Giro d’Italia leader Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step) put everything into his time trial performance on stage nine to retain the maglia rosa by just one second.
Last man off, Italian Brambilla had the benefit of knowing exactly how his rivals had fared, and put in a precisely measured ride to retain the overall race lead.
Primož Roglič (LottoNL-Jumbo) took the stage victory having set one of the day’s earlier fast times. The result should not perhaps have been a surprise as Roglič placed a close second behind Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) in the opening time trial. Today, Dumoulin looked as though the previous week’s efforts were weighing heavy, and he finished 15th and nearly two minutes slower than Roglič.
Read more about Stage 9 at Cycling Weekly.