Van Aert triumphs in chaotic gravel stage, Del Toro takes leader's jersey, Roglic loses minutes after crash

The weekend got off to a fantastic start with the most beautiful stage of this edition so far. The hilly stage to Castelraimondi was spectacular from start to finish: Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike) showed he was very competitive, but in the end, he had to admit defeat to Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla). It was grueling, but the riders would get little rest with the final stage before the rest day. The infamous Strade dominated Stage 9: the gravel roads in Tuscany promised to provide another spectacular stage.

A gravel stage means a massive battle for the day's breakaway, right? If a large group manages to get away, it will undoubtedly have a chance to go a long way. But that breakaway never materialized. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) stormed away at the start and was joined by teammate Quinten Hermans, Milan Fretin (Cofidis), and Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R). Three Belgians, that can only be a premeditated plan. The four quickly took the lead and were later joined by Luke Lamperti (Soudal Quick-Step) and, sure enough, Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty).

The gap quickly grew to 3 minutes, but Q36.5 took the lead in the peloton at that point. With the help of XDS-Astana and UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the gap was quickly reduced again: it was clear that no one wanted a breakaway rider to win today. After an intermediate sprint and a mountain prize without much of a fight, the gap was only 1.15 minutes, with an hour to go to the first gravel sections. But the favorites didn't want to leave anything to chance; that was clear.

On the descent of La Cima, leader Fretin slipped into a sharp corner. The Belgian quickly returned on his bike and rejoined his companions, but he had suffered quite a few abrasions and had to change bikes a little later. He returned, but the peloton didn't give them much space. When the riders started the first gravel section, the gap was only 1.30 minutes, and it quickly closed thanks to the hard work of purple jersey wearer Mads Pedersen—only about 25 riders left at the front in the blink of an eye.

Simon Yates and some other riders were briefly out of contention but were able to rejoin the peloton. The same could not be said for Diego Ulissi. The pink jersey wearer was immediately dropped and lost his lead. Otherwise, it was an incident-free day, but only for a moment. Florian Stork (Tudor) crashed and took his lead rider, Michael Storer, with him. The Australian had to chase, but the chaos had only just begun. Not much later, Lucas Hamilton (INEOS Grenadiers) slipped away, taking Primoz Roglic and Tom Pidcock with him. The Slovenian had to chase.

As if that wasn't enough, he also got a flat tire. But it did not stop there; he also lost several minutes. UAE Team Emirates—XRG logically continued. Before you could say 'Basta', Hermans, and Groves were suddenly joined by Isaac Del Toro, Brandon Rivera, Thymen Arensman, Egan Bernal, and Wout van Aert. This was a very strong leading group that quickly gained half a minute on the other contenders. Juan Ayuso pushed hard, and the race lay wide open.

Roglic had support from Giulio Pellizzari, but that was about it. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) broke away from the Ayuso group on a steep section. The Czech had marked the ride to Siena in red and set off in pursuit of the leaders. Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) went with him at first, but later, he had to go alone. It cost him a lot, but miraculously, he caught up with the front three: Bernal, Del Toro, and Van Aert were left at the front. The breakaway's lead grew, and Del Toro had a very good chance of taking the pink jersey.

The Mexican rider was extremely strong and pushed hard on the Monteaperti, the first of the steep final climbs. There, he dropped Bernal and Vacek but not Van Aert. Later, the others returned, but it was only for a short while. On the Pinzuto, it was again up to the youngster, who now definitively broke away from Bernal and Vacek. But the Belgian from Visma | Lease a Bike seemed to have found his legs again. He stayed on Del Toro's wheel, albeit with great difficulty.

The two would battle it out for the stage win, as Vacek and Bernal quickly lost significant time. Ayuso also lost a minute on his teammate, but Roglic was already more than two minutes behind the leaders. The chaos in Tuscany had caused enormous damage, and its effects would be felt throughout the Giro. Bernal fought for all he was worth, but thanks to Vacek, who had waited, he was engulfed by the second group.

It was time to wait for the Via Santa Catharina in Siena. The battle for the stage victory would be decided on the steep final stretch. Del Toro was the strongest on the climbs, but Van Aert was close behind. He overtook Del Toro on the flat and kept the young Mexican brilliantly behind him. Del Toro did take the leader's jersey, however.