over all his GC rivals – but without taking over the race leader’s yellow jersey, held by Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), who came into the stage with a 6:22 lead over the Dane.
But Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) wasn’t having it. The 28-year-old Austrian seemed well out of it halfway up the mountain and appeared to be going backwards. But he was just riding at his own strong, steady pace. He eventually passed Pellizzari and then kept pace with Vingegaard on the steep sections while gaining on him when the gradients decreased. And as both riders neared the summit, Gall did the unthinkable: he began reeling in the odds-on favourite.
It was probably lucky for Vingegaard that the finish came when it did, for Gall had reduced a deficit of 24 seconds to a mere 13 by the time he crossed the line. He trailed the Dane by only 19 seconds in the GC, which left the contest nicely poised. But the Visma–Lease a Bike leader wasn’t worried. “I know Felix is a very strong rider, so you know he will be up there close,” he said. “He didn’t surprise me, and he’s definitely a guy we have to think about.”
As for Gall, he played down his chances. “It was a really hard pace from the bottom from Visma,” he told TNT Sports. “At first I was a bit annoyed that I couldn’t follow Pellizzari and Jonas, but in the end it was good that I did my own pace.”
Asked about his chances to win the Giro, he said, “I’d say he’s, for example, a much better time trialist than me for a start. He’s the best Grand Tour rider we currently have next to Tadej [Pogačar], so, for sure, I’m not thinking about how to beat him for now, I’m just happy with my performance.”
Vingegaard received a monstrous support ride up the mountain from 23-year-old Davide Piganzoli, who joined Visma this year from Pro-level team Polti VisitMalta. Then old friend Sepp Kuss set him up for the attack. After the win, Vingegaard ranked second in the GC, 3:17 behind Eulálio. Pellizzari and his teammate Jai Hindley, Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla), and the other GC contenders all trailed him by more than a minute.
So, what went wrong for the Dane? Probably nothing. He always comes into a Grand Tour a bit below his best and gets better the more he rides. And at 244 km, this was the longest Grand Tour stage in five years, so his legs might have been a bit heavy.
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Another summit finish, and Vingegaard’s 50th win
It was more of the same on Sunday’s stage 9, another summit finish and another duel between Vingegaard and Gall. The final climb, to Corno alla Scale (10.8 km @ 6.1%, max. 15%), had relatively easy lower slopes, but the last 2.8 km averaged 10%. And that’s where the stage was decided.
Lidl-Trek’s Giulio Ciccone attacked 7.5 km from the finish, dropping Einar Rubio (Movistar), with whom he had been part of an 11-rider breakaway that broke apart on the lower slopes. Gall attacked what remained of the peloton with 2.6 km left to ride, after his team had ridden hard for most of the stage to soften the legs of his GC rivals. Mission accomplished. Only Vingegaard could follow the Austrian on the steep ramps leading to the finish line, with young Pellizzari faltering because of a stomach issue.
The duellists passed Ciccone 1.7 km from the line and rode together toward the summit, as they had two days earlier. Gall asked Vingegaard several times to contribute to the climb, but the Dane refused. He was just waiting for the right moment. That came with 900 metres to ride, when he dropped Gall with a quick burst and beat him to the line by 12 seconds. Piganzoli finished third, at 34 seconds, a huge accomplishment for the young Italian Visma domestique.
But kudos to Gall, who showed again that he is a Grand Tour rider to be reckoned with, and to the unheralded Eulálio, who finished fifth and leads the race by 2:24 over Vingegaard, with Gall at 2:59. All other GC contenders trail the Visma leader by more than 2 minutes.
This was the 50th victory of Vingegaard’s career, and with a long time trial coming up on Tuesday, he is now in the driver’s seat, despite Gall’s heroics and Eulálio’s resistance. “For sure, 50 wins is a lot for me and something I’m super-happy about,” he said after the stage. “I also got to take a second stage victory in the Giro, so it was a good day for us.”
He noted that the team’s plan was not to win on Sunday. “We didn’t want to pull for the stage today, but we realised quite quickly that Decathlon was going for the win.” So perhaps he and the team are riding this Giro conservatively with the upcoming Tour de France, and Vingegaard’s attempt to win the Giro-Tour double, in mind.
Narváez and wounded UAE strike again
On Saturday’s stage 8, Jhonatan Narváez won his second stage of this Giro and took the third win for UAE Team Emirates–XRG, which is down to five riders, when he attacked out of a three-rider breakaway with about 10 km left to ride on the 156 km course from Chieti to Fermo. Behind him were teammate Mikel Bjerg, dropped a bit earlier and falling back, and Uno-X Mobility’s Andreas Leknessund, who continued to chase.
Narváez, who had won stage 4, was better on the steep ramps leading into Fermo, which included gradients as brutal as 24%, and beat the Norwegian by 32 seconds. Another Norwegian from Uno-X Mobility, Martin Tjøtta, completed the podium at 42 seconds. “It was a nice stage for me,” Narváez said after the race. “I think we played really well with my teammate. I think he was the man of the day, Mikkel Bjerg; you always see him working for the team. He’s a guy who does a lot for the team. We made an agreement, I can say now [that Narváez would go for the win], but he was the man of the day for me.”
Narváez and Bjerg attacked the peloton about 78 km from the finish, and were soon joined by Leknessund, as behind them the peloton split in two, with Vingegaard and other riders caught out in the second half of the split. By the time Visma’s domestiques closed the gap, the leading trio had a 48-second advantage. Eventually, a large chase group of 19 riders formed with 60 km left to ride, with other, smaller attack groups bursting out of the peloton behind them.
They all coalesced into a group numbering about 30, which was too large to be effective, as no one was willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good. Finally, Javier Romo tried to go it alone, but he was outgunned by the three breakaway riders, who continued riding unperturbed until Narváez made his winning move.
It was another impressive victory for UAE Team Emirates – XRG, who lost three riders in a stage 2 crash and won three of the subsequent seven stages. “We are just five guys, but we play well,” Narváez said afterwards. “We have a good atmosphere in the team, so I think [there can be] victories in the next week.”
Results, Giro d’Italia stage 9, Cervio to Corno Alle Scale (184 km)
1. Jonas Vingegaard, Visma–Lease a Bike 4:20:21
2. Felix Gall, Decathlon CMA CGM +0:12
3. Davide Piganzoli, Visma–Lease a Bik +0:34
4. Thymen Arensman, Netcompany INEOS “
5. Afonso Eulálio, Bahrain-Victorious +0:41
6. Derek Gee-West, Lidl-Trek +0:46
7. Mathys Rondel, Tudor Pro Cycling “
8. Sepp Kuss, Visma–Lease a Bike “
9. Jai Hindley, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +0:50
10. Michael Storer, Tudor Pro Cycling “
2026 Giro d’Italia GC Standings After Stage 9
1. Afonso Eulálio, Bahrain-Victorious 38:49:44
2. Jonas Vingegaard, Visma–Lease a Bike +2:24
3. Felix Gall, Decathlon CMA CGM +2:59
4. Jai Hindley, Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe +4:32
5. Christian Scaroni, XDS Astana +4:43
6. Thymen Arensman, Netcompany INEOS +5:00
7. Mathys Rondel, Tudor Pro Cycling +5:01
8. Ben O’Connor, Jayco AlUla +5:03
9. Giulio Pelizzari, Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe +5:15
10. Michael Storer, Tudor Pro Cycling +5:20
