Wout van Aert wins the extremely spectacular 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia in Siena. The young Mexican Isaac de Toro is the new leader after the mini-edition of the spring classic Stade Bianche.
18.05.2025, 18:17
18.05.2025, 18:56
SDA
After more than eight months without a win, Wout van Aert made an impressive comeback at the end of the first week of the Giro. The Belgian, who is contesting his first Tour of Italy, won the 9th stage in Tuscany, which also led over five gravel sectors.
The unpaved, white roads, known from the Stade Bianche one-day race held every March, provided the expected spectacle. Van Aert won the sprint after 181 km ahead of the Mexican Isaac del Toro. The duo reached the finish line on the Piazza del Campo in the old town of Siena with a lead of over a minute on the first chasers.
Del Toro consoles himself with pink
Van Aert thus completed his collection of victories in the three grand tours, having already won nine stages in the Tour de France and three in the Vuelta.
Del Toro, for his part, took the maglia rosa thanks to second place. The 21-year-old South American from the UAE Emirates team replaced the Italian Diego Ulissi, who had only taken the pink leader's jersey the day before. The 35-year-old local hero was already left behind in the first gravel section. Like the only Swiss rider, Yannis Voisard, he reached the finish more than five minutes behind.
Roglic with a crash and a puncture
The main contenders for overall victory suffered a setback. Spaniard Juan Ayuso in seventh place lost over a minute to his team-mate Del Torro, former Tour de France winner Egan Bernal from Colombia three seconds more. Top favorite Primoz Roglic dropped back due to a crash and later also lost time due to a flat tire. The Slovenian lost almost two and a half minutes on the leader and 1:15 minutes on Ayuso.
The pros enjoy a rest day on Monday. They can gather strength for the individual time trial on Tuesday, which leads over 28.6 km from Lucca to Pisa.
