DISCUSSION - Giro d'Italia stage 9 - Did a door slam in Pellizzari’s face? Diesel engines? Will Vingegaard reach Pogačar’s six stage wins?

Jonas Vingegaard added another statement victory to his Giro d’Italia campaign on Sunday, producing a clinical late acceleration on the slopes of Corno alle Scale to claim his second stage win of the race. The Danish rider from Team Visma | Lease a Bike waited patiently on the wheel of Felix Gall before delivering a decisive attack inside the final kilometre, leaving the Austrian unable to respond.

Behind the leading duo, Davide Piganzoli secured third place after a strong late effort, narrowly ahead of Thymen Arensman. One of the biggest surprises of the day came further down the mountain, where Giulio Pellizzari cracked much earlier than expected and surrendered significant time in the general classification battle. Meanwhile, Afonso Eulálio once again impressed in the Maglia Rosa, limiting his losses and successfully defending the race lead before the second rest day.

The 184 kilometres stage to Corno alle Scale had been expected to create meaningful gaps among the contenders. Although the final ascent averaged a manageable 5.8 percent over eleven kilometres, the constant uphill terrain throughout the second half of the day gradually wore down the peloton. The earlier climb of Querciola already softened the legs before the decisive finale began.

An aggressive start saw several riders trying to force their way into the breakaway. The first meaningful move featured Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana), Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) e Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech), but the peloton refused to fully back off.

Multiple attacks continued behind them and for a moment it looked as though a larger chasing group would bridge across. Planckaert dropped back in anticipation of that scenario, only for the counterattack to collapse shortly afterwards.

Eventually, a more organised move succeeded in joining the leaders. Einer Rubio (Movistar), Tim Naberman (Picnic PostNL Raisin), Jonas Geens (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Mattia Bais (Polti VisitMalta), Martin Marcelussi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) and Sakarias Koller Loland (Uno-X Mobility all made it across, creating an eleven-rider escape that finally settled the race.

The advantage never became particularly dangerous, however. Bahrain - Victorious controlled much of the tempo in defence of Eulálio’s pink jersey, while Decathlon CMA CGM Team also contributed heavily, a clear indication that Felix Gall had targeted the stage.

The race exploded again with 73 kilometres remaining when Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) launched an attack from the peloton. Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team) and Toon Aerts (Lotto - Intermarché) immediately joined the move and the trio eventually bridged across to the leaders, giving the front group renewed momentum heading towards the mountains.

As the race approached the final climbs, the breakaway began to disintegrate. Ciccone, Ulissi, Rubio, Milesi and Aerts proved strongest on the Querciola, before Ciccone accelerated again on the lower slopes of Corno alle Scale. Einer Rubio managed to stay close for several kilometres, but the Italian eventually rode clear on his own as the favourites’ group began to accelerate behind.

Inside the final four kilometres, Giulio Pellizzari unexpectedly lost contact. The Italian from Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe had entered the Giro d’Italia as one of the main threats to Jonas Vingegaard, but he struggled badly once the pace increased under the pressure applied by Decathlon.

Felix Gall then launched his attack with around 2.5 kilometres remaining. Only Vingegaard could immediately follow the move, while the rest of the general classification contenders were forced into damage limitation mode. Thymen Arensman briefly managed to keep the duo within sight, but the pace proved relentless.

For several minutes, Jonas Vingegaard sat calmly in Gall’s slipstream, refusing to contribute. The waiting game ended shortly after the flamme rouge. The Dane exploded out of Gall’s wheel with a sharp acceleration that immediately created daylight. Felix Gall fought to contain the damage but never managed to close the gap again.

Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line alone to secure another prestigious mountain victory in this Giro d’Italia. Gall finished twelve seconds later, while Davide Piganzoli outsprinted Arensman for third place behind them.

Further back, Afonso Eulálio produced another composed ride under pressure. The Portuguese rider conceded 41 seconds to Vingegaard but retained a comfortable overall lead heading into Monday’s rest day. It means the Bahrain - Victorious rider will carry the Maglia Rosa into Tuesday’s individual time trial, continuing what has already become one of the defining stories of this Giro d’Italia.

An 'unipuerto' day, but one where the gaps were perhaps just as important as in Blockhaus. The gradients in the key part of Corno alle Scale were higher, and the stage was much easier until then, ultimately it was a climb where the explosivity still mattered, and this led to different results.

Decathlon's work was not questionable in my opinion. Only on stage 15 will the team have a sprint to work for Tobias Lund Andresen, so it's fully logic to use their rouleurs to give Gall a chance at victory, bonifications, and as it turned out, help put his rivals under more pressure ahead of a massive attack. They have done a basic tactic which several teams simply do not: Use their riders for a specific purpose on the day.

They don't have the team to put Visma under pressure, but on a day like this there are no tactics, simply a leadout until the 3Km to go mark. Poor Giulio Ciccone will be angry, for the second day in a row he has been pursued as if he committed a crime. He has every reason not to have enjoyed the outcome, to be fair, specially as he did do everything right and had the legs to win, although I'm confident he still will, it's only a matter of time.

On those 3 kilometers the TV broadcast missed a lot. A lot happened. First of all Felix Gall is just an old-school rider whom I love watching, specially when he is racing for victory. He loves attacking at the base of climbs and just drill it all the way to the finish, neglecting the 'conservative' or 'pacing' approach. At the UAE Tour he already did the same, that is how he races when he has the legs.

And the differences were huge. He did not win over Jonas Vingegaard, who got a full back seat ride today with his Team Visma | Lease a Bike teammates, and finished the job on the summit finish. But Gall gained almost a minute on Jai Hindley, and over 1 minute to Ben O'Connor and Giulio Pellizzari. Massive gaps for a 3-kilometer long attack. He is in the form of his life and I do expect Decathlon to continue their aggressive tactics as Gall is a terrible enemy to have in the high mountains.

Pellizzari had a bad day. On one hand, the stage was overall easy, so the losses were not huge, he actually only lost 16 seconds to Ben O'Connor, which is not bad at all taking into consideration how early he was dropped. On the other, it shows his fragility and an unexpected lack of consistency. I expect him to get stronger as the race progresses, but today is a rock in his shoe, and it will cast doubts in his and Red Bull's head.

Davide Piganzoli finishing third is tremendous, Visma do have a diamond in the rough, and on this terrain the Italian is climbing at such a strong level...

And Afonso Eulálio! He paced himself today, and with more favourable terrain, he actually rode to fifth at the finish and gained time on most of his rivals. It is such a shame the TV director did not show his comeback, and his final kilometer must've been insane.

The pink jersey does something to the 'smaller' riders who wear it, and we're witnessing those superpowers in real time. The way he moved up and down the peloton all throughout the final hour of racing is also the sign of someone who knew he had the legs, and is becoming used to the high-pressure position he is in. It will be thrilling to see how far he can go and how high he can finish in the GC.

When Visma race for the general classification, we get sequences like the one we saw today: handing over responsibility to secondary teams, neutralising attacks, refusing to take turns, and then finishing the job in the final 500 metres.

Today, all of those ingredients were present. The Dutch squad initially handed the burden of the day to Bahrain. A team that still has the race leader, at least until Visma decide otherwise. Then it was Decathlon’s turn. They rode with greater strength, pulling for Felix Gall, one of the very few riders willing to try something different. The Austrian is always proactive, never holds back, and races on the front foot. Something that almost seems to give Vingegaard and his men an allergic reaction.

If two days ago I was praising the Dane, today I have to criticise him. On the almost pure summit finish to Corno alle Scale, Jonas held back, measured every effort, and refused to collaborate in a move that clearly benefited him.

Calculating, defensive, and cold-blooded. That’s how he “steals” a stage win from Felix Gall, a rider who deserves far more.

From a Spanish perspective, Movistar Team continue to sink. Yet another failure from the Telefónica-backed squad in the high mountains. This time they even had numbers in a hugely prestigious breakaway, yet still failed to finish the job. The Navarre-based team are damp powder, diesel riders without flair or bite, much like their supposed leader, Enric Mas.

Another day in which the battle for the breakaway was absolutely relentless. Attack after attack, counterattack after counterattack, exactly the kind of racing I love to watch.

Out of the eleven moves launched from the peloton, there was only one I genuinely didn’t understand, when a rider from Lidl–Trek was trying to bridge across to the three men up the road… only to be chased down by Jonathan Milan himself. I honestly think Milan simply didn’t realise it was his own teammate dangling ahead, but it was still a rather comical moment in the middle of all the chaos.

The break that eventually formed was strong, but the moment Giulio Ciccone, Toon Aerts and Diego Ulissi bridged across and joined the front of the race, cooperation completely disappeared. Suddenly there was hesitation and plenty of disagreements about who should work.

When we reached the decisive phase of the stage, Ciccone made his move and dragged Einer Rubio with him, before eventually dropping him a few kilometres later. Behind them, Decathlon had done a superb job on the front of the peloton throughout the entire day, and when the moment came to position Felix Gall for his move, they delivered perfectly.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike were equally impressive. They kept Jonas Vingegaard protected until Gall launched his attack, allowing the Dane to respond immediately and follow the Austrian wheel for wheel, before unleashing his own acceleration in the final few hundred metres to seal and celebrate his second stage victory of this Giro.

Afonso Eulálio defended himself brilliantly once again and keeps hold of the Maglia Rosa for another day. As for Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe… nobody saw them. Jai Hindley and Giulio Pellizzari disappeared the moment the gradients steepened and the pace increased. Fatigue, lack of legs?

There are two things I’m already certain about, and one question I still don’t have the answer to. The certainties are these: Felix Gall will be the best of the rest, and Afonso Eulálio, despite this being only his second season at WorldTour level, will finish inside the final top five overall.

The question I’ll have to wait to answer is… will Vingegaard be capable of matching, or even surpassing, the six stage victories that Tadej Pogacar took during the 2024 Giro?

Felix Gall did not win the stage. He did something more useful for the Giro: he exposed the room.

Decathlon CMA CGM Team rode all day like they had a secret plan, and the secret was not very secret. Keep the break close. Drag everyone to Corno alle Scale. Launch Gall. It worked, almost too well. Gall attacked, Jonas Vingegaard followed, and 800 meters from the line the Dane did what the Dane does: he turned someone else’s courage into his own victory. But the real noise came behind them.

When Gall went, the GC group stopped being a group and became a confession booth. Thymen Arensman and Davide Piganzoli held well at 34 seconds. Afonso Eulálio, still in pink, was even better: fifth on the stage, stubborn, sharp, and far more than a man just defending the Maglia Rosa.

Behind them came the small leaks. Derek Gee, Romain Bardet and Sepp Kuss at 46 seconds. Jai Hindley and Michael Storer at 50. Not disaster, no. But this is how a Giro starts whispering bad news into your ear.

And then there was Giulio Pellizzari. One minute and 28 seconds gone. That was not a whisper. That was a door slamming in his face. Illness?

Gall did not crack the Giro open completely. Vingegaard still delivered the final sentence. But Gall asked the question that mattered: who can actually follow when the race gets brutally honest?

Some answered. Some hesitated. Pellizzari blinked.That is why Gall’s second place mattered. He lost the stage, but he made the Giro show its teeth.