Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 9 LIVE - Can Primoz Roglic prevent Remco Evenepoel from returning to pink in the 35km time trial?

A combination of his own stellar ride and a slightly disappointing one from Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) sees Geraint Thomas bounce up into second spot overall. Primoz Roglic remains in third, while Tao Geoghegan Hart is into the top five for the first time. Andreas Leknessund remains in the top ten, on the same time as Almeida in 5th.

REMCO: IT WAS NOT MY BEST TIME TRIAL

“I think I didn’t pace it very well. I started way too fast and my second part was actually a really bad part. After the technical section in Cesena I found some better legs, because I could recover a bit but… I think my first part was very good and it was the pacing plan that we tried to get, but in the second part, with the headwind I wasn’t feeling too well. Not the best result but another stage win, which is very nice."

"I think it was not my best time trial that I ever did. I think we should just be happy that we took the stage win again and we have the pink jersey. It was a very tight one today.”

TOP THREE

Just two seconds separate the first three:

1. Remco Evenepoel 41'24
2. Geraint Thomas +0.01
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart +0.02

By less than a second from Geraint Thomas. It really couldn't have been closer. Just a few minutes ago it looked like he was out of it but he found something at the end. We see Geraint Thomas looking most disappointed and mouthing something that was probably much more polite than the cynical might imagine.

Still slower than the leader but it's improved from pretty bad to not so bad. He comes across the line in 41"41, 16 seconds behind Geraint Thomas.

After the third split. Did he go out too hard? Has he deliberately eased off since the first time check, or is he suffering? He's still almost certain to still go into pink, but the picture is looking a little different than it did fifteen minutes ago.

Wow! 41"25 for Thomas. His team-mate won't even have had time to get to the hot seat. Geraint Thomas has announced himself at the end of the first week.

Kung looks on, but it's curtains for the Swiss roller. Budged out the way by just two seconds. Tao lost a few seconds relative to Stefan Kung in the final sector, but not enough to keep him in the hot seat. What can Geraint Thomas do? He was three thousandths quicker than his team-mate at sector three.

Fastest by 11 seconds at the third split. Rob Hatch says he's looking better than ever, and I'd have to agree. There can be no doubt that he's going to be a contender, and with Geraint Thomas also on form, these two could really put Remco under pressure - even if Primoz can't.

That really isn't too bad. It puts him 20th on the stage so far.

After 13km. Well, that answers our question of how he's doing after those crashes the other day.

The Slovenian is fast approaching the first time check and he's going... okay, but a ways behind where he'd want to be. He's in 8th at this point, twenty seconds slower than Thomas - he really doesn't appear to be at the races. Unless he's saving himself, this could be a disaster.

Three seconds faster than his team-mate. I think it's going to be heartbreak again for Stefan Kung.

One second quicker than Stefan Kung. We just saw him have three bites at a corner, show how close to the limit he is.

He looks relaxed. He's enjoyed his time in the maglia rosa, and will be proud to have what is surely one last day wearing it. No pressure, Andreas, just enjoy it.

Belgium expects their national champion to deliver the pink jersey going into the first rest day. That seems more than likely, but what really matters is how he'll fare against the riders behind him.

He'll want to deliver a better performance than he delivered eight days ago, but the Olympic TT can have taken plenty of confidence from yesterday. Is he riding into form? I think we'll find out in forty minutes.

He's gone about his business nice and quiety this week, really flown under the radar. Third in the opening stage TT last Saturday, he's getting better and better at this discipline and he's still only 24.

Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) gets his ride underway, three minutes after his team-mate, Tao Geoghegan Hart. (We're now at three minute intervals between starts.) A time of 41 minutes or less is the minimum we need to see from the Welshman today, for him to maintain the pressure on the top spots. He should be hoping to move up at least a place or two and though he's never won a Giro stage - mainly due to bad luck and riding the Tour instead - he did take the 2017 Tour de France opener in Dusseldorf.

And just as we say he has surely thrown his hat into the ring for the stage win, his team-mate Stefan Kung comes through four seconds faster. "Deserve" has no place in sport, but Kung really ought to have a Grand Tour stage on his palmares. Let's see how his 41.28 holds up as the top ten riders get going.