Giro d'Italia 2019: Stage 20

Welcome to our live coverage of stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia, the final mountain stage of the race.

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Stage 19 report: Esteban Chaves wins from break

Carapaz fears all-out attack from Nibali on final Giro d'Italia mountain stage – Preview

The riders are about to get underway in Feltre now, and it'll be climbing almost from the off on this decisive day in the Giro d'Italia.

It's the last chance for a GC shakeup before tomorrow's final time trial in Verona. There's ample chance to do it too, with three second-category climbs and two first-category climbs packed into the 194km route.

Here's the first climb of the day, the Cima Campo.

So far, pink jersey Richard Carapaz (Movistar) has looked the strongest climber in the race, having not yet been in any real trouble going uphill.

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) lie 1:54 and 2:16 down, respectively, meaning a turnaround is certainly possible - it's not massively likely.

Read our stage 20 preview by Stephen Farrand here.

Nibali will have to pull of something like he did back in 2016 on the road to Sant'Anna di Vinadio if he's to wear pink on Sunday afternoon. He's a better time triallist than Carapaz, so won't need to pull back all 1:54 for a chance of winning the race overall.

It should be noted, however, that back in 2016 Nibali was only 44 seconds down on an ill Esteban Chaves heading into that penultimate day. This is a different kettle of fish...

The riders are off, already climbing, and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida) is among the early attackers.

182km remaining from 194km

 Francisco Ventoso (CCC Team) is out ahead of the peloton now.

It's a warm day out there - 23°C and sunny in Feltre. Ventoso's jersey is wide open and flapping as he rides.

180km remaining from 194km

Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) and Ion Izagirre (Astana) make an effort at the front of the peloton.

Ventoso is the only man to get away so far. He's only 10 seconds up on the peloton though.

178km remaining from 194km

And Ventoso is brought back as a couple of Ineos riders take to the front.

Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli) and Eddie Dunbar (Ineos) are off the front now.

It's no surprise that riders are dropping off the back already on this 18.6km, 5.9% climb. It'll be a long day for them.

Dunbar and Masnada are still off the front, hanging maybe 10 seconds up on the peloton.

A larger breakaway would've been expected today, including riders from the likes of Astana, Bahrain, Mitchelton. So this two-man move doesn't look likely to be the main break of the day.

176km remaining from 194km

Astana are pushing at the front of the peloton now.

Around eight riders have clipped off the front of the peloton. Andrey Amador (Movistar) is there. Astana, Bora, EF, Dimension Data and Bahrain are also represented.

Masnada counters, heading off alone. He's soon brought back though, with the peloton back together now.

Bahrain, Movistar, Astana and Ineos are the most active teams at the head of the peloton.

174km remaining from 194km

Pello Bilbao's (Astana) turn to clip away from the group now, and a group of other riders - including Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida) come across the small gap immediately.

Ivan Sosa (Ineos) is up there with Bilbao. We haven't seen much of the young Colombian climber so far in this Giro, his first Grand Tour.

Nothing is sticking yet.

172km remaining from 194km

This group has a decent advantage on the reduced peloton now. More on the names as they come.

There are maybe 8-10 riders up the road, and around 30 left in the peloton.

Dario Cataldo (Astana) attacks the peloton, looking to bridge across.

Here's the makeup of the break: Andrey Amador (Movistar), Fausto Masnada (Androni Giocattoli), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida), Dario Cataldo, Pello Bilbao (both Astana), Tanel Kangert (EF Education First), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin), Ama Ghebreigzabier (Dimension Data), Jai Hindley (Team Sunweb), Eddie Dunbar (Team Ineos), Eros Capecchi (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott).

167km remaining from 194km

And now a Jumbo-Visma rider - Koen Bouwman -  is trying to make it across. The gap is 35 seconds.

Masnada has attacked the break and the group is split in two.

Hindley took the maximum 18 points over the top of the climb. He beat Masnada and Caruso over the summit.

50 seconds for the break on the descent. This looks like it will stick.

160km remaining from 194km

One minute for the break now, as an AG2R rider attempts to escape the peloton.

They're descending to the comune of Telve, where the first intermediate sprint of the day will come.

153km remaining from 194km

The break has 1:15 over the Movistar-led peloton now.

The break encounter a small break in the descent as the road rears upwards briefly. Then, they head back down to the valley.

There's maybe 25 riders in the peloton.

The pace isn't too high in the peloton. Carapaz just pulled over for a natural break, and the break's advantage goes out to over two minutes.

Race leader Carapaz has four Movistar men with him in the peloton after a regrouping with a number of dropped riders on the descent. There are around 50-60 riders in the peloton now.

Miguel Angel Lopez is surrounded by three of his Astana teammates and has two up in the break as well. Nibali has a man out front and should have a few with him too.

You would expect many of the riders who have caught back on to be dropped on the upcoming Passo Manghen, assuming the pace is high again. 

That would require Bahrain or Astana to push on, though. Movistar would be perfectly happy to let the break go and control things up the toughest - and highest - climb of the stage.

140km remaining from 194km

The break are about to start the Passo Manghen now. They're 2:40 up on the peloton.

Here's a look at the climb. It's 18.9km long at an average of 7.6%, but the final 6km average 10%. Could we see some long-range GC action from the likes of Lopez, Nibali and Yates kick off here?

Over three minutes for the break now.

Masnada attacks to take the intermediate sprint.

The Androni Giocattoli rider was just five points behind Damiano Cima in the intermediate sprint competition. With ten points there, he takes over the lead. The final intermediate sprint comes in Predazzo, midway through the stage, so Masnada has that competition sewn up.

Masnada can't overhaul Giulio Ciccone for the mountain classification victory, however. He had 57 points to Ciccone's 229 at the start of the day, and there were 144 points up for grabs if a rider finished first on every climb today.

That would leave Masnada on 201 points, though he only took second on the first climb in any case.

133km remaining from 194km

Masnada is going for the Cima Coppi alone here.

He's 3:50 up on the peloton.

The rest of the break is still together. They're 45 seconds down on Masnada.

Movistar lead the peloton along with a single Bora rider.

Bora are riding to protect Davide Formolo's tenth place from Zakarin, seemingly. 

The Manghen was first used by the Giro in 1976, when Luciano Conati of the Scic team won the stage from Vigo de Fassa to Terme di Comano, his biggest career victory.

Back in 2008, Emanuele Sella of CSF-Navigare kicked off a crazy weekend, winning from the break at Alpe di Pampeago by over four minutes after an attack on the Manghen. He'd go on to win two more stages, the mountain classification and finish sixth overall before testing positive for CERA two months later.

Back to the present day and Masnada is 1:30 up on the rest of the break.

The Manghen Strava record is 1:03:57, though Sella reportedly stormed up it in 55 minutes back in 2008. It's probably not likely that we'll see that beaten today.

124km remaining from 194km

Giulio Ciccone has attacked from the peloton. He's over four minutes back from Masnada, so challenging for the Cima Coppi seems far-fetched.

Hindley has a go from the chasing break.

Nicola Conci (Trek-Segafredo) is also somewhere between break and peloton. He's 3:20 down on Masnada.

Masnada is on the toughest part of the climb now. He's on the final 6km, which averages a 10% gradient.

A lot of felled trees here at the top of the Manghen.

121km remaining from 194km

Masnada is one minute up on the rest of the break. Conci is 3:20 back, Ciccone a furth 35 seconds back, and the peloton is at 4:30.

Movistar still lead the peloton.

Ciccone catches Conci. An interesting move by Trek - they didn't have anyone in the breakaway, of course, but they're doing something about it.

Conci's name is scrawled all over the climb. He's from Trento, not far west of the Manghen.

120km remaining from 194km

Astana take to the front of the peloton. Is this the start of the GC racing?

Maybe 20 riders left in the peloton. Roglic is already alone. Four Astana men are on the front, including Lopez.

Astana have two men in the break, and the most riders in the peloton. Clearly the strongest team here. It's just a shame that Lopez suffered those mechanicals at Lago Serrù and in the time trial.

119km remaining from 194km

Yates is dropped from the peloton.

Izagirre peels off the front and Andrey Zeits takes over.

Just 13 riders in the pink jersey group now.

Make that 12 now as it's just Jan Hirt left for Lopez as Zeits peels off. Carapaz has Landa and Carretero for company, though Carretero is at the back of the group.

118km remaining from 194km

Conci and Ciccone are caught.

Carthy is struggling.

Hirt, Lopez, Carapaz, Landa, Roglic, Nibali, Sivakov, Mollema remain.

Hirt peels off and Lopez attacks!

Nibali and Roglic are struggling!

Lopez, Carapaz and Landa are together.

Sivakov comes back to Nibali and Roglic. It's 3 vs 3 on the Manghen.

This is brutal, with 117km to go.

116km remaining from 194km

Masnada crests the summit alone.

115km remaining from 194km

Carapaz, Landa and Lopez catch the break and their teammates Amador, Bilbao and Cataldo. They are 1:25 down on Masnada as they crest the summit.

Nibali and Roglic are around 20 seconds down.

The start of the descent is narrow and twisting - a technical one, for sure.

Sivakov was just ahead of Nibali and Roglic at the top. Not exactly boding well for the pairs chances during the rest of the stage, even if they can make it back to Carapaz, Landa and Lopez on the descent.

And the trio, plus Majka, have caught the break/pink jersey group.

Ilnur Zakarin has some kind of problem on the descent. A mechanical, seemingly, rather than a crash.

105km remaining from 194km

Masnada is out alone, a minute up on the rest. His jersey is flapping in the wind.

He's losing time to the chasing group. The gap is down to 40 seconds now.

100km remaining from 194km

100km to go now, and 37 seconds between Masnada and the 'peloton'. Caruso leads them, ahead of Kangert.

The riders take on the valley road now, and the feed zone. The intermediate sprint in Predazzo comes in around 18km, and then the climbing starts again.

Masnada is back with the main group - the peloton, I guess - now.

96km remaining from 194km

Nieve and Bilbao strike out now. They have a nice gap on the main group.

Dunbar, Ghebreigzabier and Kangert have attacked too.

More riders are attacking. Ciccone and someone from Groupama-FDJ. Meanwhile, the Dunbar group catches the two leaders.

90km remaining from 194km

Yates is reportedly back in the main group now. It has swelled in the valley.

The top ten on GC, plus Zakarin and Carthy, are all in that main group. No word on Mollema or Formolo though.

Madouas, Ciccone and Capecchi are chasing the attackers.

We have some quotes from a few GC men from the stage start. First up, here's race leader Richard Carapaz.

"It’s going to be a long, hard day with lots of climbing but I’ll ride with confidence.

"I think there’s going to be lots of attacks and lots of people trying to get into the break. Burt we’ve got a good strategy and we’re confident.

"We won’t take our eye off anyone. Anything could happen , we could gain time or evern lose time but we always start with the aiming of winning of coming out on top."

Carapaz's team are back on the front of the peloton now. They have four men riding for the race leader.

The attackers are almost in Predazzo, the location of the second intermediate sprint.

Ciccone's group follows, 1:25 down, while the peloton is at 2:10.

It was Bilbao or Dunbar leading the group over the sprint, not that it particularly matters at this point. Masnada is confirmed as the winner of that competition.

80km remaining from 194km

It's time for the Passo Rolle now. There's a 4.7% average over the 20.6km climb, but that is lowered by 6km of false flats in the middle. The 6-7% gradients in the final 6km of the climb will be a better launchpad for attacks.

Capecchi is dropped from the chasing group. Movistar leads the peloton.

The tv cameras show Ilnur Zakarin has ripped shorts and dirt on his elbow. It must've been a crash for him on the descent of the Passo Manghen.

Here's what Primoz Roglic had to say at the stage start in Feltre.

"It’s the last big mountain stage and for sure it’ll be good to watch.

"We’ll see [if I attack before the final climb]. I think we’ll be a block from the beginning, so I don’t expect anything will be easy and the best rider will win in the end.

"We’ll see how the day goes and how the legs will be. For sure I’ll fight and give my best. That’s all I can do.

"I think the final climb will decide the day. As always, if you want to win, you have to be at the front. You have to be strong ands be there."

76km remaining from 194km

Hector Carretero drops away from the peloton. Three men left for Carapaz now.

74km remaining from 194km

Ciccone and Madouas are just 30 seconds down on the lead group now. The peloton are 2:45 down.

Ciccone and Madouas are closing in.

Here's a nice shot from earlier in the day, of the peloton with the Dolomites looming in the background.

70km remaining from 194km

And the duo reach the leading five, making it seven men out front with 70km to race.

2:42 between the leaders and the peloton.

Capechi is 25 seconds down on the leaders.

After the false flat section, the attackers are on the tougher part of the Rolle now, the final 6km.

66km remaining from 194km

Still three men around Carapaz at the head of the peloton, which consists of around 20 riders.

Capecchi is still grinding away, chipping away at the gap to the leaders.

Three minutes from the leaders to the peloton.

And Capecchi makes it across. Eight men up front now.

A bird's eye view of the peloton on the Rolle.

63km remaining from 194km

Movistar aren't pushing the pace at all, and they have no reason to. The gap is up to 3:50 now.

Nibali has Caruso and Pozzovivo with him. Carapaz has three riders, including Landa. Lopez has two men in the peloton and Bilbao up the road.

The break approach the top of the Rolle. The time gap is apparently 2:40 now, so some GPS problems a few minutes ago.

61km remaining from 194km

Unsurprisingly it's Ciccone leading the way over the top. More points for him, though the mountain classification is long decided, of course.

Rob Hatch on Eurosport says that Ciccone has now won more mountain passes than Eddy Merckx did at the Giro, a crazy stat. He's still some way away from Gino Bartali's record, though.

A long descent to the foot of Croce d'Aune for the break now. We wait for some potential action in the peloton at the top of the Rolle, though it doesn't look very active.

58km remaining from 194km

And the peloton crest the summit. No attacks.

Bauke Mollema suffers a mechanical, but he has plenty of time to get back.

Neither Formolo nor Polanc are in the peloton at the moment, so it looks like Zakarin has a good chance of moving up to tenth overall today.

The riders are actually descending down the final climb from yesterday. They just passed through San Martino di Castrozza, the stage 19 finishing town. At the bottom of the descent, they'll head west to Croce d'Aune. 

Three minutes separate the peloton and leaders as the peloton pass the 50km to go banner.

We wait for the riders to reach the foot of the penultimate climb of the day.

Here's a shot of Lopez, Carapaz and Landa on the attack earlier. Not long now until the next climb - will they attack again?

Italian broadcaster RAI reports that Formolo is seven minutes down on the peloton. Brutal.

33km remaining from 194km

The leaders are 11km from the start of the next climb now. 3:51 back to the peloton.

Here's a map of the final 22km, taking in the Croce d'Aune and Monte Avena, as well as the technical descent between the two.

The helicopter passes over the Cismon River and Corlo Dam as the riders race towards Lamon and the bottom of the Croce d'Aune. There's a lull in the action on this looong descent.

Here's the next climb, the penultimate ascent of the day, which the leaders will reach very shortly.

11km of uphill for the leaders now, with the toughest gradients coming at the top of the Croce d'Aune.

Ciccone leads, and Capecchi is already out the back.

Movistar push the pace in the peloton.

21km remaining from 194km

We're almost inside the final 20km of the last road stage of the Giro now.

Masnada drops from the back of the peloton. A great three weeks from him.

Four Movistar men in the peloton, three for Astana, and two for Bahrain.

Giulio Ciccone attacks! He has gone hard, and Bilbao is quick to follow.

Nieve, Kangert, Dunbar, Madouas and Ghebreigzabhier chase on.

19km remaining from 194km

Kangert is the next to attack.

There's a split in the break after that attack. Only Ciccone, Bilbao and Dunbar can immediately follow Kangert.

17km remaining from 194km

And the two groups come back together. A few riders have been whittled off the rear of the peloton under the pace set by Movistar.

This, of course, is the climb known for Tullio Campagnolo's travails during the 1927 Gran Premio della Vittoria. After struggling to swap his rear wheel around in order to change gearing, he came up with the idea for the quick release system here.

As Valentin Madouas launches an attack, here's some breaking news as Julian Alaphilippe announces his contract renewal at Deceuninck-Quick Step. Two more years for him. Read the story here.

15km remaining from 194km

Madouas has 12 seconds on the chasers.

Caruso moves to the front of the peloton, next to Nibali and Pozzovivo. Still four Movistar men and three from Astana near the front. Roglic is, of course, isolated.

19 seconds for Madouas now. The peloton is 1:40 back.

14km remaining from 194km

Amador drops off the front of the peloton, his work done.

Pedrero and Landa are still there for Carapaz.

Meanwhile, Madouas is ekeing out more time. 24 seconds up the road now.

13km remaining from 194km

Lopez attacks! Carapaz on his wheel.

The move is quickly brought back, however.

Zakarin is in trouble at the rear.

Now Bahrain take to the front. Carapaz and Landa are right behind Pozzovivo and Nibali.

Lopez goes again! Carapaz right on him.

12km remaining from 194km

Nibali follows too, while Roglic takes a bit longer to bring the group back.

Now Landa goes.

Roglic takes up the chase - he has to as it's his third place coming under threat.

Only around ten riders in the group behind Landa now.

Madouas is 25 seconds up on the break group, by the way.

Pozzovivo takes to the front now.

Landa has a 15-second gap over the Carapaz group.

A couple of spectators are pushing Roglic, who is towards the rear of the group. He didn't try and push them away, and the push lasted quite a while. Could be a time penalty in the offing, there.

11km remaining from 194km

Ghebreigzabhier has set off in pursuit of Madouas.

Madouas crests the summit alone, 17 seconds up on the chasers.

Here's the final run-in, including the climb to the finish.

9km remaining from 194km

Yates and Hirt are the next group on the road behind the Carapaz group. Majka slides out early on the descent but he looks ok.

Landa has taken 16 seconds on the Carapaz/Roglic/Nibali group so far. He's 47 seconds down on Roglic on GC and an atrocious time trialist in comparison though, so unless the Jumbo-Visma man completely implodes his third place looks quite safe.

7km remaining from 194km

The Carapaz group has splintered on the descent. Mollema, Sivakov and Pozzovivo were held up a touch by the Majka crash. Nibali is leading the way, with Carapaz on his wheel. The duo are almost with Landa.

6km remaining from 194km

Nibali, Landa and Carapaz hit the final climb. They're 43 seconds down on Madouas, who has 17 seconds on the chase group.

Another mechanical for Lopez! Wow...

No, Lopez tangled with a fan at the side of the road, causing him to hit the deck. Terrible...

TV replays show him hitting the fan on the head and knocking his cap off before getting going again.

Crazy scenes...

Kangert drops back to the Carapaz group.

5km remaining from 194km

Lopez is riding alone now. He looks furious.

He's almost a minute behind the Carapaz quartet. Roglic and the others are somewhere in between.

Here's a video clip of Lopez giving the fan a backhand slap and hitting his cap off.

Nibali has a go up front, but can't drop Landa or Carapaz. Meanwhile, Madouas is caught by the chasers up front. 

Majka, Mollema, Yates and Roglic are in a chase group.

3km remaining from 194km

Landa, Carapaz and Nibali reach the leaders.

Bilbao, Ciccone, Nieve and Madouas are in there with Carapaz and co

Nibali is leading the way up front. 40 seconds back to Roglic's group.

3km remaining from 194km

Kangert is back with the leaders.

Roglic leads his chase group under the 3km banner.

Landa takes over. 

37 seconds between the leaders and the Roglic group.

Kangert has a go but doesn't make any headway.

2km remaining from 194km

Nibali launches again! Landa on his wheel followed by Ciccone, Carapaz and Bilbao.

Nieve, Madouas and Kangert get back too.

Carapaz is pushing on now, riding to help Landa get onto the podium. They're 43 seconds up on Roglic, and 1:28 up on Lopez.

1km remaining from 194km

Final kilometre for the leaders!

They're not really gaining on Roglic. 41 seconds now.

0km remaining from 194km

500 metres to go and no change. Carapaz still leads.

47 seconds back to Roglic.

Ciccone is lurking in fourth wheel.

Bilbao and Ciccone hang in with Carapaz, Landa and Nibali up front.

Landa launches!

Bilbao follows and so does Ciccone, who is held up a little getting around Nibali and Carapaz.

And Bilbao comes around Landa! It's a second stage victory for Bilbao. Landa in second, Ciccone third.

Roglic crosses the line 54-55 seconds down on Landa, who also takes 6 bonus seconds.

So Landa goes from 47 seconds on Roglic to 13-14 seconds up.

Lopez crosses the line alone, 1:48 down.

Carapaz has sealed his Giro d'Italia victory with that ride, barring any total disaster tomorrow. Nibali should be safe in second, while Roglic looks set to reclaim third in the time trial.

Here's the top ten on the stage:

1 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 5:46:02
2 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Giulio Ciccone (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:02
4 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 0:00:04
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
6 Tanel Kangert (Est) EF Education First 0:00:15
7 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Mitchelton-Scott
8 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:00:25
9 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:44
10 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida

General classification after stage 20

1 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team 89:38:28
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:01:54
3 Mikel Landa (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:53
4 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 0:03:06
5 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:51
6 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:07:18
7 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:28
8 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:08:01
9 Pavel Sivakov (Rus) Team Ineos 0:09:11
10 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:12:50

Here's Bilbao celebrating as he crossed the line:

Our brief report and results are up here. Stay tuned for the full report.

Roglic received a ten-second penalty for his push from a spectator, apparently. So that should be 23 seconds to make up on Landa.

Here's what Bilbao had to say after his win

"The first win was really special but today because of the diff of the stage was also more diff to arrive and be here at the finish in first. When Nibali, Landa, Carapaz group arrived I felt that my stage was almost finished but they weren’t with a lot of energy – as tired as me.

"I tried to recover, take the best wheel. I knew that Carapaz was going to try to give the stage win to Landa so I stayed on his wheel and I wanted to have this opportunity in the sprint because I knew I had a small advantage and in the last metres I could beat Landa."