Egan Bernal takes lead at Giro d'Italia with explosive attack on gravel road

• Bernal back to his best with Giro d'Italia stage win

• Colombian also takes his first leader's pink jersey

• Mohoric crashes out in dramatic circumstances

Egan Bernal laid down a huge marker at the Giro d'Italia with a devastating display of power in the finale of Sunday's ninth stage to land the first grand tour stage of his career and take overall lead.

Having started the 158-kilometre rollercoaster of a stage from Castel di Sangro third in the standings, 16 seconds behind Attila Valter of Groupama-FDJ and five adrift of Remco Evenepoel of Deceuninck-Quick Step, Bernal turned the race on its head on a short section of gravel at Campo Felice, which translates to the 'Field of Happiness'.

There had been question marks over Bernal going into the Giro, with the Colombian suffering with a back injury that last year led to him abandoning his Tour de France defence. Despite decent performances, notably at the one-day Strade Bianche where the 24-year-old finished an impressive third, the form of the Ineos Grenadiers team leader had, until Sunday, been widely untested.

Featuring six climbs, two of them uncategorised, it was arguably the toughest test yet the general classification riders had faced. Having been chaperoned towards the final 1,600 metre stretch of gravel road, where team-mate Gianni Moscon put in a huge turn on the front, riding at a fierce pace in an effort to deter any late attacks, Bernal appeared relaxed, fresh even, as those around him battled to hold his wheel. With two riders from the day's breakaway – Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r-Citroën) and Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma) – leading by around 20 seconds, Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) was the first to attack, though once Bernal launched himself the young Russian was left trailing in the wake of the Ineos Grenadiers rider. Only Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo), the Italian climber who has impressed throughout the opening week, was able to hold Bernal's wheel as the pair flew past Bouchard and Bouwman.

In the end, however, Ciccone cracked leaving Bernal to cross the line seven seconds ahead of the Italian, with Vlasov third.

"It's been two difficult years for me, mentally and physically. To win again is important for me and for the team," said Bernal, who had not won a WorldTour race since sealing the Tour in 2019. "I thought there were still riders ahead. I was completely focused. I was in my own world. I became very emotional when I was told I had won.

"The last 1.5km on the gravel road was four minutes of pure suffering, without looking at the other riders. I still have some doubts about my back. I undergo physio treatment before and after each stage. For now, I just want to enjoy this win and the maglia rosa."

02:35 PM

Bernal wins stage 10 at the Giro!

Egan Bernal has blown up the general classification with an explosive display of power in that final gravel section to the stage. The Ineos Grenadiers rider has won the first grand tour stage win of his career, a result that also propels him to top spot in the general classification at the Giro d'Italia. The Colombian will wear his first maglia rosa, the leader's pink jersey, during Monday's stage 10.

Speaking immediately afterwards, the new race leader said: "I cannot believe what just happened, I just won my first stage in a grand tour. I made a lot of sacrifices to get where I am now. I was thinking I would do well today but I was not sure whether I could have won the stage. My team-mates had a lot of confidence in me, they told me I could do it: this victory is for them, they really believe in me."

Giulio Ciccone (​Trek-Segafredo) is second with a very impressive ride that sees him move up to fourth, while the young Russian rider Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) is third on both the stage, and now on general classification too. Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) is fourth 10sec down on Bernal and although he keeps hold of second on general classification, the Belgian now trails the maglia rosa by 15sec – a turnaround of 21sec.

Meanwhile over in France, Connor Swift (Arkéa-Samsic) has become the first British rider to win the one-day Tro-Bro Léon.

While in the world of mountain biking Tom Pidcock, another young Briton, beat his old cyclo-cross rival Mathieu van der Poel by a minute to win the Nove Mesto World Cup in Czech Republic.

02:34 PM

Bernal attacks

Evenepoel is dropped. Bernal is going into pink here, surely?

02:33 PM

600 metres to go

Koen Bouwman and Geoffrey Bouchard lead by just seconds.

02:33 PM

900 metres to go

Gianni Moscon is riding on the front of the peloton, pulling for Ineos Grenadiers. As its stands Remco Evenepoel is the virtual leader.

02:32 PM

1.1km to go

Koen Bouwman has caught Geoffrey Bouchard. And here comes Ineos Grenadiers ... and the maglia rosa is dropped in a dramatic conclusion to the penultimate stage ahead of Tuesday's rest day.

02:31 PM

1.2km to go

Onto the final gravel section and Koen Bouwman looks to be closing in on Geoffrey Bouchard.

02:30 PM

1.5km to go

Koen Bouwman is next through the tunnel. The peloton is looming.

02:29 PM

2km to go

Geoffrey Bouchard emerges from a long tunnel in the lead.

02:28 PM

3km to go

Geoffrey Bouchard appears to be fading as he goes into a tunnel.

02:26 PM

3.5km to go

Geoffrey Bouchard's lead drops to 21sec, Koen Bouwman is second on the road. The peloton is closing in, 1min 11sec behind Bouchard.

02:25 PM

3.8km to go

Koen Bouwman kicks. Off he is in pursuit of stage leader Geoffrey Bouchard.

02:24 PM

4km to go

Attila Valter is labouring at the rear of the peloton as the pace winds up at the other end of the group.

02:23 PM

5km to go

Ineos Grenadiers move back to the front of the peloton. Is this the moment they launch their assault on the maglia rosa?

02:22 PM

6km to go

Geoffrey Bouchard who has never won a race, is bobbing up and down working tirelessly to hold off the chasing quartet. Further back, the peloton is on the charge.

02:18 PM

7km to go

Simon Carr joins forces with Koen Bouwman, Bauke Mollema and Michael Storer, the quartet now trails Geoffrey Bouchard by 23sec. The peloton is closing in though, this is going to be very tight today. Attila Valter, by the way, is some way down the peloton as is winds up this climb that has several tight turns.

02:17 PM

8.5km to go

Simon Carr looks done. Geoffrey Bouchard has gained 20sec on the chasing trio of Koen Bouwman, Bauke Mollema and Michael Storer.

02:14 PM

9.3km to go

Geoffrey Bouchard attacks Simon Carr. But has he gone too early?

02:14 PM

10km to go

Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Michael Storer (DSM) trail stage leaders Geoffrey Bouchard and Simon Carr by 12sec, the peloton is another two minutes down.

02:12 PM

11.5km to go

Movistar, Jumbo-Visma, Astana-Premier Tech and Alpecin-Fenix all move to the front of the peloton, whose deficit on the leading pair of Simon Carr and Geoffrey Bouchard is holding at 2min 15sec.

02:09 PM

13km to go

Pello Bilbao is the next Bahrain Victorious rider to take a turn on the front.

02:09 PM

14km to go

Remco Evenepoel moves to the front, the Belgian squad upping the pace in the wind. Interesting.

02:08 PM

16km to go

It is still raining and pretty windy. There is, apparently, a strong headwind at the finishing line which will make it very hard for any solo moves on that final stretch of packed gravel road that will welcome the riders shortly.

02:05 PM

18km to go

It appears that my earlier calculation that Geoffrey Bouchard had to win today's stage in order to take top spot in the mountains classification was some way off the mark. The Ag2r-Citroën rider is the virtual leader in that competition having just added to his tally atop the Ovindoli climb: finish ahead of Gino Mader today and he will take he maglia azzurra off the Swiss.

02:02 PM

21km to go

Simon Carr and Geoffrey Bouchard still lead the chasers by 18sec, the peloton another 2min 20sec down the road. The pace has increased in the main bunch with a number of riders struggling with the pace being set by Ineos Grenadiers and Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious).

02:00 PM

What's to follow?

01:58 PM

23.5km to go

Simon Carr is sat on the wheel of Geoffrey Bouchard as the pair edge towards the summit of the Ovindoli climb, but their advantage has dropped slightly to around 16sec.

01:55 PM

25km to go

The rain is falling and Geoffrey Bouchard has bridged over to Simon Carr. The pair now leads the stage by 25sec, the peloton another 2min 30sec down the road.

01:52 PM

26.5km to go

Simon Carr attacks. The 22-year-old who was born in Hereford, but grew up in the foothills of the Pyrenees, has a handful of seconds on the chasers in this his debut outing at a grand tour.

01:48 PM

27.5km to go

Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo) has managed to bride over to the leading group, but can the young Briton hold the wheels? The race is very much on now as Salvatore Puccio continues to ride on the front for Inoes Grenadiers, suggesting that Egan Bernal is feeling strong.

01:47 PM

29km to go: All change on the front

The breakaway has split up, leaving George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r-Citroën), Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Nippo) and Michael Storer (DSM) out in front but Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) is chasing back over, but can the Dutchman regain contact?

01:42 PM

31.1km to go

Diego Ulissi attacks off the front of the breakaway, Tanel Kangert follows the Italian who has eight stage wins to his name, while George Bennett, Nicolas Edet and Michael Storer are not far behind.

01:40 PM

31.5km to go

The breakaway has lost over 30 seconds since Ineos Grenadiers moved to the front.

01:39 PM

32.5km to go

Ineos Grenadiers shift to the front of the peloton. Egan Bernal gets on the radio to talk to his directeur sportif in the following team car. Almost immediately with Salvatore Puccio pulling on the front, the pace increases and the breakaway's lead drops slightly.

01:30 PM

35km to go

The breakaway's lead increases to 3min 30sec and they will be starting to think about personal glory today. There is a nice balance of promising young riders here – Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo) and Einer Rubio (Movistar) – recent stage winners such as Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates) and Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Nippo), experienced old hands like Tony Gallopin (Ag2r-Citroën), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech). But will this 17-man group stick together and all do their turn, or are the silly games going to start soon?

Interesting, too, to see George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) in the group. The Kiwi arrived at the Giro hoping to challenge for the general classification, but witha deficit of 8min 55sec on Attila Valter I think he can forget about that for another year. With team-mate Koen Bouwman also in this group he will be hoping for something today.

01:23 PM

40km to go

There are some very dark clouds looming overhead. With just one more stage before Tuesday's rest day, the peloton will be praying it can make it through today without another drenching.

01:19 PM

43km to go

Both the breakaway and peloton are descending at roughly the same speed, the gradient looking fairly shallow. Not too far away from the second intermediate sprint of the day in Celano, but it is seconds that are up for grabs – along with a few euros for the first three riders – rather than points so not sure it will be too fiercely contested.

01:05 PM

54km to go

Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r-Citroën) goes over the summit of the Forca Caruso first to add another nine points to his tally in the mountains classification, but the Frenchman still trails Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious) in that particular competition. The Ag2r-Citroën rider is 11 points off Mäder and although he can close that gap on the Swiss today if he takeS more points atop the next categorised climb – the Ovindoli – he may have to win the stage in order to take the maglia azzurra off Mäder's shoulders.

12:58 PM

58.5km to go

The breakaway has stolen a few seconds on the peloton, but one suspects that unless their advantage increases by a few more minutes, they may struggle to hold off the charging pack later this afternoon. With a stage win and pink jersey within touching distance, you really have to think that Remco Evenepoel and Egan Bernal will fancy a crack at Attila Valter today. The young Hungarian has sounded incredibly assured during his interviews, confident in himself and not scared of saying he wants to fight for pink.

12:48 PM

63km to go

The breakaway's lead increases to a shade over three minutes. Incidentally, Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo) who is in this move is one of four talented first-year neo-pros that we wrote about in a recent feature on the next wave of Britons set to rule the roads.

He sounds like an interesting young lad who hold dual nationality and, interesting, finished 11th at Strade Bianche back in March – I wonder if that means he is going to float over the gravel later today, or possibly Wednesday's mouthwatering stage back in Tuscany?

• You can read the full feature here

12:43 PM

65km to go

Eduardo Sepúlveda​ (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec) bridges over to the breakaway. The Argentine will, one assumes, now be avoiding a rollicking from his team manager Gianni Savio who insists on his riders making the break almost every day. Apparently he was fuming on Saturday when none of his man got in the front group.

12:36 PM

67.5km to go

On the approach to the next categorised climb of the day, the Forca Caruso, the peloton looks fairly calm as it trails the breakaway by a shade over two minutes. Groupama-FDJ have assumed control at the head of the bunch, just ahead of Ineos Grenadiers while Deceuninck-Quick Step, the team of Remco Evenepoel, are tucked in behind.

12:32 PM

Today's finish line . . .

As mentioned earlier, the final 1,600 metres of today's stage will be contested over a gravel / rocky road. Eurosport briefly showed what it looks like, saying that their man on the ground there said race organisers had been out rolling the loose gravel in an attempt to pack it down, but that there were some loose sections. If those mountains were not in the background, you could be forgiven for thinking this was the finishing line at Tro-Bro Léon, the one-day race that is currently taking place in Brittany, northern France.

There are reports that it may rain later near the finish and so that may have an impact on the finale. Nobody will want to puncture on here, it could be game over for anybody that does.

12:21 PM

That breakaway in full . . .

George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r-Citroën), Koen Bouwman (Jumbo-Visma), Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), Matteo Fabbro (Bora-Hansgrohe), Tony Gallopin (Ag2r-Citroën), Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education-Nippo), Tanel Kangert (BikeExchange), Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech), Michael Storer (DSM), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), Giovanni Visconti (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane) and Filippo Zana (Bardiani-CSF-Faizane). The 16-man group leads by 1min 45sec, and there are 80km of today's stage remaining.

12:11 PM

85km to go

Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo), who has looked lively all day, shifted off the front of the peloton a few minutes ago before he was soon joined by some real hitters. The young Briton has Luis León Sánchez (Astana-Premier Tech), Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r-Citroën), Tony Gallopin (Ag2r-Citroën) and Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) for company – along with a handful of others. Full details to follow very shortly.

12:00 PM

Chaos, carnage and confusion: As it stands . . .

Afternoon, well as expected it was a frenetic start to today's stage once the 175-rider peloton passed through KM0 at 11.26am (BST). There was one non-starter today – Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto-Soudal) – but the list of riders to abandon soon lengthened.

A number of small breakaways formed, but having descended off the category one Passo Godi the lead group's advantage was whittled away leaving Geoffrey Bouchard (Ag2r-Citroën), the winner of the mountains classification at the Vuelta a España in 2019, out in front.

The biggest story of the day, thus far, is the withdrawal of Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious). Riding second wheel on the descent of the Passo Godi, the Slovenian appeared to feather his brakes before the front wheel locked up – he was riding on disc brakes – propelling him over his handlebars, landing on his head and skidding across the road. It was a terrifying incident that left a slightly sickening feeling in the pit of the stomach.

Mohoric immediately jumped to his feet while once his team car arrived they quickly jumped out with a new bike to replace his, whose fork appeared to have snapped off. However, once they had spoken to the rider it was very quickly decided that he would not continue.

With 90km of today's stage remaining a breakaway has yet to form, though not for the want of trying.

08:30 AM

Wiggins: Evenepoel and Bernal are both vulnerable

Two of the big favourites to take hold of the leader's pink jersey later today are Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) who start the stage second and third respectively, with just five seconds separating the pair. But will either of them manage to do that? Sir Bradley Wiggins is not so sure.

Speaking on The Bradley Wiggins Show by Eurosport, he said: "I don’t think anyone knows, I don’t think he [Evenepoel] knows [if he can win]. He said his legs were dead. It’s the longest he’s ever been into a race now after nine months off where he broke his pelvis. It could just snap for him one day and he could lose a packet [of time].

"I still think Bernal [is favourite]. They’re both vulnerable in some ways. There is an element of unknown with the pair of them. Is Bernal’s back going to hold up for three weeks? I think Ineos have the strongest team in the mountains. I think Bernal is going to put his mark down, potentially tomorrow [Sunday].

"Is Evenepoel willing to push the envelope out enough to win the race or will he be satisfied with his first Giro, after nine months away, back racing to finish on the podium? Who knows?"

08:10 AM

Today's menu . . .

Sunday's stage is due to get under way at 11.25am (BST), while our live coverage kicks off at 1pm by which point we suspect the peloton – and possibly a breakaway – will have reached the first climb of the day, the category two Passo Godi which is 13.9km long with an average gradient of 4.1%. Incidentally, despite today being the most mountainous of the race thus far, none of the climbs go above 1,657 metres above sea level meaning none of the riders should suffer with any altitude issues – and equally those that were born to race at 2,000m+ will not be able to gain any physiological advantages over their rivals once the road goes up high into the clouds.

Anyway, here's what the official website says about the day ahead: "This queen stage across the Apennines of Abruzzo takes in several ascents, including four categorised climbs. From the start until Celano, the route takes in a succession of long climbs on moderately wide roads, followed by sometimes technical descents.

"Past Ovindoli (see above), the route enters the Piana delle Rocche and becomes somewhat easier, up to Rocca di Cambio (below). Here, the course makes for Campo Felice, taking in the closing climb.

"The final climb is nearly 6km long, and the gradients are not very sharp. After a long, well-lit tunnel stretching from 3 to 2km remaining to the finish, the final 1,600 metres, as well as the home straight, are on unpaved roads, with peaks topping out at 14% over the last 500m."

From what I've heard, the final 1,600 metres of the stage are a little more than simply 'unpaved roads' but more of a gravel / rocky path that is up near a ski piste. Anyway, despite what some have been saying, today's does not look massively difficult, though that may depend on how hard the stage is raced. None of the categorised climbs are too steep, though there are some ramps that will do some damage. On paper, the stage looks perfect breakaway territory and one has to wonder if now that Caleb Ewan has gone home, his Lotto-Soudal team-mate Thomas De Gendt will be plotting something today. His old breakaway pal Alessandro De Marchi, the former maglia rosa, may fancy a crack too along with Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-Nippo). One suspects – this is pure speculation, of course – that once the stage reaches its finale there will be two races going on: one for the line honours, the other a big battle for Attila Valter's (Groupama-FDJ) pink jersey.

07:40 AM

Catch up: Highlights from yesterday's stage

07:40 AM

Ciao!

Hello and welcome to our live blog from stage nine at the Giro d'Italia, the 158-kilometre run from Castel di Sangro to Campo Felice.

Following yesterday's stage that was won by Victor Lafay (Cofidis), Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ), the 22-year-old Hungarian, kept hold top spot in both the general and youth classification and will for a third successive day be dressed in the maglia rosa, or the pink jersey.

Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal) bailed fairly early into the stage meaning Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix) regained top spot in the points competition and today will wear the maglia ciclamino, the cyclamen jersey, for a fourth day – not a bad run for the grand tour debutant.

With the nine-man breakaway taking the points in the mountains classification, Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious) was able to keep hold of top spot and so goes into today's mountainous stage wearing the third maglia azzurra – blue jersey – of the 24-year-old's career.

The top three in the youth classification mirrors that of the overall and so Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck-Quick Step) will wear the maglia bianca, or the white jersey, on behalf of Valter.