Europcar’s Davide Malacarne joined Weening inside the final 20km of racing on the 172km stage from Lugo, and together the pair rode to a one-two finish.
AG2R’s Dominico Pozzivivo finished third to gain some valuable seconds on the general classification, but still remains in fourth place.
"Malacarne came back and he was really strong,” said Weening. “It was hard and I thought I would ride a high speed, but I couldn't drop him. So from that moment I made my decision to wait for the last kilometre.
“I heard that we had enough time in front of the other guys behind us, so I could gamble a little bit in the last few hundred metres, Malacarne was in the lead and I was stronger in the sprint uphill.”
Australia’s Cadel Evans (BMC) finished safely in the main group to stay ahead of Rigoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) on the general classification.
“I think we have to be satisfied with our work so far and I’m very happy with the team,” said Evans.
“They are the ones who put me in the position to be here now and to ride with the jersey strongly and in control."
The stage was always marked as one where a breakaway could succeed and that’s exactly the way it played out.
It took some time for the break of the day to form but when it did, a large 14-man group which included Weening and Malacarne, took advantage of a mass crash in the middle of the peloton around the 40km mark, and stayed out in front for a large part of the stage with an eight minute lead on the peloton.
The complexion of the race changed inside the last 30km as Evans's BMC team rode a hard tempo as the time advantage of the break was halved.
The break hit the base of the final climb to Sestola with Weening immediately making a 19km long solo bid to take the victory.
He was joined by Malacarne while behind the remnants of the break struggled to mount an effective counter attack. At the same time the peloton appeared to take its feet off the pedals, giving the leading duo some valuable breathing space.
As Weening and Malacarne rode to tempo at the head of the race, the peloton became a hive of activity when Pozzovivo attacked.
But it became clear that Pozzovivo would not be able to bridge, and that the major spoils from the stage would belong to the leading pair.
In the final 500 metres Weening and Malacarne played a game of cat and mouse, which the experienced Orica-GreenEDGE rider expertly won.
Stage 9: 172km, Lugo to Sestola
1 Pieter Weening (NED) Orica-GreenEDGE 4hr 25min 51sec
2 Davide Malacarne (ITA) Europcar
3 Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA) AG2R 0:00:40
4 Diego Ulissi (ITA) Lampre-Merida 0:01:08
5 Rigoberto Uran (COL) Omega Pharma-QuickStep
6 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Belkin
7 Cadel Evans (AUS) BMC
8 Dario Cataldo (ITA) Sky
9 Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff-Saxo
10 Fabio Duarte (COL) Colombia
1 Cadel Evans (AUS) BMC 38hr 49min 34sec
2 Rigoberto Uran (COL) Omega Pharma-QuickStep 0:00:57
3 Rafal Majka (POL) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:01:10
4 Domenico Pozzovivo (ITA) AG2R 0:01:20
5 Steve Morabito (SUI) BMC 0:01:31
6 Fabio Aru (ITA) Astana 0:01:39
7 Diego Ulissi (ITA) Lampre-Merida 0:01:43
8 Wilco Kelderman (NED) Belkin 0:01:44
9 Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar 0:01:45
10 Robert Kiserlovski (CRO) Trek Factory Racing 0:01:48
SBS will broadcast every stage of the 2014 Giro d'Italia LIVE! There will be nightly highlights at 5:30pm on SBS ONE, and each stage will also be streamed live here at Cycling Central.
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