Giro d'Italia video highlights stages 1-9

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The first nine stages of the 2016 Giro d'Italia have offered up plenty for discussion and set the scene for the remaining two weeks of racing with Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step) holding the maglia rosa with the majority of pre-race general classification favourites still in contention.

Three riders have now worn the leader's pink jersey with seven individual stage winners. German sprinters Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel are the only multiple stages winners at this point in the race while Tim Wellens, Gianluca Brambilla and Primož Roglič have all enjoyed debut grand tour stage wins.

With today a rest day, it's a prime opportunity to re-live the opening stanza of the Giro with video highlights from all nine stages. 

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Stage 1: Apeldoorn (ITT), 9.8km

For the second time in the Giro's history, the Italian grand tour started in the Netherlands where local favourite Tom Dumoulin lived up to expectation by winning the stage 1 time trial by less than one second ahead of LottoNL-Jumbo's Primoz Roglic.

To read the Stage 1 race report, click here

Stage 2: Arnhem - Nijmegen, 190 km

Stage 3: Nijmegen - Arnhem, 190 km

Stage 4: Catanzaro - Praia a Mare, 200 km

Stage 5: Praia a Mare - Benevento, 233 km

Stage 6: Ponte - Roccaraso, 157 km

Stage 7: Sulmona - Foligno 211 km

Stage 8: Foligno - Arezzo,186 km

Stage 9: Chianti (ITT), 40.5 km

Having come within one second of winning the opening time trial in Apeldoorn, Primoz Roglic conquered the Chianti time trial for his first grand tour stage win as the GC was well and truly reshuffled. Of the top-two in Apeldoorn, Dumoulin was expected to the main challenger in the vineyard but it was the former ski jumper who covered the course in the quickest time for LottoNL-Jumbo's first win of the 2016 Giro.

 

Of the GC contenders, Vincenzo Nibali was the best of the bunch but it was a day to forget for Rafa Majka, Esteban Chaves, Rigoberto Uran and Ilnur Zakarin who also crashed twice in the rain. Mikel Landa, Alejando Valverde and Steven Kruijswijk kept their overall aspirations alive with good rides but it was Brambilla who put in of the best of the lot as he held onto pink by a slender one second margin over teammate and current maglia bianca Bob Jungels.

You can read more at Cyclingnews.com

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