OFFICIAL *VERY LONG* Stage 9 Results: Charlotte Kool ABANDONS! Team AMALIA Win!
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Giro d’Italia Women Gamers!
STAGE Grade: A
I rate today’s stage an A. I still don’t agree that a big climb near the start and then nothing else is a good route — but it worked out today and it sure was pretty, there in Cuneo. The general classification was turned upside down, it was one big tactical race, and the outcome was a complete surprise to me, and to everyone.
Route: 3/5 GC: 5/5 Tactics: 5/5 Sprint: 2/5 Surprises: 5/5
Question: how long can a human hold their breath? Answer: at least an hour and forty-five minutes. That’s how long I held my breath today, watching stage 9 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia. I’m going to make all of you hold your breath for a long time as well: this is an extremely long race report. Has to be, so much happened in this race.
During the critical climb to Montoso, not much happened. I don’t know for sure because none of that was on TV. If Demi Vollering tried to crack Anna van der Breggen, she didn’t succeed: seven riders rode into the valley together, including Vollering and van der Breggen.
What followed was difficult to see, patched together from “moments ago” replays when the live coverage finally began. From that group, Antonia Niedermaier attacked. Van der Breggen and Vollering looked at each other. Vollering did nothing. That was the correct decision. Van der Breggen did nothing.
Van der Breggen must not have read my rant a year ago about Isaac del Toro. Del Toro looked at Richard Carapaz when Simon Yates attacked. And did nothing. Yates won the 2025 Giro d’Italia.
This was the same situation. Niedermaier was just 80 seconds behind van der Breggen in the general classification. That made it van der Breggen’s only job to chase after Niedermaier. But she didn’t. She waited until Vollering tried. She shouldn’t have tried, but Vollering panics easily and van der Breggen stays calm easily.
The next thing we saw on TV is Niedermaier, Longo Borghini, and Fisher-Black in a break, Femke de Vries in a chasse patate, and Vollering with van der Breggen and the already-struggling Isabella Holmgren sitting up. What happened? Did Vollering realize her mistake? Did van der Breggen not realize her mistake? We’ll never know. Insufficient TV coverage remains a factor in women’s cycling.
On the next climb, Vollering attacked again. This was an interesting move. On the one hand, it was van der Breggen’s job to chase the leaders. But Vollering still wanted to win the 2026 Giro d’Italia Women. To do that, she had to make van der Breggen suffer as much as possible. In cycling, after all, you kick your opponents until they’re dead. And then you kick them some more.
This is when the TV coverage did finally start. What we got to see was: Niedermaier a minute and 52 seconds ahead of van der Breggen. She only needed a minute and 20 seconds. Van der Breggen was losing the Giro. Not to Vollering as could be expected, but to Niedermaier, as nobody expected.
We saw something else that was critical, but that I can’t explain. Vollering and van der Breggen were joined by Lauren Dickson. She wasn’t in the group Reusser on the climb, we could see that. Where did she come from? I have no idea, but it mattered. Vollering was now the only rider who could both win the Giro and had a teammate. Cycling is a team sport.
It was Dickson who was chasing Niedermaier and the others. It’s van der Breggen’s job to do that, but Vollering was actually making a smart decision here. She wanted van der Breggen to suffer as much as possible, but she also realized that if she could break van der Breggen, she needed to have Niedermaier in sight. Otherwise she would just beat van de Breggen but still lose to Niedermaier.
Van der Breggen’s position had become nearly impossible. She could no longer win the Giro. If she didn’t chase Niedermaier, then Niedermaier would win. If she did chase, then Vollering could break her on the climb and Vollering would win.
An unexpected game of ten-dimensional chess in the valley between the climbs. Keep in mind also that there were bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint and at the finish line. Eleven-dimensional chess, maybe. Twelve-dimensional chess! I forgot to mention that Valentina Cavallar was in a group behind Vollering and van der Breggen, and she is van der Breggen’s teammate. Cycling is a team sport. FDJ want to isolate van der Breggen at all cost.
Niedermaier’s only chance was to ride as hard as possible at the front. The three there had every reason to work together, everyone would win if they got to the finish line together.
For Vollering, her only chance was to keep the lead group in sight, and then try to break van der Breggen on the final climb, Colletta di Brondello. I looked at the profile: the final two kilometers went up and above 10%, even 14%. That’s where Vollering had to use her explosive power. From here to there, the trick was to annoy van der Breggen as much as possible. A little attack from Dickson, unintentional and confusing — it still got under van der Breggen’s skin a little.
Meanwhile, Niedermaier was
disappearing into the distance again. I thought: she has won the 2026 Giro d’Italia
Women. I still wanted to see if Vollering could break van der Breggen, for
second place perhaps. Another possibility was that the three ahead would stop
working together, letting van der Breggen back in. There didn’t seem much
chance for Vollering to do the improbable.
The leaders kept working together. The chasers were paced hard by Dickson,
making van der Breggen suffer as much as possible. And making sure the group Cavallar
wasn’t going to reconnect. Vollering still wanted to win the Giro, she didn’t
want to given van der Breggen any advantage.
This all looked like chaotic tactics and I’m sure lots of analysts have their own opinions. But as I was watching, I kept thinking: “Vollering keeps doing the only thing to keep her small chance of winning the Giro. She has to break van der Breggen, and hope to regain time on Niedermaier.”
In my opinion, Vollering had to attack at 1.5 kilometers from the top. Of course, I had no real idea where on the climb that was. I saw the leaders go by and counted 90 seconds. Then, I thought, Vollering had to go. That’s exactly how it happened, through the hairpin turn. Vollering attacked, van der Breggen countered. I explained yesterday: Vollering has to attack, sit up, attack, sit up, until van der Breggen breaks. One attempt wasn’t going to do it. So she tried again at the next hairpin and, sure enough, van der Breggen cracked. A second at first, then twelve, twenty. Cracked, she was gone, she had lost the Giro on the final day. Lose it to Niedermaier, or lose it to Vollering, she had lost.
Vollering then rode the time trial of her life. Full risk on the descent, and once in the valley she could see the leaders. Twenty seconds, ten. Caught. Job done. Behind her, van der Breggen looked defeated. A minute back, it might as well be an hour. She said she was trying and I believe, but her body was giving up.
The next plot twist: what would the leaders do now that Vollering had joined them? The rider’s manual says that only Vollering has to work. Longo Borghini, Fisher-Black, Niedermaier: they have no horse in the Vollering/van der Breggen race. They don’t benefit if Vollering wins, they don’t benefit if van der Breggen wins. That’s what the manual says.
In this case, though, is it true? Niedermaier will lose if Vollering loses to van der Breggen. If van der Breggen can catch Vollering, she won’t let Niedermaier escape again. Fisher-Black and Longo Borghini are thinking about stage wins at this point. Is it really better to ride to the finish with van der Breggen? For the stage win, right now they only have to worry about each other. Vollering surely won’t try to win the stage, and Niedermaier probably won’t. I can think of no reason not to work with Vollering.
And there’s one more reason to work with Vollering. Cyclists have unbelievably long memories. A slight in a race five years ago is remembered in a race today. “You didn’t help me then, I won’t help you now.” Happens all the time. When in doubt, make yourself more popular with a rider like Vollering. That’s what I would do.
I’m in the minority. Most analysts decried after the race that “blunder tactics in the front cost van der Breggen the Giro.” But none of those analysts explained why racing for second place isn’t worth it. “Nobody remembers who finished second.” True, but nobody remembers who finished third either — third would be Niedermaier’s reward for following the book.
Same for the other two. Following the book would not improve their chances to win the stage. So why do it?
They didn’t do it. They threw out the book, they rode to the finish. As expected, Vollering wasn’t interested in the stage win. Niedermaier thought about it, but didn’t really pursue it. Fisher-Black had a plan, attacked well, but of course Longo Borghini had the better sprint. She won the stage, as we all knew she would from about thirty kilometers ago.
There’s one more thing to cover in today’s stage: Niedermaier did not sprint for the bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. That probably was a mistake. I don’t know why she didn’t. Niedermaier is 23, Vollering is the padrona. I believe she was too intimidated to sprint for those seconds. And: see above. Stealing seconds from Vollering now will be remembered in the 2028 Tour de France Femmes, or something. I think it was a mistake and it could have cost her. But it didn’t — okay, then, all is forgiven.
Only twice before has a rider won the mountains competition in each of the three grand tours: between 1954 and 1957 Federico Bahamontes — el Águila de Toledo, the Eagle of Toledo; between 1985 and 1989 Luis Herrera — el Jardinerito de Fusagasugá, the Little Gardener from Fusagasugá. And now between 2022 and 2026 Demi Vollering. The way she dominates cycling makes her one of the greatest cyclists of all time. No nickname. We don’t do nicknames anymore. Even Tadej Pogačar is just Pogi. And Demi is Demi. You could think that is its own nickname, but it isn’t. In the Netherlands it’s not uncommon to give someone one set of names (“Adriana Geertruida”) and call her something else (“Demi”). That’s not a nickname, it’s her actual name. Demi from Pijnacker.
But okay! Mountain jerseys from each grand tour, leader’s jerseys from each tour. Her dominance is complete. Demi Vollering, Tadej Pogačar. We live in extra special times, cycling-wise.
And I’ll leave this final observation here, just for those of you who are still reading. Let me know in the comments what you think of this: Sporza’s Ruben van Gucht was losing his mind over the leaders’ decision to help Vollering win the Giro. “You can’t even say this is ‘women’s logic’ because in the team cars there are plenty of men who should know better.” As they say in Belgium: voilà. Women’s cycling — not even men can save the riders.
Chantal Pegolo abandoned today. I was a little disappointed. It’s easy for me to say, I don’t have to ride that category 1 climb. But surely, it matters to finish a grand tour? Especially if you’ve managed a third place in one of the stages?
But what do I know. As for Eva van Agt, I’m sure she rode for FDJ United – SUEZ on the approach to the first climb. But we didn’t get to see it. She finished 46th today, in the biggest grupetto of the day.
Watch the final kilometers HERE.
Watch the TNT Sports highlights HERE.
Read the TNT Sports report HERE.
Charlotte Kool’s abandoning before the stage made absolutely no difference, of course. Everyone had her, but today she would not earn any more points anyway.
The stage itself was won by Team Amalia again. Most points from the stage, most points overall, nine riders in the Top-25. Not enough to get first place, though. Team Charles kept that lead, thanks to most points from classifications. Team Ansel meanwhile had conceded. Third today, third in the standings.
The turnaround was in the bonus points for the Final Standings. It’s not unusual for the game to be decided by those points. And even though Team Charles had most points from classifications, the daily points only count the top ten in the general classification. If you have riders just outside the top ten, then those double points can make the difference.
That happened today. Lauren Dickson scored 30 points (eleventh in the standings); Monica Trinca Colonel 22 (15th), Mireia Benito 20 (16th). Those were Team Amalia’s riders. From Team Charles, Elisa Balsamo scored 10 points for winning the Maglia Rossa. Mavia García 12 points for finishing twentieth overall.
Team Amalia’s 30+22+20 points is more than Team Charles’ 10+12 points. Team Amalia jumps into first place, beating Team Charles by just 20 points — a smaller margin even than our previous game. Congratulations, Team Amalia.
Ironically, Team Amalia did not change their normal strategy. They brought the same mix of sprinters and classification riders to the race. Team Charles and Team Ansel bet everything on the sprinters, but came up short.
Congratulations also to Team Charlotte for winning the overall game. It has been fun running this game, and it has been much more exciting than the men’s Giro. From the unspeakably controversial decision to disqualify Lorena Wiebes, shortening stage 8, and then today’s miraculous outcome, every race day had something. I enjoyed it tremendously and I want to thank all of you for playing.
Next up: the Tour de France on the Fourth of July (just 26 sleeps), and the Tour de France Femmes on August 1 (54 sleeps). Let’s all play — I’ll see you then!
Standings after stage 9:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Charles* |
1782 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Amalia* |
1752 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Ansel* |
1693 |
3 |
0 |
Standings after bonus points from Final Classifications:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Amalia* |
2193 |
2 |
1 |
|
2 |
Team Charles* |
2173 |
1 |
-1 |
|
3 |
Team Ansel* |
2027 |
3 |
0 |
Standings after stage 9 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Charlotte |
2006 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Kent |
1877 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Charles* |
1782 |
3 |
0 |
|
4 |
Team Amalia* |
1752 |
4 |
0 |
|
5 |
Team Ansel* |
1693 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Laurens |
1670 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Kate |
1614 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Corsa |
1579 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Ellie |
1546 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Kari |
1439 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Julie |
1397 |
11 |
0 |
Standings after bonus points from Final Classifications (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Charlotte |
2482 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Kent |
2314 |
2 |
0 |
|
3 |
Team Amalia* |
2193 |
4 |
1 |
|
4 |
Team Charles* |
2173 |
3 |
-1 |
|
5 |
Team Ansel* |
2027 |
5 |
0 |
|
6 |
Team Laurens |
2016 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Kate |
1982 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Corsa |
1971 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Ellie |
1877 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Kari |
1740 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Julie |
1698 |
11 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 9:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
PINK JERSEY |
PURPLE JERSEY |
BLUE JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
178 |
43 |
7 |
12 |
0 |
62 |
240 |
1512 |
1752 |
|
Team Ansel* |
130 |
34 |
12 |
8 |
1 |
55 |
185 |
1508 |
1693 |
|
Team Charles* |
157 |
43 |
12 |
12 |
1 |
68 |
225 |
1557 |
1782 |
Complete breakdown of bonus points from Final Classifications:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
PINK JERSEY |
PURPLE JERSEY |
BLUE JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
408 |
0 |
11 |
22 |
0 |
33 |
441 |
1752 |
2193 |
|
Team Ansel* |
298 |
0 |
21 |
15 |
0 |
36 |
334 |
1693 |
2027 |
|
Team Charles* |
348 |
0 |
21 |
22 |
0 |
43 |
391 |
1782 |
2173 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 9 (including adults):
|
Team Amalia* |
178 |
43 |
7 |
12 |
0 |
62 |
240 |
1512 |
1752 |
|
Team Ansel* |
130 |
34 |
12 |
8 |
1 |
55 |
185 |
1508 |
1693 |
|
Team Charles* |
157 |
43 |
12 |
12 |
1 |
68 |
225 |
1557 |
1782 |
|
Team Charlotte |
196 |
52 |
10 |
14 |
6 |
82 |
278 |
1728 |
2006 |
|
Team Corsa |
158 |
43 |
10 |
12 |
0 |
65 |
223 |
1356 |
1579 |
|
Team Ellie |
140 |
38 |
10 |
10 |
6 |
64 |
204 |
1342 |
1546 |
|
Team Julie |
113 |
34 |
7 |
12 |
1 |
54 |
167 |
1230 |
1397 |
|
Team Kari |
126 |
31 |
10 |
8 |
0 |
49 |
175 |
1264 |
1439 |
|
Team Kate |
151 |
40 |
10 |
12 |
0 |
62 |
213 |
1401 |
1614 |
|
Team Kent |
169 |
43 |
12 |
12 |
1 |
68 |
237 |
1640 |
1877 |
|
Team Laurens |
132 |
34 |
12 |
8 |
1 |
55 |
187 |
1483 |
1670 |
Complete breakdown of bonus points from Final Classifications:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
PINK JERSEY |
PURPLE JERSEY |
BLUE JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
408 |
0 |
11 |
22 |
0 |
33 |
441 |
1752 |
2193 |
|
Team Ansel* |
298 |
0 |
21 |
15 |
0 |
36 |
334 |
1693 |
2027 |
|
Team Charles* |
348 |
0 |
21 |
22 |
0 |
43 |
391 |
1782 |
2173 |
|
Team Charlotte |
426 |
0 |
18 |
25 |
7 |
50 |
476 |
2006 |
2482 |
|
Team Corsa |
352 |
0 |
18 |
22 |
0 |
40 |
392 |
1579 |
1971 |
|
Team Ellie |
288 |
0 |
18 |
18 |
7 |
43 |
331 |
1546 |
1877 |
|
Team Julie |
268 |
0 |
11 |
22 |
0 |
33 |
301 |
1397 |
1698 |
|
Team Kari |
268 |
0 |
18 |
15 |
0 |
33 |
301 |
1439 |
1740 |
|
Team Kate |
328 |
0 |
18 |
22 |
0 |
40 |
368 |
1614 |
1982 |
|
Team Kent |
394 |
0 |
21 |
22 |
0 |
43 |
437 |
1877 |
2314 |
|
Team Laurens |
310 |
0 |
21 |
15 |
0 |
36 |
346 |
1670 |
2016 |
-Laurens.