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Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij produced a perfectly-timed finish to win stage nine of the Giro d’Italia in Naples. <\/b><\/p>\n
Stage one winner Jhonatan Narvaez looked to have stolen victory with a stunning solo counter-attack 6km from the finish. <\/p>\n
But the Ecuadorean was caught in the final 100m as the peloton piled past him and Visma-Lease a Bike’s Kooij claimed his first Grand Tour stage victory by half a wheel from Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan.<\/p>\n
“This was the step I was looking for,” said 22-year-old Kooij after taking the spoils in the 214km route along the Tyrrhenian coast from Avezzano. <\/p>\n
“I was really looking forward to my first Grand Tour and this is really one I was dreaming of.”<\/p>\n
Tadaj Pogacar maintained his overall lead after unusually helping to lead out fellow UAE Team Emirates rider Juan Sebastian Molano, who finished third. <\/p>\n
“Today was a super hard finale and Molano did a super good job to be in the front with us and I tried to help,” said the Slovenian race leader, who takes a healthy two minutes 40 second lead into Monday’s first rest day. <\/p>\n
“It was not enough for the victory but if I can help, especially in this hectic finale, it is better for me to be in the front and help my friend to try for victory.”<\/p>\n
On the margin of his overall lead, he added: “It’s a comfortable gap to go into the rest day. I’m looking forward to an easy day tomorrow and try not to think about the race for one day.”<\/p>\n
Britain’s Geraint Thomas was involved in a crash before the run into Naples, but recovered to finish among the peloton and remains in third place overall, 18 seconds behind second-placed Colombian rider Dani Martinez. <\/p>\n
The Giro resumes on Tuesday with stage 10 – a 142km route from Pompeii that includes an 18km climb to the finish in Cusano Mutri. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n