Van Aert wins stage 9 in Siena as Del Toro takes pink and Bernal falls just short

The white roads of Tuscany provided a brutal and dramatic backdrop to stage 9 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, where Wout van Aert claimed a long-awaited victory in Siena, Isaac Del Toro took the maglia rosa, and Egan Bernal missed a golden opportunity to vault up the general classification after being caught late.

The 181 km stage from Gubbio to Siena was billed as the “mini Strade Bianche” and lived up to its hype. The race featured five sectors of gravel totalling 30 km, and action exploded early on the first stretch at Pieve a Salti. Lidl-Trek set a hard tempo, splintering the peloton and bringing back the early breakaway.

Wout van Aert was one of the first to make a move, attacking with around 50 km to go. He was quickly joined by Isaac Del Toro, Bernal, Thymen Arensman, and Brandon Rivera. A few kilometres later, Mathias Vacek bridged across, briefly forming a six-man group that included three Ineos riders. The presence of Bernal and his teammates gave Ineos a numerical advantage and added tactical weight to the move.

On the Monteaperti climb, Van Aert responded to a sharp attack from Del Toro. Bernal initially clung on but couldn’t hold the pace much longer. With 20 km remaining, the front group began to fragment under the strain, and only Van Aert and Del Toro remained in the lead. Behind them, Bernal dropped back into no-man’s-land, riding solo before being reeled in by the GC group 6 km from the finish.

With Juan Ayuso delayed by a crash and Primož Roglič struggling after hitting the deck and puncturing, Del Toro had a golden opportunity. He pressed on with Van Aert, but the Belgian refused to pull, protecting Simon Yates in the group behind. That left Del Toro with much of the work, as he chased the stage win and time gains.

Photo Credit: LaPresse

On the steep, cobbled final climb into Siena, Del Toro launched one last acceleration on the Via Santa Caterina, but Van Aert stayed calm and used his experience from previous Strade Bianche editions. He hit the final bend first and powered through the corners to take an emotional victory on the iconic Piazza del Campo.

Behind, Giulio Ciccone took third at 58 seconds, followed by a whittled-down GC group led by Richard Carapaz. Bernal crossed the line ninth, having given his all but ultimately losing out in the closing stretch.

Del Toro’s efforts were rewarded with the maglia rosa, making him the first Mexican to lead the Giro and the youngest rider to wear pink this century at 21 years and 173 days. Ayuso now sits second overall at 1:13, with Antonio Tiberi in third. Roglič dropped to 10th on GC after finishing 2:22 down.

It was a day of mixed emotions – a redemptive triumph for Van Aert, a historic moment for Del Toro, and a missed chance for Bernal after a brave ride that just didn’t quite go the distance.

Photo Credit: LaPresse

Post-stage reactions

Van Aert was visibly emotional after taking his first Giro stage win on the same roads where his road career first made headlines. “It’s easy to say this victory means a lot to me. I almost can’t explain it. It had to be here I believe. This place is where my road career started in 2018. To win this stage after a long period without delivering… it feels so good.”

“Siena is a special place to me, and I’m an emotional person. Places like this motivate me, they inspire me, and I just feel like it was meant to be.”

Del Toro, who finished second on the day but moved into the race lead, described the surreal nature of his new status. “It’s unbelievable, it’s so difficult to describe my feelings. It was a childhood dream to lead a Grand Tour. It’s insane.” He acknowledged that UAE’s GC leadership was still not his to claim. “I have more confidence in team and in Adam and Juan. They’ve shown before that they’re able to do a great job in three-week races. I’m in a good situation but I don’t think I’m the leader now.”

Reflecting on the complex team situation and late tactics, Del Toro said: “I told them in the break I couldn’t push because my leader was behind, but over the radio they told me to wait and stay up there. My other teammates tried to help Juan Ayuso to come back.”

Bernal, meanwhile, admitted the stage plan had been fairly straightforward. “I think the plan was to not have much science, just go into the first sector in front and then go full gas. Today was a day where the position counted a lot, and you had to try to survive the sectors.” After riding aggressively for much of the stage, he conceded he simply ran out of power. “We saved ourselves, but it’s a shame though, because in the end I was missing something to keep from dropping, but I had been in front for a long time.”

Ineos directeur sportif Zak Dempster took heart from the bold approach, despite Bernal just missing out. “It was looking really good until it wasn’t, but I think we can still be really proud of the effort. They took the race on, and obviously you’ve got to be ahead of the bad luck as best you can.”

On Del Toro’s status as leader and how the final climb played out, Dempster added: “The reality is if you have a guy like Del Toro in your wheel, then he’s going to drop you at some point on that terrain. From what I’ve seen so far, he’s the best at UAE, so I’d expect him to be their main guy.”

Roglič, who finished 2:22 down after a crash and puncture, took the day in stride. “It was just hard with the pace in the front and in the back, obviously. I didn’t feel the best of the best then, but we’ll take it. I finished it, and now we’ll have to see what we do next.” His DS Patxi Vila echoed the view that the time loss, though disappointing, could have been worse. “Today was not the best day, but it could have been much worse. I still think winning the Giro is possible.”

Photo Credit: LaPresse

2025 Giro d’Italia Stage 9 result

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Main photo credit: LaPresse