Giro d’Italia 2023

Stage 9 – Savignano sul Rubicone > Cesena (Technogym Village) Tudor ITT (35.0km)

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Stage 8 Result

1st Ben Healy (10/1)

2nd Derek Gee (250/1)

3rd Filippo Zana (33/1)

4th Warren Barguil (33/1)

Stage 8 Bets

Ben Healy 2pts each way (3 places) @10/1 – 1st

Patrick Konrad 1pt each way (4 places) @25/1

Natnael Tesfatsion 1pt each way (4 places) @66/1

What a monster ride from Healy – attacking from the breakaway 50km out was something Evenepoel or Pogačar would’ve been proud of. He was unstoppable and should pick up more stage wins if he continues in that form.  

With Skujiņš up the road, Tesfatsion was on marking duty and did a good job. A few more hills at the start would’ve been handy for Konrad but no doubt we’ll go back in with him later in the race.

Stage 9 Preview

With no big transfer after the first weekend, this will be the ninth consecutive day of racing for the riders and severe fatigue well be starting to set in. The challenge before a much-needed rest day is a pan-flat 35km individual time trial into Cesena in Italy’s northern region of Emilia-Romagna.

It’s a profile that clearly favours the TT specialists though the weather could be a wildcard with rain forecast all day. If you’re not in the frame for stage honours or in general classification reckoning, then getting round safely will be the order of the day.

Stage 9 Contenders

This is an important stage in the whole race and was a hot discussion point before it started – how much time can Remco Evenepoel put into his rivals before they hit the mountains where others might find a chink in his armour? He’ll be looking for a minute plus after his dominant display on stage 1.

After the unfortunate loss of Filippo Ganna to Covid, Evenepoel is a very strong favourite at around 2/5 to win stage 9. What could prevent that result? Well, he wasn’t able to follow Primož Roglič on the final ascent of I Cappuccini so he could be hurting more than he’s letting on after his tumbles on stage 5 and there’s the potential for bad weather as mentioned above. So there could be a surprise, but probably best to look outside the win market for bet selections.

Roglič was a little disappointing in the stage 1 time trial but still finished a solid sixth, albeit 43secs behind Evenepoel. However, Jumbo-Visma had a very disrupted preparation with several Covid withdrawals and then the loss of Jan Tratnik on the eve of the race which wasn’t ideal. The Dutch team are usually very strong in the time trials and Roglič’s form and confidence appear to be on the upturn. Expect a better showing on stage 9 from the Slovenian as well as the other purists in the team, Rohan Dennis and Edoardo Affini.

Behind Evenepoel and Ganna, the fastest two riders at the second time check on stage 1 were both from UAE Team Emirates – Joäo Almeida and Brandon McNulty. With this time trial being entirely flat, this interval is perhaps more telling than the overall result as it’s before the uphill run to the line.

Almeida has had a very satisfactory first week – he’s avoided most of the incidents and hasn’t lost unnecessary time. He was distanced briefly on I Cappuccini though those steep gradients are not ideal for him. Otherwise, he looks strong and should put in a good showing here.

McNulty didn’t get up the road on stage 8 as expected so should be relatively fresh for this. With the rest day on Monday, there’s no reason for him to hold back and may even push the limits where the GC men won’t if the conditions are bad. McNulty could be a top 3 threat and is 5/1 to do so.

UAE also have Jay Vine who gave us a run for our money at huge odds on stage 1. Remember that was his first day of racing for about three months so he should be more tuned up now and stated he was targeting these TTs. However, bike handling isn’t his forte so the wet conditions are not to his advantage.  

Second favourite for the stage is Groupama-FDJ’s Stefan Küng and if Evenepoel does underperform then this is a big chance for the Swiss TT specialist to get a first Grand Tour win. He’s had a quieter first week than his rivals and could get the luck of the draw with a much earlier start time. Or not.  

The Ineos Grenadiers’ pair of Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart are looking very strong. Unusually for Thomas, he’s avoided disaster so far and his form is really building – a top 3 here is not out of the question. Geoghegan Hart impressed on I Cappuccini, closing the gap after Roglič got the jump and produced a very good opening day time trial. However, he was actually 11th on the flat before skipping uphill the fastest to take the first maglia azzurra, so a top ten here would be decent for the Brit.

It’s almost a no bet stage, but let’s have a couple of speculative top 3 punts on the UAE boys.

Stage 9 Bets

Brandon McNulty 1pt Top 3 @5/1

Jay Vine 0.5pts Top 3 @12/1

Posted 22.35 BST 13th May 2023

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