By just a few meters, a sigh in cycling, Olav Kooij stole the victory in the ninth stage of the Giro d’Italia from the Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narváez, who escaped alone with 7 km left in Naples. The victory was finally decided by the sprint, which was launched by the omnipresent Pogacar, in favor of his teammate Molano, and ended with the Dutchman chasing the first victory for Visma after beating Jonathan Milan by half a wheel.
“We put on a good show, we tried. We showed that we were fine, we will try again. With 500 meters to go I had a bit of an advantage, they caught me with 30-15 meters to go. It was painful, but beautiful at the same time. “That’s cycling,” explained Narváez (INEOS) about his frustrating end of the stage.
The first part along the Tyrrhenian coast was comfortable. A peaceful trap until Monte di Procida, where a demanding final stretch of steep slopes began, ideal for attacks. Alaphilippe and ultimately Narváez tried it twice. There was no prize for the brave, everyone swallowed up by the peloton in one day, there were no changes in the general classification
“My first stage win in a Grand Tour was what I was looking for at the end of a difficult and unfortunate week for our team. We weren’t sure we would be able to catch up with the breakaway riders, but the team committed. The boys put me in an ideal position,” said an exultant Kooij after crossing the finish line.
