Giro d'Italia stage 9 preview - A mountain-top finish leads the riders into the second rest day

While not as difficult as the first major mountain test on Blockhaus, there could be more GC differences atop Corno alle Scalle.

Key information:

• Start: 12:50 (CET)
• Estimated Finish: 17:15 (CET)
• Stage type: Mountain
• Stage length: 183.82km
• Elevation gain: 2,155m

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The run-in to the final climb in this stage is even easier than in the last two stages. The first 150km of the stage are predominantly flat, giving a false impression that this isn't a stage where the GC contenders can make a difference. However, that changes very quickly inside the final 30km of the stage. 

First, the riders have to tackle the 10.9km third category ascent to Querciola with an average gradient of 4.3%. This climb will serve as a precursor for what is to come. From the summit, there are 4km of shallow downhill terrain, but hardly enough for the legs to recover from what is still to come. 

A summit finish to Corno alle Scale is where the stage will draw to a close. The climb is 10km with an average gradient of 4.8%. The hardest part of the climb comes towards the end as the last 2.8km has an average around 10%

And that while the terrain flattens off in the last kilometre, as you can see in the picture. The two kilometres before that have an average gradient of 11.5%.

All this together makes for a 27.3km long final with an average gradient of 4.1%.

Before the riders get to the steepest part, their legs will already be hurting a lot.

In this stage, it'll be even harder to make the breakaway as a climber than in the last two stages. With the last 27km being about all uphill, you do have to be a really good climber to win, so that creates a tough situation for the breakaway riders. However, there will be a lot intrest as the breakaway, as a lot of good riders have already lost time.

But don't let that fool you. Even with that in mind, there will be big differences here in the GC group, also if the break makes it, with the last climb being super tough and the riders having two super hard days in the legs.

So what will it be, break or GC? This is a tough one to call again. There also isn't a lot to lose for Team Visma | Lease a Bike here. With how hard the stage is, a Vingegaard win is pretty likely. And, with the rest day tomorrow, they also don't risk anything with burning up their domestiques here.

However, Hindley has been looking really good, Pellizzari had overstepped his game on the Blockhaus, but also is really good, and Gall looked amazing. Will their teams (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe and Decathlon CMA CGM Team) dare to ride?

This one seems to be pretty 50/50 for the break and GC.

Key points

• Intermediate sprint - 58.5km to go
• Quiercola | 3rd category climb - 10.9km at 4.3% - 17km to go
• Red Bull km (bonification sprint) - 11.5km to go (2km into the climb)

Lidl-Trek seems to have the outright favourite in its ranks with Giulio Ciccone. He finally made a decision and let the GC go, so he can now hunt for stages. After a strong ride on Blockhaus, Ciccone was not allowed up the road on stage 8, and the Italian decided it was best for him to purposefully lose time to give him more freedom.

Being a top favourite means he will have a major target on his back. Compounding this, the break formation is far from guaranteed on the flat opening terrain.

As previously noted, we can't count out a GC day. What will the plan of Team Visma | Lease a Bike be with Jonas Vingegaard? While the Dane did win the Blockhaus stage, the victory margin was likely smaller than the team had hoped or anticipated. Even if Visma chooses not to control the peloton from the drop of the flag, several factors could still trigger a GC showdown.

For instance, a prolonged fight to establish the breakaway might inadvertently motivate the main pack, as chasing down a late, fatigued break requires significantly less effort for a stage win. But then Vingegaard will have to ride the time trial on stage 10 in with the maglia azzurro if he takes maximum points atop the final climb.

Could the team skip the chance of a stage win because of that? Who knows, they are known to hunt for marginal gain.

There are also other GC teams that could be motivated to ride. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe)looked super good on Blockhaus and still very explosive at the end, as he also did in stage 8 when he created a 2" gap to the other GC contenders in the final 300m, with only Vingegaard left on his wheel.

They also have the monster talent Giulio Pellizzari in their ranks. He overestimated himself on Blockhaus, but it's likely that the Italian has learned from the experience. Will the combination of those two riders be a big enough motivation for the team to control the breakaway? 

Decathlon CMA CGM could also be motivated to ride for Felix Gall. He looked super good on Blockhaus and looked to be closing in on Vingegaard in the final kilometre. This stellar performance could be the exact confidence boost and motivator the Austrian needs to go for the stage win.

With Enric Mas out of the GC, stage hunting is all that's left for the Movistar Team. Their best card for that looks to be Javier Romo for the moment. 

The Spanish rider put in an effort in stage 8 for the breakaway, but when he realised it didn't make sense anymore, it seems like he sat up and saved his legs for this stage. With a rest day coming on Monday, there is no harm in going all in for this stage again. 

For Alessandro Pinarello (NSN), it seems that the exact same can be applied. It hasn't gone his way yet this Giro d'Italia, but he showed amazing legs in the lead-up to the race at O Gran Camiño; those can't be gone.

Florian Stork (Tudor) seems to have peaked perfectly for this race. From the Tour of the Alps to Eschborn-Frankfurt to the Giro, he's showing amazing legs in all races. He is pretty explosive for how well he climbs and also has the engine to put in a nice effort on the flat, making this a prime opportunity for him.

Davide de la Cruz (Pinarello Q36.5) is the type of rider who performs pretty well a lot of the time, but mostly stays under the radar. This Giro, he seems to have found some really good legs; this stage should also suit him. Although the break formation will be a hard task for him.

It's safe to say the Picnic PostNL team has known better times, but this stage could present a nice chance for them with Gijs Leemreize. He only started off his season in the Tour of the Alps due to a collarbone fracture in February on a training ride, but that shouldn't hold him back too much anymore. 

He also showed several times in the past that he has the nose for a good breakaway, which is really important in a stage like this. The climb also seems really nice for him.

Other riders to watch include Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarché), Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step), and Josh Kench (Groupama-FDJ United)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  Ciccone

⭐⭐⭐⭐  Vingegaard, Hindley

⭐⭐⭐  Pellizzari, Gall, Stork

⭐⭐  Romo, Pinarello, De la Cruz, Leemreize

⭐  Eulálio, Vlasov, Van Eetvelt, Garofoli, Kench