Despite a few hills in the opening week, the rolling 40km stage nine time trial was the first pivotal test in the battle for the maglia rosa in this year's Giro d'Italia. On the second rest day, Cyclingnews takes a look at how the overall contenders fared on the rolling roads through the Chianti vineyards, and how the general classification complexion now appears.
Rider: Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-QuickStep)
GC Position: Leader
TT performance: Spurred on by the pink skinsuit, Brambilla put in a spirited and nail biting defence of his overall lead, hanging onto it by a solitary second from teammate Bob Jungels - and no doubt helped by Ilnur Zakarin's horror show. His fifth place in the Barolo time trial of 2014 was evidence of his pedigree in such tests and, with the exception of strong rouleurs Jungels and Tom Dumoulin, he got the better of each and every GC contender.
Bidon half-full or half-empty? Spilling over. The Italian ticked off his goal of taking a stage win on Saturday and in doing so realised a dream he never expected to come true here by taking the pink jersey. He has also ensured that pink won't be confined to one soggy, miserable sub-hour outing and he could feasibly defend it for a few days yet. Brambilla has put himself on course to better his best-ever Grand Tour GC result of top-15 in the 2012 Giro and 2015 Vuelta but, whatever happens next, his Giro has already been a roaring success.
Rider: Bob Jungels (Etixx-QuickStep)
GC Position: 2nd at 1 second
TT performance: From a host of riders with top ten aspirations Jungels came away from the time trial with the broadest smile. The fact that only Mike Landa, Vincenzo Nibali and Andrey Amador – from the gaggle of GC riders – cracked the top twenty made Jungels' sixth place finish all the more important.
Bidon half-full or half-empty? Jungels has been something of a surprise in this year’s race, holding his own in the hills and bringing an air of relative experience to the white jersey with a number of strong rides. He was there or thereabouts on the stage to Roccaraso and only dropped out of the top ten on one occasion – after losing time at Arezzo on stage 8. Realistically Jungels will falter in the second and third weeks – his lack of true Grand Tour experience and climbing capabilities exposed in the high mountains – but the white jersey could remain an ambition all the way to Turin.
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Rider: Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNL-Jumbo)
GC Position: 4th at 51 seconds
TT performance: During Kruijswijk’s time trial performance television commentators repeatedly informed viewers that the discipline was not the Dutch rider’s forte but that was a massive disservice given his 5th place in last year’s long time trial to Valdobbiadene. Given that he put close to three minutes into Mikel Landa in last year’s equivalent, Kruijswijk may wonder if this year’s ride was a step forward or not, but finishing in the middle of the GC contenders keeps him in the frame.
Bidon half-full or half-empty? Kruijswijk grew in stature as the Giro unfolded last year and he is many peoples’ dark horse for a podium this time around. He leads Nibali, Valverde and Landa – although the margins are slim – but after nine stages the LottoNL rider is well-positioned on GC. The only nagging feeling might be that he failed to extract enough time from some of the pure climbers on Sunday.
Rider: Vincenzo Nibali (Astana)
GC Position: 5th at 53 seconds
TT performance: Solid, if unspectacular. Nibali took a risk-free approach but was rewarded with the best time of the bona fide GC contenders. While some rivals like Rigoberto Uran and Esteban Chaves were put at arm’s length, Mikel Landa and Alejandro Valverde were not distanced to the extent he might have hoped.
Bidon half-full or half-empty?
Despite an ill-advised attack on stage 6, and the ensuing polemica stoked by the fervent Italian media, Nibali has ridden a solid race so far and has put himself in a strong position. Had he not lost a handful of seconds on that stage, he’d be fourth overall, behind the slightly rogue top-three but ahead of the big names. While Nibali should be confident of getting the better of Valverde over the course of the high mountain stages, it’s Landa, whose startling time trial performance leaves him just 25 seconds in arrears, who perhaps now represents the major headache.
Rider: Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
GC Position: 6th at 55 seconds
TT performance: As Valverde himself said, "I did the time trial in pretty much the same time as rivals like Nibali and Landa, and I've managed to put some distance between myself and some very important contenders, like Urán, Zakarin, and Chaves." The Spaniard can be well pleased with his day’s work.
Bidon half-full or half-empty? Having shown considerable aggression on stage eight’s dirt track climb and having come through the all-important time trial in a very strong position - right up there with the two big pre-race favourites – things are looking very bright for Valverde. His position is only strengthened by teammate Andrey Amador’s current occupation of second place overall, which sees his tactical horizons broadened going into the second half of the race.
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