Giro d'Italia 2021 Giro d'Italia, Stage 9: Castel di Sangro - Campo Felice (Rocca di Cambio) 158 km (Sunday May 16)

[Blanco]

Bernal showed some great form in this early stages, but it is very far from over. High mountains are not even started yet, and his back makes huge question mark. Montalcino stage will also be tricky, many could lose time there. But if he continues like this, it will be very hard to beat him, only one man can do that, and no, it is not Evenepoel. I don't think Remco can win this race.

 

[limak_]

So far there has been more explosive climbs and racing.

That doesnt really suit Remco compared to most of the others.

And he has still finished the times he has been distanced very good, so it is not like he has been empty or gone too deep.

I wouldnt count the kid out just yet, is my point.

Bernal has been on fire but he needs more time and to increase his lead further, not just to Remco.

Riding agressive could make him fade though in the end and if his back will be good for the entire race is also a concern.

Far from over this, but right now he is looking the best.

Without boniseconds, Bernal leads by 1 second.

In the longer mountaintop finish that we had until today Remco was able to follow Bernal so I don't think that Bernal will have that big advantage in the longer mountains unless Evenepoel suffers with the gradients or altitude.

For me, all of that talking about what suits Remco better or what's not and all that discussion in his thread about "to what max % gradient his awesome aerodynamic position plays a role" is definitely overrated.

If you have good legs, you don't need any excuses and you're able to show it off on every terrain. No matter the length of the uphill or the gradient or if it's gravel, rain, snow or whatever (look Alaf '19 Tour). And for me it's Bernal who showed best climbing legs so far and he's the obvious favourite for the upcoming "real" mountains. The climbs we had so far weren't long and steep enough for him to be able to put minutes on others. So saying Bernal leads only by 1s is nonrelevant (also if we consider 20s Remco gained in TT as we talk strictly about climbing now). I'm also not stating that Colombian is head above Remco but for me, from what we've already seen, it looks like if Egan keeps his shape, he'll be able to make a sufficient advantage in the mountains to win this Giro.

Also I'm intentionally not including all that "Remo recovering after crash" component, because we all know he's exceeded all of the expectations in this particular aspect but this topic has been already discussed enough on the forum.

And of course it's 3 week GT, anything could happen (and Remco being that much of not-so-ordinary rider doesn't help in making any reasonable analysis) and I won't be surprised if all my predictions turns out to be just ***

 

[Breezy1985]

Ciccone looks like the best of the rest at the moment. With Nibali, Mollema and Brambilla in support, he's arguably got the best high mountains team except maybe DQS?

I'm sure Ineos will somehow manage to turn some classics lad or TT rider into the world's greatest mountain Dom before the race is over

 

[CyclistAbi]

Congratulations to Egan Arley Bernal Gómez for winning stage 9 and taking maglia rosa.

Bernals confidence level is rather high and still building up, stage after stage. Ineos has a strong team and as such will likely have a bit less issues, defending the maglia rosa. In addition Bernal knows, he needs to find 60s+, before TT. It makes sense for him to go after bonification seconds, whenever possible. High mountains it is then, realistic chance for Bernal to win this Giro.

Evenepoel. We just don't know. It looks like Bernal has the edge, high mountains, but Evenepoel has motivated Almeida at his side and likely can lose up to 60s, before TT. In addition Evenepoel doesn't have the burden of maglia rosa on his shoulders. There is still long way to the finish and we just don't know on how Evenepoel will respond and cope through the whole GT.

#FreeMohorič, nasty crash today but get well and come back stronger!

P.S. Breakaway, if only GC guys would let them win more often.

 

[Eclipse]

Great to see Bernal continuing to attack and claiming a well earned lead already.

Big from Ciccone, we'll have to see how the real challenges go but this could be his serious breakout GT.

Lots of boring racing going on behind tbh, but there's enough aggressive riders lurking within touching distance to keep this potentially lively through to Zonc.

 

[johnymax]

Bernal looked amazing. One thing, though...I know, when we think of Bernal, we see a pure climber who excels the most in the high mountains. But I think in 2020 and 2021 he has looked better on the hilly stages, on the short and punchy stuff, than he has on the longer ascents. It might be because of his back problems. It's also true, that we don't have exactly a big enough of a sample size. This season for example, the only two "big mountains" he's done are Mont Ventoux in Provence and Prati di Tivo in T-A. On Mont Ventoux he looked OK, but he gapped Alaphilippe only by 3s (team tactical games, but it didn't look to me like he could fly away), but on Prati di Tivo he struggled a lot despite showing good form in other stages and in Strade Bianche.

Maybe I'm looking too much into details here. Just wanted to say, it's far from over. Heck, even Vlasov, Ciccone and the others are still very much in the game. As the past has showed us many times, we shouldn't talk about the race being over after the first week.

 

[Gregor_Slovenia]

Bernalissiomo effort that was. He would be second or two faster if not taking some to switch on big ring when attacking. That performance would be tough nut to crack even for Pogi and Rogla.

 

[Breezy1985]

I'm actually looking even more forward to Sega di Ala than Zoncolan. We know who has won there before and he rides for a team with "Sega" in its name, so it obviously can't go wrong for him this time either

Sonic the Hedgehog ?

 

[johnymax]

Bernal showed some great form in this early stages, but it is very far from over. High mountains are not even started yet, and his back makes huge question mark. Montalcino stage will also be tricky, many could lose time there. But if he continues like this, it will be very hard to beat him, only one man can do that, and no, it is not Evenepoel. I don't think Remco can win this race.

It has to be Bardet or Dan Martin

 

[CyclistAbi]

Bernal, back to back.

P.S. As for high mountains, i agree that today's stage didn't reveal all the cards just yet. ATM i just assume Bernal might have an edge over there, but said that Evenepoel could just as well still surprise.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

Apparently a light/near collision in the tunnel with an Ineos rider who almost hit Bernal's wheel, cost Evenepoel some places going into the gravel section.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1393977944750559234

View: https://twitter.com/deceuninck_qst/status/1393977944750559234

 

[CyclistAbi]

Yeah, all in all things are still open as they ever where. Evenepoel will likely do a bit better TT, Bernal currently has a bit more punch, high mountains are still uncharted territory and it could still go either way, over there.

 

[houtdffan]

That would explain it, but he needs to start getting his team on the front, so things like this do not happen.

He was flying at the end of the stage. However, he started too far back to be able to catch Bernal

 

[Rollthedice]

Mohoric on twitter:

I'm okay. My @MeridaBikes and @RudyProject1985 took the most of the impact and I was super lucky. No broken bones, minor concussion and no headache at the moment. I am monitored by our medical staff.

 

[broppo]

Guerreiro is not looking very good atm, I doubt he will win a stage this giro

 

[tobydawq]

Guerreiro is not looking very good atm, I doubt he will win a stage this giro

I think he has been too active trying to get into breaks which has left him gassed for the finales (definitely today).

 

[hayneplane]

Quality stuff from Bernal and a well deserved first true Grand Tour stage win.

The biggest good sign for Evenepoel is that even when distanced the maximum time gap has never been the gap at the finish line showing that he has not at any stage cracked or gone too deep and shipped time. The mini recoveries suggest that he may well in the longer climbs be able to climb Froome Vuelta Yo-Yo style of getting gapped by explosive attacks but winching his way up into contention again with a steady tempo ride.

 

[titan31]

That would explain it, but he needs to start getting his team on the front, so things like this do not happen.

He was flying at the end of the stage. However, he started too far back to be able to catch Bernal

Worrying that his team continually disappear. I know we've had Almeida there towards the end, but Masnada disappeared today and there's been nothing across the whole Giro so far from Knox, Honore or Cavagna. Hopefully they're all saving themselves so far as definitely expected more from them.

 

[hayneplane]

Worrying that his team continually disappear. I know we've had Almeida there towards the end, but Masnada disappeared today and there's been nothing across the whole Giro so far from Knox, Honore or Cavagna. Hopefully they're all saving themselves so far as definitely expected more from them.

Cavagna ought to be of use on Wednesday on the flatter sections of sterrato as big powerhouse.

Another domestique who has gone unseen all race is Nieve for Yates and Bike Exchange as it has been Nick Schultz up near the front consistently though the true terrain for Nieve will be Zoncolan and Sega Di Ala.

 

[Sciatic]

Bernal, back to back.

P.S. As for high mountains, i agree that today's stage didn't reveal all the cards just yet. ATM i just assume Bernal might have an edge over there, but said that Evenepoel could just as well still surprise.

Agreed, in fact we haven’t had anything like what week 3 will bring. I tend to discount sizable GC gaps on Zoncolan, but the Cortina stage is a massive climbing effort, like we rarely get anymore (still needed more Km though). I know the conventional storyline here...that the sequence of the climbs is going to reduce the chances of long-range attacks and big time gaps. But I’m pretty sure there will be a couple of long-range collapses among the top ten, with major time losses, particularly if the weather is bad. And it could always be one of the top dogs who has a bad day there. Though in this case I’m not hoping for bad weather because I want to visually soak up all that scenery as well!

 

[Sciatic]

Why nobody's talking about Vlasov? The dude has been very consistent in the climbs and performed very well in the first TT. Plus we know he can go for the three weeks thanks to his good performance at the Vuelta.

I think he’ll be on the podium for sure.

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

So Bernal didn't even know he was riding for victory. That means he didn't know he was getting boni seconds either. I suggest he gives those boni seconds back, because obviously he wouldn't have attacked that fiercely had he known he would also be getting those boni's. It's only fair.

 

[CyclistAbi]

No gifts.

 

[Anderis]

I think he has been too active trying to get into breaks which has left him gassed for the finales (definitely today).

It also doesn't help that he stays with Carthy as long as possible on those stages he doesn't manage to get into a breakaway so he is at a disavdantage compared to guys who don't do much work for their team-mates. Last Giro EF didn't have a proper leader.

 

[movingtarget]

Ineos looking good as they have all season in stage races. Moscon looking very good. Well taken win by Bernal and a nice ride by Ciccone. Evenepoel rode a smart race and Vlasov is looking good. Hindley dropped more time, maybe he will try for a stage win later if his legs improve. Horrible fall by Mohoric.