"Roglic would have been out of the classification today" - Dutch pundit puzzled by UAE's tactics in Siena

Stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia proved to be a day where UAE Team Emirates - XRG absolutely nuked the overall classification and gained a big heap of time on Primoz Roglic. Nevertheless, despite having four riders ahead the Slovenian, Thijs Zonneveld argues that this may not be as smooth as it looks as several riders in the team continue to pursue their own individual ambitionss.

"Even McNulty still finishes twelfth in the stage result. He had already fallen and then did not ride at the front to bring Roglic behind or to catch Bernal. He rode with a lot of reserve, otherwise you don't finish twelfth. Same story for Adam Yates, otherwise he wouldn't be tenth either," Zonneveld said in De Waaier podcast.

"Long before the Giro. UAE is by far the richest team in the world at the moment. They have the best rider at the moment in Tadej Pogacar. He has a lot of goals this year: he rides all the classics, two Grand Tours, and also wants to win the World Championship. The big races are all for one man all year round and that makes sense".

Ayuso did show great legs during the spring, which allowed the Spaniard to begin the Giro as the leader and with a more clear hierarchy. However, what has been seen in the past is being seen once again, where the sheer lack of top riders - and with great form at that - is seeing UAE at the top of the standings and with four riders in the Top9, ahead of 10th place Primoz Roglic. So far, none have sacrificed their chances for the others, and Isaac del Toro's stupendous first week puts him in a position where there is a real possibility of fighting for the Giro's win.

"Then the guys who always insist on working for Pogacar suddenly start jostling, because they think: this is my chance. It goes so far that during contract negotiations it's mentioned that Ayuso has to ride a Grand Tour per year without Pogacar, so in which he's the leader. And he's not as good as he (Pogacar, ed.) is. Today he was also quite vulnerable, because he was simply passed on the last climb. He simply loses seconds there to guys like Carapaz and Tiberi," Zonneveld argues - although Ayuso did crash and reportedly required two stitches in a knee.

McNulty is unlikely to remain high in the GC whilst Adam Yates has shown to be willing to work for his teammate, however the Del Toro situation now comes to pose another question. On paper, UAE is in a luxurious position, however it will not be easy to manage the situation internally.

"Yates, who started as co-leader, feels that too. Del Toro feels that too in that stage that Ayuso won, because he could have won that too. It's just all kinds of riders who feel that there are opportunities and that there is not just one leader who is undisputed," he continues.

"You can see that now in the classification and you can also see that in guys like McNulty and even Vine, who said this week that they can't ride with seven GC riders within the team. They want to try to give all those guys a chance and also to give them the feeling that they can all pursue their own goals". Zonneveld also shows the example of Igor Arrieta who was given the freedom to fight for the stage win on stage 8.

He argues that if McNulty and Yates had fully gone all-in for Ayuso this Sunday "then Roglic would have been out of the classification today. Or at least he would not have lost two minutes to Del Toro and only one minute to Ayuso. One minute, mind you. He fell and got a flat tire, and then had to put everything right with just one man, Pellizarri. They were really nowhere today".