Giro d'Italia Stage 9 preview: Major chance for Tom Pidcock on Strade Bianche-style gravel stage
There are even some shared sectors with the famous Classic - won by Tadej Pogacar in dominant fashion this year - in Monteaperti and Pinzuto, and five gravel sectors in total, with the longest two both 9.3km.
Starting in Gubbio and heading through the Tuscan countryside to Siena, this should be both a fascinating stage to watch and also an incredibly hectic one as all the riders - particularly the GC contenders - look to stay safe on the five sterrato sections.
Gravel has no respect for the pink jersey and the risks of punctures, crashes, and mechanicals all feel heightened on the uneven ground, while the dangers of being caught out of position will mean an almighty fight to be at the front.
Like Strade Bianche it's very up and down but the biggest climb is early on at La Cima, a category three 52km in, with another in San Martino in Grania on a sterrato section with 35km or so to go until the finish line in Siena.
Other key moments include today's Red Bull kilometre, at the end of Colle Pinzuto, a 2.5km gravel sector with 14km to go. Six, four and two bonus seconds are on offer there which an enterprising breakaway may well hoover up - or the GC contenders may come into play. The iconic Piazza del Campo plays host to the finish at the end of 181km of racing.
Route map and profile
Start time
Stage nine is scheduled to start at 1pm local time (12pm BST) and should conclude by 5.30pm local time (4.30pm BST).
Prediction
Mathias Vacek has been superb on all terrain in this race so far and had a more relaxed day on stage eight so should have fresher legs, while Dylan van Baarle has a fine Classics palmares and looked lively in the breakaway on Saturday.
Inevitably plenty of riders will fancy this one but we're going to throw our weight behind Tom Pidcock: a former winner of Strade Bianche, he's evidently in good form after a strong Spring Classics campaign and a third place on a tough uphill sprint finish on stage five to Matera, and he's made it clear he's targeting this one. The 25-year-old has never won a senior Giro stage and only has one Grand Tour stage to his name, the famous Alpe d'Huez scalp in 2022, and would no doubt dearly like to add to that.
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