Dutch sprinter Olav Kooij won a mass sprint in Naples to take Stage 9 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia on Sunday after a languid 214-kilometer run from the Apennines.

With the Vesuvius volcano in the background, the 22-year-old Kooij took his first grand tour stage win by a razor's edge, ambushing Lidl-Trek rider Jonathan Milan on the line with a bike throw.

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The peloton caught breakaway rider Jhonatan Narvaez of Ineos on the last stretch of the Mappatella Beach sprint, 50 meters from the line, after he had burst out of the pack on the Monte di Procida climb into town.

Kooij said his Visma team had been on a run of bad luck, including crashes that sidelined big guns Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert.

"This is what we have been looking forward to," Kooij  said. "We had to fight for it because it was tough, a tough finale."

The stage likely would have been won by Narvaez, had it not been for the race leader Tadej Pogacar, who spearheaded the hunt from 150 meters out to place teammate Juan Sebastian Molano in the sprint, where he came third.

The win lifted Kooij to third on 115 points in the sprint points rankings, which are led by Milan on 174. Kaden Groves is second on 116, with Tim Merlier fourth on 100 and Andrea Pietrobon fifth on 68.

The fast men also should be in the headlines on the 11th and 12th stages, which are completely flat.

Pogacar still leads the Giro overall standings by 2 minutes, 40 seconds from Dani Martinez and is 2 minutes, 58 seconds ahead of Geraint Thomas in third.

The Team UAE leader once again showed a cavalier attitude to energy conservation for the 21-day road to Rome, aiding as leadout man in the sprint, after taking three stage wins over the first week.

Sunday's stage left Avezzano in the Apennines for a 75-kilometer downhill, until the peloton caught sight of the west coast, signaling the turn toward Naples.

Ahead of the race, Thomas warned of bumpy roads, only to fall coming out of a roundabout 60 kilometers from the finish. He was unhurt but lost 50 seconds to the pack and had to make an energy-draining effort to catch up.

Monday is a rest day. 

On Tuesday, the peloton ride from Pompei to the Bocca della Selva summit after an ascent of 17.9 kilometers with an average gradient of 5.6%.

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