Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Vingegaard is a two-time Tour de France champion
- Published30 minutes ago
Jonas Vingegaard took his second stage win of the Giro d'Italia as he powered to victory on stage nine to reduce the gap on the leader Afonso Eulalio.
The Dane followed a move by Austria's Felix Gall with about 2.3km to go of the 184km route and sat on his rival's wheel.
Team Visma's Vingegaard, making his Giro d'Italia debut, then darted away from Decathlon rider Gall with about 900m left and went on to win by 12 seconds as he added to his stage seven victory.
Eulalio came in 41 seconds behind Vingegaard but kept his leader's pink jersey going into a rest day on Monday and a 42km individual time trial on Tuesday.
The Portuguese cyclist has a two minute 24 second advantage over second-placed Vingegaard in the general classification, with third-placed Gall two minutes and 59 seconds off the lead.
"We didn't want to pull for the stage today and we realised quite quickly that Decathlon wanted to go for the stage," said pre-race favourite Vingegaard.
"It's always nice with a win, something I'm super happy with. My team-mates did a super good job.
"Once the win was within sight, we decided on the last climb to maybe try to go for it.
"Felix did a very strong attack when he attacked and luckily I was able to follow. In the end, I tried myself and was able to take the win."
He added: "I'm in a good situation at the moment for GC and, so far, everything is looking good for us. We are happy where we are."
Giro d'Italia stage 9 results
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) 4hrs 20mins 21secs
2. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon) +12secs
3. David Piganzoli (Ita/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +34secs
4. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos) same time
5. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious) +41secs
6. Derek Gee-West (Can/Lidl - Trek) +46secs
7. Mathys Rondel (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) same time
8. Sepp Kuss (US/Team Visma - Lease a Bike) same time
9. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull – BORA) +50secs
10. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) same time
Giro d'Italia general classification results after stage 9
1. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious) 38hrs 49mins 44secs
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +2min 24secs
3. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon) +2min 59secs
4. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 32secs
5. Christian Scaroni (Ita/XDS Astana) +4min 43secs
6. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos) +5mins 0secs
7. Mathys Rondel (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +5min 01secs
8. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Team Jayco AlUla) +5min 03secs
9. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull – BORA) +5min 15secs
10. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +5min 20secs
