Welcome to our live blog for stage nine of the Giro d'Italia. Today marks the final stage before the first rest day and will conclude the opening week of the race.
After a downhill start in Avezzano, the riders will head from the mountains to the coast towards the finish in Naples with a few short sharp climbs in the finale that could decide the outcome of the stage.
Could it be a stage for the sprinters or will the puncheurs snatch away the victory? The breakaway will undoubtedly try their luck, but will they be given a chance by the teams in the peloton?
We'll be providing live updates all day. If you want to get in touch, you can reach out to us on X – @CyclingWeekly.
214km to go: We're underway for stage nine of the Giro d'Italia after a slight delay due to a mechanical for Roel van Sintmaartensdijk (Intermarché-Wanty) at the back of the peloton.
The flag has now been waved and we will quickly begin to see which teams are intent on getting up the road in the breakaway on today's stage.
213km to go: A two-man breakaway has formed at the front of the race, but the attacks are not over yet with more moves going behind in the peloton.
200km to go: Alpecin-Deceuninck are already on the front of the peloton for Kaden Groves, as they are keen to control the gap to the breakaway, which currently sits at around a minute.
195km to go: Polti-Kometa are the only team that are represented at the head of the race, as their riders Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon got away at the very start of the stage and immediately began working together to pull out the gap. Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) had attempted to bridge across to them, but he has now been caught by the peloton.
192km to go: The breakaway now has over two minutes of an advantage on the peloton, as the main group seem content to let the gap go out.
Here's how the general classification looked at the beginning of stage nine:
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates, in 28:14:42
2. Daniel Felipe Martínez (Col) Bora-Hansgrohe, +2:40
3. Geraint Thomas (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers, +2:58
4. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +3:39
5. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:02
6. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +4:23
7. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan, +5:15
8. Einer Rubio (Col) Movistar, +5:28
9. Thymen Arensman (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers, +5:30
10. Jan Hirt (Cze) Soudal Quick-Step, +5:53
Barring a crash or a poorly timed mechanical, none of those gaps are expected to change too much today, as it should be a fairly straightforward stage for the GC contenders.
At 214km in length, stage nine is the second-longest stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, with stage 15 only slightly longer at 222km-long.
180km to go: The gap to the breakaway had been allowed to go out as far as two and a half minutes, but that has now been brought back to around two minutes, as Alpecin-Deceuninck are keen to keep them on tight leash on today's stage.
173km to go: Andrea Pietrobon (Polti-Kometa) will be hoping for another chance at a stage win after he took an agonising third place finish on stage five after a late attack from a four-man group in the finale. However, it is unlikely that he will have the opportunity to go for the win today, as the sprinters' teams seem keen to control the gap to the breakaway.
Can Tadej Pogačar pull off the three-peat?
After taking back-to-back stage victories over the last two days, can Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) make it three in a row with a win on stage nine?
While the sprinters' teams will look to control the stage, those short climbs in the finale could act as a launchpad for attacks and we know that if the Slovenian has an opportunity to take a win, then he will try to seize it.
We have already seen on stage three that Pogačar is not afraid to go for the win and attempt to snatch a win away from the sprinters.
160km to go: The pace in the peloton is pretty easy for now, which is allowing some of the riders to take a quick nature break and have some lunch as they get some food on board.
On a stage as long as this, nutrition strategy will be vital in getting the riders to the finish with enough energy to contest the stage.
155km to go: The gap to the breakaway has gone back out to three minutes, as the peloton looked somewhat disorganised as Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took a quick nature break.
However, the Belgian is now back at the front of the main group and setting the pace once again.
153km to go: A weird situation occured in the peloton, as Janssens began to set the pace in the main group, the rest of the riders let his wheel go and he unintentionally began to open up a gap on those behind him.
However, the Belgian has now returned to the bunch, with many of the other teams seemingly unwilling to chase the breakaway and control the gap, which currently sits at around three and half minutes.
148km to go: Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) has begun a string of attacks as some of the riders are looking to animate the stage with a move off the front.
It is unclear what has triggered these sudden accelerations, but there seem to be many riders that are interested in getting up the road and joining the two leaders at the head of the race.
These attacks have brought the gap to the breakaway down by around a minute and if the riders in the peloton continue to persist, then there is a risk that their gap could be further reduced.
140km to go: After a short flurry of attacks, the peloton are nearing the end of a long downhill section of the course. There is still a long way to go to the intermediate sprint in Mondragone and it seems to have settled down in the main group.
Looking at the finale of today's stage, the race will twist and turn its way along the coast with one cat-4 climb and a couple of other uncategorised lumps on the profile.
Going into the final three kilometres, the riders will enter the city of Naples and head along a long straight road, with a couple of roundabouts being the only potential difficulties facing them.
They will then turn left to do a U-turn and double back on themselves as they enter the final straight. A small left-hand bend in the final few hundred metres means that the leadout men will have to pick their line carefully if the race comes down to a bunch sprint.
117km to go: The race has settled down once again and there has been a steady pace in the peloton for a few kilometres now. The main group is currently in one long line, as the riders are clearly not concerned about being caught out of position, with no indication that there will be any splits in the bunch anytime soon.
The gap to the breakaway is currently around two and a half minutes, as the two teammates at the front continue to persist on what has been a long day for them already with nearly 100km together at the head of the race.
100km to go: Nothing much has changed in the race. The gap to the two-man breakaway has come down to around a minute and a half with Alpecin-Deceuninck still riding on the front of the peloton. There is around 15km to go until the first intermediate sprint of the day.
85km to go: Though it has been a fairly dull stage so far, credit has to be given to Mirco Maestri and Andrea Pietrobon for persisting with their effort at the front of the race, which is almost definitely doomed to fail given how easily the peloton are able to bring down the gap when the teams in the bunch begin to apply themselves at the front of the main group.
The presence of the Italian duo at the head of the race has allowed us a regular view of their great team kit, which is brilliantly accented by their vibrant red shorts.
80km to go: Maestri and Pietrobon roll through the first intermediate sprint of the day in Mondragone, with the latter taking the maximum points.
Behind them, Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck go head-to-head for the first time on today's stage, but both Jonathan Milan and Kaden Groves end up getting their pockets picked, as Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) and Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) beat them to the line to snatch away a few points.
💜 Results of the IS in Mondragone: 🥇 🇮🇹 Andrea Pietrobon (PTK)🥈 🇮🇹@mircomaestri9 (PTK)🥉 🇧🇪 @MerlierTim (SOQ)#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/r2TsB6RAY4May 12, 2024
Geraint Thomas speaking to Eurosport at the start of today's stage:
"In the south and around Naples it's always a bit bumpy, a few more potholes and it's slippery as well. The roads are a bit more shiny, so there's a bit more going on, you've got to stay attentive and it's generally twisty as well. It's up, down, left and right, so physically it's not the most demanding day, but there's still a lot to concentrate on".
58km to go: There has been a crash in the peloton on the exit of a roundabout. Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) has gone down, with several of his teammates stopping to help him. Maximilian Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) was also involved.
They will have to chase back on through the team cars to get back to the peloton now. He is currently around 50 seconds off the back of the main group.
55km to go: Maestri takes the Intergiro sprint ahead of his teammate Pietrobon, swapping positions from the first intermediate sprint.
Behind, Kaden Groves takes the maximum remaining points ahead of Tim Merlier after a leadout from Alpecin-Deceuninck.
53km to go: Geraint Thomas is now back in the peloton after his crash after an extended chase due to the Intergiro sprint and a small attack in the peloton from the main group.
50km to go: The gap to the breakaway sits at around a minute as the teams in the peloton are beginning to get organised, with Bahrain Victorious setting the pace at the front of the bunch.
40km to go: The breakaway is now onto the only categorised climb of the day, which is the Monte di Procida. At 4.1km in length with an average gradient of 3.8% and a maximum gradient of 9%, this will be the first test for the sprinters on the stage and we will see which teams will come to the fore in an attempt to drop some of the fast men out of the back.
36km to go: Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) have been dropped from the peloton under the pace of Alpecin-Deceuninck.
36km to go: Andrea Pietrobon takes the maximum points at the top of the Monte di Procida ahead of his teammate Maestri, as Alpecin-Deceuninck continue to pull on the front of the peloton over the top of the climb.
30km to go: Alpecin-Deceuninck are clearly confident that they can drop the majority of the other sprinters on the upcoming uncategorised climbs to set up Kaden Groves for the stage win. They are content to stay at the front of the peloton, not accepting help from any of the other teams.
30km to go: Andrea Pietrobon once again takes maximum points at the intermediate sprint, but the gap to the breakaway is now well under a minute as the peloton close in on the two riders at the head of the race.
27km to go: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) attacks on a short rise with Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) chasing him down. They have now caught the two riders from the breakaway. Kevin Vermaerke (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) have also jumped out of the peloton, making it a six-man group at the head of the race.
23km to go: With Alpecin-Deceuninck having a man up the road in the form of Conci, Lidl-Trek have taken over the pacing in the peloton as they look to bring everything back together. Ewen Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) has joined the front group, making it seven riders at the head of the race.
20km to go: A move off the front from Alaphilippe is followed by Costiou and they haved pulled out a small advantage over the rest of the breakaway riders. Their gap to the peloton currently sits at around 20 seconds.
15km to go: Maestri and Vermaerke tried to chase down the two riders at the front, but they have now been caught by the peloton, along with the other riders from the chasing group.
10km to go: The peloton are in sight of the two leaders as they reach the foot of the final climb to Posillipo, which could be the final opportunity for a late attack.
9km to go: Alaphilippe has gone solo at the head of the race, with Costiou caught by the peloton. The Frenchman looks to be tiring with Lidl-Trek pulling at the front of the main group for Jonathan Milan.
8km to go: Alaphilippe is caught by the peloton as Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) launches an attack. More riders are attempting to follow the Ecuadorian, but for now he is solo at the head of the race.
5km to go: Crash at the back of the peloton, with Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) hitting the deck.
3km to go: Jayco AlUla are trying to get organised on the front of the peloton alongside Lidl-Trek. The Australian team will be looking to set things up for their sprint Caleb Ewan.
1.5km to go: Narváez has a gap of over ten seconds now and it is looking good for him going into the final kilometre.
500m to go: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is looking to leadout Juan Sebastián Molano, but Narváez might be able to hang on.
Olav Kooij takes his first Grand Tour stage victory!
Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) pips Jonathan Milan on the line to win stage nine of the Giro d'Italia. It's heartbreak for Jhonatan Narváez, who was caught in the final hundred metres.
