Giro d'Italia 2024 Stage 9

May 12, 2024 214KM, the second longest stage of this year's Giro led the riders into the twisting and rough roads of Napoli. Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon of Polti-Kometa got off the front as the flag dropped at KM0. A few more attacks came out of the peloton but it was all closed down, leaving just the pair up front as Alpecin-Deceuninck settled the pace behind. It all stayed relatively calm until the second intermediate sprint at 54KM to go. A few attacks came after the sprinters took the points. They were brought back but the peloton stayed on guard for the rest of the stage. The two leaders arrived to the Bay of Naples with 41KM to go and a 1 minute lead. The peloton was going quickly, fighting for position through every corner. Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quickstep was first to move from the peloton at 27km to go, followed by Nicola Conci of Alpecin-Deceuninck who was marking moves for his sprinter behind. The pair caught the Polti-Kometa riders as Kevin Vermaerke of DSM-Firmenich and Lewis Askey of Groupama-FDJ bridged to make 6 at the front. Ewen Costiou of Arkéa-B&B Hotels was next to bridge up, by which point Pietrobon and Maestri had drifted back to the peloton. Lidl-Trek were forced to chase if they wanted a sprint, burning riders that would be important for the leadout. Alaphilippe attacked again from the front group, only Costiou could follow this time. Conci was stuck in the middle and forced to chase. At 14km to go, all riders had been caught and the leading French duo who had 21 seconds. On the 3KM climb at 9KM to go, Costiou was dropped and Alaphilippe was alone but his lead had come down to 10 seconds. Jhonatan Narváez of Ineos attacked the peloton with 1KM left to climb, quickly picking off Alaphilippe. Narváez went over the top at 6KM to go with just a 6 second lead. The chase looked strong but Narváez still had 10 seconds under 1KM to go. Lidl-Trek were running out of riders and road. In the last 600M, Tadej Pogačar of UAE brought his sprinter Juan Sebastián Molano up from 10th wheel and did a huge pull. Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan was first to start his sprint, catching Narváez heartbreakingly close to the line. Milan looked to have the win but Olav Kooij of Visma-Lease a Bike came out of Milan's large slipstream and edged passed to take the win by half a wheel. Molano was not able to reap the rewards of Pogačar's pull but did manage to hold on for third place.