Vingegaard storms to another Giro stage win, slicing into Eulálio’s lead

CORNO ALLE SCALE, Italy (AP) — Pre-race favorite Jonas Vingegaard claimed another stage victory in the Giro d’Italia on Sunday to cut into Afonso Eulálio’s overall lead.

Vingegaard had won atop the Blockhaus two days ago and he repeated the feat on another uphill finish on the ninth stage.

Vingegaard crossed the line 12 seconds ahead of Felix Gall, at the end of the 184-kilometer (114-mile) route from Cervia to the top-category climb up Corno alle Scale. Davide Piganzoli was third, 34 seconds behind Visma-Lease a Bike teammate Vingegaard.

However, Eulálio crossed the line in fifth, 41 seconds behind Vingegaard. The Portuguese rider has an advantage of 2 minutes, 24 seconds over Vingegaard, with Gall 35 seconds further back.

“We are where we wanted to be, obviously,” Vingegaard said. “I’m in a good situation at the moment for GC (general classification) and so far everything is looking good for us. And we’re happy where we are.”

Giulio Ciccone, who narrowly missed out on Stage 4, had attacked from the breakaway and appeared set to solo to victory on Sunday but there was to be more heartbreak for the Italian rider.

The peloton had been nearly two minutes behind at the start of the final climb but Gall attacked and Vingegaard stuck to his wheel and they eventually swept past Ciccone with 1.7 kilometers remaining.

Gall kept trying to get his rival to come through and do some work but Vingegaard was happy to sit back until they passed the 1 kilometer remaining mark when the Danish rider came through and immediately gapped the Decathlon cyclist.

“We didn’t want to pull for the stage today and we realized quite quickly that Decathlon wanted to go for the stage,” Vingegaard said. “It’s always nice with a win, something I’m super happy with, my teammates did a super good job and once the win was within reach, we decided on the last climb to maybe try to go for it.”

Monday sees the Giro's second rest day before Tuesday's individual time trial on a flat, 42-kilometer (26-mile) route along the coast from Viareggio to Massa.

It is the only time trial in this year's race.

The 109th men’s Giro ends on May 31 in Rome.

The women’s Giro runs from May 30-June 7 with Italian rider Elisa Longo Borghini as the defending champion.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard celebrates on the podium after winning the 9th stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race, from Cervia to Corrno alle Scale, Italy, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

France's Paul Magnier, cyclamen jersey in the middle of the pack, during Stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia cycling race, from Cervia to Corrno alle Scale, Italy, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard celebrates winning stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia cycling race, from Cervia to Corrno alle Scale, Italy, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard celebrates winning stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia cycling race, from Cervia to Corrno alle Scale, Italy, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Gian Mattia D'Alberto/LaPresse via AP)

BERLIN (AP) — Small-town club Elversberg clinched promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time on Sunday by finishing runner-up in Germany’s second division behind already promoted Schalke.

Early goals from Bambasé Conté and David Mokwa, then another from Mokwa, gave Elversberg a 3-0 win at home over last-place Preußen Münster, enough for the team to finish ahead of Paderborn on goal difference.

Elversberg will be the 59th club to play in the top division since the Bundesliga's formation in 1963.

“It's hard to grasp what just happened here,” Elversberg forward Luca Schnellbacher said. “It feels like a dream. I'd never have imagined that (Bayern Munich star) Harry Kane will be walking out at this ground.”

Elversberg, a town with 13,000 inhabitants in the southwest German state of Saarland, narrowly lost out on promotion last year in a playoff against Heidenheim, which was relegated from the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Elversberg was playing at fourth-tier level until 2022, when it won promotion to the third division, where the team only spent one season before earning promotion to the second in 2023.

Three teams were level going into the second division's final round, with both Hannover and Paderborn hoping for an unlikely favor from already relegated Münster against Elversberg, which had the better goal difference.

Hannover was on course to finish third for the promotion playoff when it was leading Nuremberg 3-2, but Luka Lochoshvili scored late for the visitors to let Paderborn move above Hannover into third place with a 2-0 win at Darmstadt.

As a result, Paderborn will face Wolfsburg in a two-leg playoff to decide which plays in the Bundesliga next season.

Wolfsburg, which finished third from bottom in the Bundesliga on Saturday, will host the first leg of their playoff on Thursday.

“We’re all a bit speechless,” Hannover captain Enzo Leopold said of letting the playoff spot out of grasp.

Schalke, which clinched promotion and the second division title with two rounds to spare, signed off with a 1-0 win over Eintracht Braunschweig.

Fortuna Düsseldorf was relegated to the third division with a 3-0 loss at Greuther Fürth. Fürth’s three goals were enough to pass Düsseldorf on goal difference and clinch the relegation playoff place.

Braunschweig finished above Fürth on goal difference and can look forward to another season in the second division.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Elversberg's David Mokwa, right, and Preußen Münster's Paul Jaeckel fight for the ball during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Elversberg's Bambase Conte, right, celebrates scoring their first goal of the game during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Elversberg's David Mokwa, left, celebrates scoring their second goal of the game with Bambase Conte during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)

Elversberg's David Mokwa, left, celebrates scoring their second goal of the game with Bambase Conte during the Bundesliga 2 soccer match between SV Elversberg and SC Preußen Münster in Spiesen-Elversberg, Germany, Sunday May 17, 2026. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP)