Bernal attacked in the final half of the gravel from the climb to the finish line, defeating Italian Giulio Ciccone (Trek Segafredo) and Russian Alexander Vlasov (Astana Premiere Tek) by 7 seconds.

Ten seconds behind Belgian Colombian Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Irish Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation). In the overall standings, Bernal, the 2019 Tour de France winner, is 15 seconds ahead of Evinbol and Vlasov by 20 seconds.

The Sunday before the start, Tomás Markczynski withdrew from the Lotto Sodal team from the race. The cause was complications after infection with the COVID-19 virus.

The Belgian group reported that “Thomas was suffering from neurological symptoms: headache, dizziness, insomnia and problems with coordination. The team’s doctor Martin Merheigy decided to withdraw him for safety reasons and for additional checks.”

The stage rested on a 6-kilometer passage to Campo Felice, the place where John Paul II was resting. The last 1,600 meters was a section of gravel. Here Bernal accelerates. In the past, he practiced mountain biking and used his skills to perfection, easily passing the last two participants of the break up – Frenchman Geoffrey Bouchard and Dutch Queen Bowman.

The Colombian scored his 18th career victory, but only his first major tour. In 2019, when he won the Tour de France, he didn’t win a single ring. Last year, he failed this race which he retired from after Stage 16.

“It took a lot of sacrifices to get to this place. I wasn’t sure what to do, but my team mates gave me confidence in myself. + You can do it + – They repeat that.” Colombian animator in an interview with Eurosport.

The former leader, Attila Walther of Hungary (FDJ-Groupama), who started his professional career in the Polish CCC group, lost 49 seconds to the winner of Campo Felice and fell to fifth place in the overall classification.

On Monday, there is a Foligno express race stage, and a break is scheduled for Tuesday.

Wyniki 9. etapu, Castel di Sangro - Campo Felice (158 km):

  1. Egan Bernal (Kolumbia/Ineos Grenadiers)            - 4:08.23
  2. Giulio Ciccone (Włochy/Trek-Segafredo)             strata  7 s
  3. Aleksander Własow (Rosja/Astana-Premier Tech)    ten sam czas
  4. Remco Evenepoel (Belgia/Deceuninck-Quick Step)            10
  5. Daniel Martin (Irlandia/Israel Start-Up Nation)  ten sam czas
  6. Damiano Caruso (Włochy/Bahrain Victorious)                12
  7. Romain Bardet (Francja/DSM)
  8. Marc Soler (Hiszpania/Movistar)
  9. Daniel Felipe Martinez (Kolumbia/Ineos Grenadiers)
 10. Joao Almeida (Portugalia/Deceuninck-Quick Step)  ten sam czas
...
135. Maciej Bodnar (Polska/Bora-Hansgrohe)                  22.52
147. Łukasz Wiśniowski (Polska/Qhubeka Assos)               25.23
   . Tomasz Marczyński (Polska/Lotto Soudal)       nie wystartował

Klasyfikacja generalna:

  1. Egan Bernal (Kolumbia/Ineos Grenadiers)           - 35:19.22
  2. Remco Evenepoel (Belgia/Deceuninck-Quick Step)            15 s
  3. Aleksander Własow (Rosja/Astana-Premier Tech)             21
  4. Giulio Ciccone (Włochy/Trek-Segafredo)                    36
  5. Attila Valter (Węgry/Groupama-FDJ)                        43
  6. Hugh Carthy (Wielka Brytania/EF Education-Nippo)          44
  7. Damiano Caruso (Włochy/Bahrain Victorious)                45
  8. Daniel Martin (Irlandia/Israel Start-Up Nation)           51
  9. Simon Yates (Wielka Brytania/BikeExchange)                55
 10. Davide Formolo (Włochy/UAE Team Emirates)               1.01
...
157. Maciej Bodnar (Polska/Bora-Hansgrohe)                1:36.05
161. Łukasz Wiśniowski (Polska/Qhubeka Assos)             1:38.29