Primoz Roglic won stage nine of the Giro d'Italia ©Getty Images

Italy's Gianluca Brambilla held onto the overall lead at the Giro d'Italia as Slovenia's Primoz Roglic triumphed in the stage nine time trial.

Twenty-six-year-old Roglic, riding for LottonNL-Jumbo, clocked 51min 45sec on a rain-soaked 40.4 kilometre stage from Radda in Chianti to Greve in Chianti.

Roglic, who started before most of the field, took advantage of better conditions towards the beginning of the rolling time trial.

He came home ten seconds in front of Matthias Brändle of IAM Cycling, with the Austrian's team-mate Vegard Stake Laengen of Norway third quickest. 17 seconds shy of the winner's time.

Etixx–Quick-Step rider Brambilla posted the 17th quickest time of 53:50 which was enough to see him cling on to the leader's Maglia Rosa jersey.

Gianluca Brambilla has kept hold of the leader's jersey but his lead stands at just one second
Gianluca Brambilla has kept hold of the leader's jersey but his lead stands at just one second ©Getty Images

His gap, however, has been cut to just a second with Luxembourg's Bob Jungels, another Quick-Step rider and the current young riders' table topper who was sixth in the time trial, now in second place.

Movistar's Andrey Amador is the nearest challenger from another team with the Costa Rican third overall, 32 seconds behind Brambilla.

Katusha's Ilnur Zakarin had looked to be heading for the pink jersey but mechanical problems halted the Russian's progress.

He crashed twice, once on the final corner, to drift out of contention.

The Giro, one of three cycling Grand Tours, will resume on Tuesday (May 17) after a rest day tomorrow.