Wout van Aert wins again and Del Toro blows up the Giro d'Italia and takes the pink jersey from the sterrato

All predictions were blown away in the mini Strade Bianche that the Giro d'Italia had prepared for stage 9, closing the first week with an unleashed Isaac del Toro who took advantage of a silly fall that split the group of favorites to put distance in the general classification and open the debate about leadership within UAE Team Emirates-XRG. A stage that also brought the resurrection of Wout van Aert, who knew how to suffer to achieve that desired victory that had eluded him.

Isaac del Toro leaves the sterrato in style

A tremendous stage was experienced on the roads of Tuscany in the Giro d'Italia 2025 in a 9th stage, between Gubbio and Siena, which, in the final of its 181 kilometers, passed through 5 of the Strade Bianche sections, including the tough San Martino in Grania section, the tremendous ramps of Colle Pinzuto, and, of course, the brutal wall of Via Santa Caterina to reach Piazza de Il Campo.

A stage that had as protagonists in its first part a breakaway of 6 cyclists, of a high level for a route like this, with names like Quinten Hermans, Kaden Groves, Taco van der Hoorn, Dries de Bondt, and Milan Freitn. However, unlike yesterday, the favorites did not want any surprises and kept their lead contained always below two minutes.

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At 68 kilometers from the finish, the party began with the arrival of the dirt section of Pieve a Salti, with 8 kilometers to start making contact with the dirt and leaving the ephemeral leader Diego Ulissi already dropped due to the strong pace set by Mads Pedersen in a generous effort to leave his leader Giulio Ciccone perfectly positioned.

Pedersen's work left just over 25 cyclists in the main group, with all the favorites there. In the second sector, the high pace continued, without Storer, who crashed at the entrance of the section. However, it would not be the only incident of this dirt section since, halfway through it, a cyclist from INEOS Grenadiers who was working at the head of the group crashed. This caused a split that Isaac del Toro cleanly saved, and a little behind were Egan Bernal and Wout van Aert. Ayuso was left a bit behind, and, the worst affected, despite not crashing, were Primoz Roglic and Tom Pidcock.

Del Toro saw the gap and began to push hard to consolidate the gap, without stopping to think for a second whether Ayuso was coming or not. At the same time, Van Aert and Bernal managed to reach his wheel along with Brandon Rivera. Initially, a twenty-second gap. At the same time, Ayuso and the cyclists riding with him were ahead of Roglic and Pidcock by the same amount of seconds. To make matters worse, later on, Roglic punctured and had to change bikes, and Pidcock was involved in another crash that also set him back and increased the gaps to a minute.

With barely any rest, they reached the San Martino in Grania section, tremendously demanding, where the differences were consolidating. Up front, perfect understanding. In Juan Ayuso's group, skirmishes occurred that left Vacek chasing the leaders, while behind, Pellizzari's work for Primoz Roglic allowed him to keep the gap contained.

Isaac del Toro would not settle for this situation and, in the short Monteaperti section, he attacked hard. Wout van Aert followed his wheel without a problem, but Egan Bernal began to show signs of weakness as he fell back a few meters, although this time he managed to close the gap. At the same time, Mathias Vacek, after a tremendous effort, managed to reach them just before the decisive moment of the race.

But fatigue would take its toll on the Lidl-Trek rider with the arrival at the decisive Colle Pinzuto where Isaac del Toro made the same move again, this time at a sustained pace, a pace that only Wout van Aert could keep up with, and they went ahead to also take the Mexican the bonus seconds of the Red Bull KM located at the top of this dirt section. The gap had already increased to a minute with Ayuso's group where both he and Ciccone were leading the chase.

Only the stage victory remained to be decided after the always exciting climb to Santa Caterina where, once again, Isaac del Toro set a very strong pace that made Wout van Aert suffer endlessly. But the Belgian, with all his determination, managed to hold on to his wheel and, once at the top, knowing how to win in Piazza de Il Campo, he took the lead to make the most of his technique in the narrow streets of the old town of Siena and break the curse that had haunted him in terms of victory. At the same time, exultant, Isaac del Toro crossed the finish line and would wear the pink jersey.

It would take just under a minute for Giulio Ciccone to cross the finish line alongside Richard Carapaz, with Ayuso a few seconds behind after struggling on the tough wall. On the other hand, the group of Primoz Roglic, led by Tom Pidcock, arrived at the finish line 2 minutes and 21 seconds later, leaving the Giro d'Italia with noticeable differences just before the second rest day that will precede the long time trial of this Giro d'Italia and which, given the situation in the classification, becomes even more important for a Primoz Roglic who will have to give his all to set things right.

Stage 9 Classification

1. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) 4h15'08''
2. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +00''
3. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +58''
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +58''
5. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'00''
6. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'00''
7. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'07''
8. Thymen Arensman (INEOS Grenadiers) +1'10''
9. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +1'10''
10. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'10''

General Classification

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 33h36'45''
2. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'13''
3. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +1'30''
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'40''
5. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +1'41''
6. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'42''
7. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +1'57''
8. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1'59''
9. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2'01''
10. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2'25''