“Difficult to accept”, railed Bardet, narrowly beaten on the line by the one who was still his teammate last year before Hindley joined the German team Bora.

The Frenchman, one of the strong men of the final climb, regretted a mistake on the last corner which cost him the stage success that six riders fought for at 1665 meters above sea level.

In this long and trying climb (13.6 km at 8.4%), three of the contenders for the final victory showed a slight superiority, without managing to take a definitive advantage.

Carapaz, the first to draw 4,600 meters from the summit, saw Bardet and the Spaniard Mikel Landa return immediately.

But the trio, which is not heard, ended up being joined by another trio of pursuers led almost exclusively by the Portuguese Joao Almeida in front of Hindley and the Italian veteran Domenico Pozzovivo (39 years old).

Romain Bardet (left) in the breakaway alongside Richard Carapaz during the 9th stage of the Tour of Italy, in the ascent of the Blockhaus, May 15, 2022 Luca Bettini AFP

"It's a shame," lamented Bardet about the misunderstanding that reigned in the leading group.

“I had the impression that everyone was a little inside”.

Five runners in 20 seconds

This near equality of level caused a tightening of values ​​in the classification behind Lopez who was left behind at the Blockhaus after a minor collision 8 kilometers from the summit.

Before the rest day in Pescara, on the Adriatic coast, Almeida, second 12 seconds behind the pink jersey, is 2 seconds ahead of Bardet and 3 seconds over Carapaz, the number one favorite of the event.

But Hindley, second in the Giro 2020, is only 8 seconds behind the Portuguese.

On the other hand, declared candidates for the podium have lost all chance.

Five days after his fall at the start of the Etna stage, the Briton Simon Yates was left behind on the first slopes of the Blockhouse, a few moments after the "regional" Giulio Ciccone.

On arrival, the disbursement of the Briton, third in the Giro 2021, exceeded 11 minutes.

Australian Jai Hindley (Bora) winner of the 9th stage of the Tour of Italy at Blockhaus, May 15, 2022 Luca Bettini AFP

Another notable loser, Dutchman Wilco Kelderman, delayed by a puncture as he approached the final climb, also lost almost 11 minutes.

And lost all hope, barring an extraordinary reversal of the situation, of doing as well as in 2020 (third).

By comparison, the delay of the Briton Hugh Carthy, less than 4 minutes, remains limited.

As for the French Guillaume Martin, he limited the loss to just over a minute to remain placed in the general classification (6th at 28 sec) the day after his masterful accounting operation (gain of three minutes) on the side of Naples.

Hindley had not won since the mountain stage of the Giro 2020 arriving at Laghi di Cancano, in the very north of the peninsula.

"I've had a lot of setbacks since then," said the 26-year-old Australian.

Without projecting too much on the rest, he who lost the Giro 2020 only on the last day, in favor of the Briton Tao Geoghegan Hart: "We are still only at the end of the first week."

© 2022 AFP