It feels like a lifetime ago that the Giro d’Italia was getting underway in Jerusalem. By now, nine stages have been raced and the riders are on the Italian mainland, making their way north.
We’ve already had three mountain-top finishes and the GC is starting to take shape. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) has looked the strongest of the climbers and currently leads the race by 32 seconds … ahead of his teammate Esteban Chaves. Defending champion Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) is in third, a further six seconds back.
As we await the start of stage 10 — the first after the second rest day — let’s take a look back at the first nine days of action, courtesy of some terrific photos from Ashley & Jered Gruber, RCS Sport and Cor Vos.
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- Adam Hansen warms up for the first stage of his 20th-straight Grand Tour. Staggering.
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- Aussie TT champion Rohan Dennis was down the start ramp in Jerusalem early. He set the best time and stayed in the hot seat until the very last rider.
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- Defending champion Tom Dumoulin was last out of the starthouse, wearing the rainbow bands of world ITT champion.
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- Dumoulin was the only rider able to beat Dennis’ time, winning the stage …
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- … and earning himself the maglia rosa as a result.
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- Dumoulin and Dennis chat at the start of stage 2.
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- Impressive crowds turned out to watch the Israeli stages.
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- Sadly, the abundance of highway riding made for rather dull stages.
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- Chris Hamilton and Jacques Janse van Rensburg went down in a tumble.
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- Elia Viviani dashed down the barriers in Tel Aviv …
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- … to win stage 2 comfortably …
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- … ahead of Jakub Mareczko and Sam Bennett.
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- Rohan Dennis moved into pink after picking up bonus seconds at an intermediate sprint. Israeli model Bar Rafaeli was on hand to present the maglia rosa.
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- Guy Sagiv is one of two Israeli riders in the race and received plenty of support in the opening stages.
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- Stage 3 took the riders south into the desert.
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- The route include a descent into the impressive Makhtesh Ramon.
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- BMC control the race for Dennis.
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- Another stage win for Viviani.
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- Impressive crowds welcomed the riders in Sicily for stage 4.
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- Tim Wellens won on the uphill finish to stage 4 …
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- … narrowly beating Michael Woods.
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- Another day in pink for Dennis.
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- Sergio Henao signs on for stage 5.
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- Fabio Aru with Ernesto Colnago.
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- After finishing third on stage 4, Enrico Battaglin went two spots better on stage 5.
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- The Italian now has three Giro stage wins to his name.
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- BMC again controlled proceedings on stage 6 …
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- … as the race headed towards its first summit finish on the Mt. Etna volcano.
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- Chris Froome and Fabio Aru haven’t been at their best so far in this race.
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- Dennis went on to lose more than a minute and the maglia rosa.
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- Dumoulin finished the stage in eighth.
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- Chaves was somehow let into the breakaway and attacked from there to take the stage win.
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- He had teammate Simon Yates right behind, after Yates attacked from the favourites group.
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- 1-2 on the stage for Mitchelton-Scott, and the maglia rosa for Yates.
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- Stage 7 saw the race head to the Italian mainland for a coastal jaunt that was destined to end in a sprint.
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- After a run of podium finishes at the Giro, Sam Bennett finally got his first Grand Tour stage win …
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- … beating Viviani and Niccolo Bonifazio in the process.
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- Bennett had every right to be happy.
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- Sam Bewly wipes the lipstick off Chaves’ face. Chaves leads the KOM classification.
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- Crowds flock to see the riders on stage 8.
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- Up into the hills again …
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- … with ridiculous views of Italy’s south-west coast.
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- Jack Haig has done a mountain of work already in this year’s Giro, riding for Yates and Chaves.
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- The final climb featured a bunch of switchbacks that were made wet by the driving rain.
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- Koen Bouwman attacked late from the breakaway …
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- … but he was caught and passed by Richard Carapaz, the leader of the best young rider classification.
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- Carapaz won the stage, becoming the first Ecuadorian to win at a Grand Tour.
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- The GC contenders fought hard to limit their losses in terrible conditions.
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- Stage 9 featured another mountain-top finish, this time with driving rain swapped for road-side snow.
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- The spirit of Marco Pantani is alive and well. ‘Il Pirata’ won on this climb back in 1999.
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- Giulio Ciccone made a late bid for victory, but was soon reeled in.
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- Aru lost another minute — his chances of a Giro win are over.
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- Simon Yates attacked in the closing kilometre from a group of five (Domenico Pozzovivo is out of shot) …
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- … and took the stage win, extending his overall lead.
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- Like Aru, Froome dropped more time on stage 9 and now sits 2:27 behind.
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- Viviani enjoys the view from a cable car on the way down the mountain.
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- Simon Yates leads the Giro with 12 stages remaining. Will he still be in pink when the race finishes in Rome?