Stage 9 | Riccione to San Marino | Giro d’Italia 2019

The first phase of the 2019 Giro d’Italia concluded with a tricky time trial to San Marino which tested the riders’ climbing legs on another day when the rain fell heavily.

Lionel Birnie is back from his weekend trip home to join Daniel Friebe in the holiday resort of Riccione to ask Primoz Roglic has won the Giro (of course he hasn’t), whether the weather is the worst for the opening week of any grand tour (anecdotal rather than evidence-based) and whether it has been the least dramatic opening week of the Giro for years (probably).

But they decide the race is only just beginning. They weigh up whether Simon Yates is out of contention following his disappointing performance and we hear from young British riders James Knox and Hugh Carthy.