With 5,000 meters of altitude and a brutal mountain finish, stage 9 was the first of three very tough stages in this year's Giro and an important day for the GC before the second rest day. It was therefore to be expected that the fight for the pink jersey would be in full swing today. After the last of the escapees was caught with 15km remaining, the stage came down to a battle between the favourites. Unfortunately, due to an untimely mechanical, and despite his best efforts, Wilco Kelderman was unable to catch up with the reduced field and as a result, the Dutchman was unable to mix things up in the finale. Under the high tempo set by Ineos Grenadiers, some GC riders fell back, but Jai Hindley and Emanuel Buchmann managed to stay in the ever-reducing leading group. After an attack by Carapaz on the steep section 5km from the finish, only Landa and Bardet were able to follow at first. Behind the trio, a small group including Jai was within striking distance and attempted to follow this attack. At this moment, Emanuel Buchmann was unfortunately a little too far behind to get involved. Eventually, the chase group with Jai managed to catch up with the leaders and an uphill sprint on the Blockhaus ensued. Jai opened his sprint early and took the victory ahead of his fast-approaching opponents. Teammate Emanuel finished seventh, just 16 seconds in arrears. After today's stage, Jai sits in fifth overall, while Emanuel is in 9th position. Lennard Kämna tried to fight for the pink jersey for quite some time, but wasn’t able to drop the current leader Lopez and fell back somewhat over the last kilometers.
Result
01 J. Hindley 5:34:44
02 R. Bardet +0:00
03 R. Carapaz +0:00
07 E. Buchmann +0:16
19 L. Kämna +4:34
33 W. Kelderman +10:53
From the Finish Line
"I didn't really expect to take the win today. I was on the edge all the way up the mountain, trying to survive as best I could. In the last kilometre everything came together and I knew about the right turn before the finish so I went through there first and just gave it my all until the finish. I rode my own pace, and suffered pretty badly in the end. We came here with three leaders and big ambitions and you shouldn't write anyone off at this point. Also, this win is incredible because last year was not an easy season for me. I had to leave the Giro early in 2021, so it was great to win today, especially in Abruzzo where I raced so often as an amateur." - Jai Hindley
"It was a really tough stage today, and we had also discussed that in detail as well prior to the stage. It was the first day this year that we had to deal with 30 degrees or more on the flat section. Of course, that affected everybody. So I think the team has ridden this Giro very well so far, and of course that's important for the motivation. What I have to add is that Jai definitely put in an incredibly good performance on this tremendously hard climb. He was always up there when the race exploded on the last part of the climb. He rode his own pace and was able to re-join the three leaders when they tried to shake him off. Unfortunately Wilco had a mechanical at a critical moment when he was riding in a stretched out bunch in a fast downhill section. In cycling you should never give up until the end. And I think that should be the motivation for everyone from now on." - Enrico Gasparotto, Sports Director