Hello and welcome back to our live coverage from stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia. After a day for the sprinters we're turning our attention back to the GC and the climbers in this year's race. Stage 13 is the first in a triple-header of climbing stages.
Today we head to Cividale del Friuli with four categorised climbs on the menu. There's no summit finish but we should see a major shake up in the GC. None of the four climbs in the Friuli stage are over a thousand metres but it has been given four stars by the official race book, indicating its true difficulty.
We're just over an hour from the official start of the stage and riders have been arriving over the last few minutes. The sign on should start soon.
Here's how the top ten stands coming into the stage:
Last night we spoke to the last Luxembourg to really challenge for top honours at the Giro d'Italia, Andy Schleck. He rode with Jungles for a couple of years between 2013-14 and believes that his former teammate can go all the way.
Schleck on Jungels:
Roughly an hour until the start of the stage. Here's a look at the stage profile.
As Stephen Farrand mentioned in his race stage preview:
The stage has two tough climbs mid-stage –Montemaggiore (8.3km at 9.3%) and then the Crai (8.8km at 6.4% with 3km at over 10%), followed by 30km of flat road before two final climbs and a nerve-racking descent to the finish, on twisting country roads that ends just eight kilometres from the finish.
You can find our complete stage preview for today, right here. It includes comments from Dario Cioni former rider, former press officer at Team Sky.
It will be interesting to see the composition of the break today. Surely Damiano Cunego - if he really has designs on winning the KOM - must be in the move. He doesn't have the staying power to compete over the last two climbs if he's with the GC guys, so he need to be on the front foot.
Sign on complete and riders are starting to roll out through the neutralized zone.
Is that the face of a man who wants to be in the break?
Into just the first 1km of the race and we already have our first attack, with Tobias Ludvigsson looking to jump clear. The Swede actually manages to create a small gap but it comes to nothing in the end.
The pace is relentless this early on as more and more riders try and escape the clutches of the peloton. No move have managed to stick just yet. Etixx are on red alert though as they try and spot danger after danger. This is a huge test for the young Bob Jungels.
Like Berzin once said to Frattini in the 1996 Tour de France (Gewiss) 'I'll take over thank you' and Astana move up and set the pace at the front of the peloton and replace Etixx. Nibali's men keep the pace nice and high but that's not stopped the attacks from coming thick and fast.
Interesting: A gaggle of around 20 riders have moved clear of the peloton. They have a very small gap but it's not going to work, surely?
They're still out there, plugging away, but the peloton are hot on their heels. Such a rapid start to the stage as riders and teams try and form the early break. They can't keep this up for much longer.
The move has been shut down but now we have Daniel Oss (BMC) and Valerio Conti (Lampre-Merida) going clear. Once more the peloton respond and the duo are caught.
145km remaining from 170km
More riders try their luck. This time we have a group of six forming, with Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Alessandro De Marchi and Manuel Quinziato (BMC), Matej Mohoric (Lampre-Merida), Maarten Tjallingii (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Matteo Busato (Wilier Triestina-Southeast).
The IAM duo of Matthias Brandle and Stefan Denifl are bridging across.
Cannondale policing on the front of the bunch - they don't seem happy with this one.
Once again, it's all back together. So, almost 40km into this stage and still we await a breakaway. The first climb of the day beings in just 10km time.
It's a day for the climbers and GC men but that doesn't mean there's nothing for the sprinters. We're almost at San Pietro al Natisone, the first of two intermediate sprint points.
Arnaud Demare takes maximum points at the sprint, to make up some ground on points classification leader Giacomo Nizzolo. Andre Greipel, of course, was in the maglia rossa yesterday but pulled out of the race after his stage win.
And now we do seem to have our breakaway. And it's a big one.
There must be around 30 riders in this move, including - surprise surprise - Damiano Cunego. We'll get you all the names shortly but for now the pace in the bunch has been knocked off and they have nearly two minutes.
We're climbing now, and this is what it looks like
A number of high profile riders in this break, including Rojas, Heano, Cunego and Ulissi. The Lampre man has two men on the front driving the break though as the lead pushes out to 2'10. And more riders try and bridge up the road, Wellens is one of them. Some serious questions are being asked of Etixx here.
Here are the names of the riders in the break:
116km remaining from 170km
And now Etixx react, putting five men on the front, one of the Jungels who is neatly tucked in. Up the road Lampre press on with Modolo setting the pace for Ulissi as we start to climb.
The gap to the breaks is down to 1'14 to se Etixx are shutting the move down. The Welleng group is somewhere in the middle.
The break are on a 10 per cent pitch at the moment as Lampre continue to hog the front. Riders, like Demare are being dropped from the break.
Wellen will be kicking himself after missing the move but he's trying to make amends with this long chase. The Belgian is cutting through riders who have already been dropped but Wellens only has a few seconds on the maglia rosa.
Denifl has attacked from the break and gone clear. He has ten seconds on the Lampre led group with 3km to go until he reaches the summit of the climb. 113km to go in the stage today.
Jungels still has four men with him and they're doing an effective job, pulling the main break back to around one minute. Etixx are keeping the pace high and trying to shut everything down.
News has reached us that Caleb Ewan did not start this morning, his Giro d'Italia over for this year.
Trentin has been called back from the lead group and has been caught by the Wellens collective.
Modolo dropped from the lead group now as we see that Visconti is in the Wellens through. Movistar are trying everything to unsettle and isolate Jungels.
Denifl stil leads the race as Cunego, still in the break, takes a look out front to see what's going on up ahead.
Back in the bunch and Nibali is sat on Valverde's wheel and sitting patiently. There's still 111km to go.
Denifl has now hit a 15 perc cent stretch but he's done enough to take maximum points at the top of the climb.
The IAM rider takes top stop on the climb. And Cunego attacks and might have taken second but there was a crash as the Italian was challenged by a Movistar rider.
The Movistar rider touched Cunego I think and his front wheel went from under him. Cunego checks back to see what happened but the sprint was close.
108km remaining from 170km
It was Visconti who came down in that fall. He's back on his bike though and back in the break.
A few things about that fall. We had people in the road on the line. That didn't help, and Visconti came in pretty hot.
The race have an uncategorised climb now before another technical descent before the next climb starts.
Cannondale have moved their two men in the break, one of them Moser, to the front of the Ulissi group. Denifi has 47 seconds on that group, and 1'46 on the maglia rosa.
It's Simon Clarke and Moser for Cannondale as we see Nieve is also there for Team Sky.
Denifl is putting in an impressive rider and is hold the Cannondale/Lampre chase at 50 seconds. He takes yet another risk on a descent but keeps it together.. just.
99km remaining from 170km
What may worry Jungels is that Movistar have four men in the break and they've really not had to do much work yet - that's all coming from Cannondale and Lampre.
Denifl is climbing again and already out of the saddle as he starts on the 10 per cent section. it gets harder from here. Cannondale, now with three men, set the pace at the front of the break. They're 22 seconds behind the lone leader.
Jungels is down to four men now to help him as Movistar and Astana gather just behind. Tinkoff are also there. 95km to go.
Betancur is losing ground on the main field. He doesnt look comfortable at all.
Esteban Chaves: "Today is a really hard stage. It’s important to be in front on the climbs, especially so you can be on the front for the descents afterwards. There’s 4,000 metres of climbing but there’s a lot of downhill so it’s important to keep your attention all day, to try to follow the big guys."
Trentin, jersey unzipped, continues to set the pace for the peloton and his team leader. Up ahead and Denifl is still climbing on his own.
Etixx have eased off though, just slightly, and it has allowed the Cannondale/Ulissi group to move out to three minuntes clear.
91km remaining from 170km
Uran: "It’s good weather for the first mountain stage. The important thing is to see if we’re feeling good and then we can think about trying something. The last climb suits me quite well but the descent afterwards is quite technical.”
It's about containment then for Etixx at the moment as Trentin continues to set the pace for his leader. Denifl meanwhile, is close to the summit of the second climb.
Nibali is coming back through the cars. It looks like he went back to the team car briefly but up ahead Denifl is about to take the KOM points.
Cunego poised to once again sprint for the rest of the KOM points
Cunego goes, followed once again by Visconti, and this time he gets the better of his compatriot and both stay upright.
Matteo Trentin, still on the front for Etixx, zips up his jersey and leads the peloton over the climb and onto this next descent.
Denifl is having a great day out there - he's making his way downhill quite happily here with almost 2 minutes over the breakaway group and over four minutes now over the pink jersey group.
I say that, but Denifl has lost his lead and is now back in the main breakaway group.
It's unclear how or why that happened but Denifl was stopped at the side of the road as the break caught up. He has now joined onto the back of that group.
So, the situation:
68km remaining from 170km
Cannondale and Lampre trading turns on the front of the break. Lampre want to set up Ulissi for the stage and the overall, while Cannondale want to go for the stage, and keep pressure off Uran back in the peloton.
Visconti drops back to the team car to pick up bottles for his teammates in the break. The gap is coming down though it's at 2'16 with 61km to go.
In the valley and Etixx have the peloton strung out as they exit the feedzone. It's all about keeping the break in control at the moment. Movistar and Astana are likely to move up to the front on the next climb, regardless of the gap up ahead.
The break pass through the finish line for the first time, their advantage back up to 2'46 with 57km to go.
The gap moves out to 3'07 as we head into the final 50km of the race. Etixx have been on the front almost the entire stage so far but they look good for their money so far. The next two climbs, of course, are where it's all going to matter.
43km remaining from 170km
A reminder of where we stand coming into the stage today:
That means that Ulissi is still the virtual leader on the road.
Orica have increased the pace at the front of the peloton as we head towards the penultimate climb. LottoNL have moved up too, and so have Katusha as they look to position Zakarin. The changes have seen the gap to the break down to down 2'59.
Crosswind at the moment as well and that's making things even more interesting on the front of the peloton. AG2R are also coming up.
Onto the climb and Scarponi hits the front for Astana. He has Nibali on his wheel and Valverde is there too. Etixx have been moved aside.
Astana's pressure has seen the peloton reduced to around 30 men as Nieve and Dombrowski go clear from the break. Further down the road Astana continue to set the pace as we see Jungels start to lose teammates.
All the GC men are in the Astana led peloton, no casualties at this stage but there' still a lot of climbing to come.
Clarke is caught and he offers a bottle Uran.
Nibali has at least four men with him, and the gap is at 2'36.
Nieve is just dragging the Cannodale rider with him for now as we see a rider from Etixx dropped. Jungels is losing teammates left right and centre.
Chaves is riding just be Valverde as Nieve goes on his own, Dombrowksi isn't able to hold the Team Sky rider's wheel.
Amador, Hesjedal, Pozovivo, Uran, Zakarin are all there in the GC group as Nieve ploughs on alone. 32km to go.
Nibali second wheel with Fuglsang just behind. Valverde is just on his wheel. Jungels is a few wheels back but hanging in there.
Nieve still leads though with a gap of 2'13.
Majka, we've not mentioned him he's also there. Jungels is starting to lose ground. He's at the back of the group. We're close to the top though. Amador is also suffering.
No let up from Astana though as they continue to set the pace at the front of the reduced peloton. Hesjedal is also near the back, but Steven Kruijswijk (Team LottoNl-Jumbo) is looking very strong indeed. He's just behind Valverde. 30km to go.
Nieve is first to the top of the climb and takes maximum points for Team Sky. A descent now all the way to the final climb. Can Jungels survive this climb though? Visconti second over the penultimate climb, Dombrowski third.
Uran is near the back of the GC group. Is he starting to crack?
Jungels seems to have recovered and is back in the middle of the GC group. Scare over for the Etixx Quickstep team.
Over the top of the climb and inside the final 30km of the stage. Nieve leads with Dombrowski and Visconti less than a minute down. Then we have a few stragglers from the earlier break and then the GC group.
And on the descent Amador accelerates and Nibali matches him. The Italian was on him like a hawk.
25km remaining from 170km
Nibali moves up and takes the lead, with Amador trying to go with him. Movistar are trying to soften up the Italian before we get to the last climb.
No matter how big or small the peloton is you'll find Hesjedal at the back and it's no different on this descent, although he is a danger for that last climb if he has the form. 23km to go.
Nieve is pulling out more time on the GC riders, and has 2'40 on the maglia rosa with 19.1km to go.
Nieve is on the final climb and his lead is close to three minutes on the GC riders. 18km to go.
Back in the bunch and Jungels has glued himself to Kruijswijk's wheel. The race leader has no teammates as Scarponi takes up the pace duties one more time.
Nieve keeps plugging away on the 6km climb. His gap is 1'05 to Visconti and 2'08 to the maglia rosa.
And Chaves takes it up with an acceleration. He's marked though and it's back together.
17km remaining from 170km
Jungels is about 10 seconds down, if that, but he can't follow the accelerations.
Visconti has gone clear from his group, meanwhile, but its Nieve who leads and now Valverde attacks.
And now Nibali attacks and creates a gap .
Valverde was easily matched but then Nibali accelerated around a corner and he gains a small advantage but it's shut down by Lotto NL
Amador and Uran have also been dropped by the Nibali/Valverde group.
And Fuglsang sets the pace for Nibali as Amador and Uran come back to the Nibali group as we see Jungels fight on. If he can keep the gap where it is then he should make it back on the descent. 3km to go on the climb.
A few more riders, like Uran make it back to the Nibali group. As things stand then Amador should pull on pink at the end of the stage. Up the road Nieve has 40 seconds on Visconti.
Jungels is about to catch a small chase group but he's still not with his GC rivals. They're a few more seconds up the road.
15km remaining from 170km
Jungels is 20 seconds behind Nibali. So he's just holding onto pink. He needs to keep plugging away and then descent like a demon. He;s not getting any help from Hesjedal at the moment though.
Scarponi takes it up for Astana, Nibali marked by Valverde as Nieve closes in on the top of the summit.
And Nibali attacks again but its matched by all the GC contenders for now. Uran is hanging on but Amador and Zakarin have been dropped again.
NIeve goes over the top and Visconti is second. The gap between them is 50 seconds. Jungels is plunged into more trouble though as he continues to lose time.
Zakarin has made it back a the top of the climb. Jungels has a lot of work to do on the descent if he's to hold the leader's jersey.
He's around 30-40 seconds off the Nibali group, although we don't know where Amador is. It's all to play for on the stage.
Jungels is having help on the descent though and that will help hugely. Valverde will not ride so a lot of responsibility on Movistar.
Nieve is looking good for the stage win at the moment but Jungels is taking a few risks on the descent. He's going to fight all the way to the line.
It's now Fuglsang who leads the Nibali group but Amador is still not with that group.
Jungels has dropped the Hesjedal group on the descent, as Nieve heads into the final 7km of the stage.
Maglia rosa group almost a minute down. At this rate Jungels will lose the jersey. Nieve now on the flat section heading to the line.
5km remaining from 170km
There's a slowing in pace for the GC riders. That's Jungels chance to claw back time. 4km now for Nieve though.
Brambilla has caught Jungels. Just in time. Can they pull it off and save pink? The GC riders are starting to organise themselves.
Jungels needs to find around 30 seconds in order to save his jersey. That's a big ask with 5km to go.
Jungels is pulling back some time, a couple of seconds here and there. He's arched over his bike and in full TT mode.
Up ahead and Nieve has 48 seconds with just under 2km of racing.
The gap is going out again, it's almost a minute as Movistar and Zakarin pull the GC group along.
Into the final 1,000 meters for Nieve who takes the stage for Team Sky.
Visconti takes second.
Valverde swings out and leads the GC riders to the line. Nibali takes the sprint and will take the bonus seconds. Now where is Jungels?
Jungels, brave fight, but he's lost the pink jersey. Amador now leads the 2016 Giro d'Italia.
The top ten from stage 13 of the Giro d'Italia:
General classification after stage 13
1 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 54:05:50
2 Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx - Quick-Step 00:00:26
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 00:00:41
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 00:00:43
5 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff Team 00:01:37
7 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 00:02:01
8 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge 00:02:19
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Cannondale Pro Cycling 00:02:48
10 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 00:03:15
Mikel Nieve (Team Sky):
Andrey Amador (Movistar):
So Amador becomes the first Costa Rican to wear the maglia rosa. He leads previous race leader Bob Jungels, who drops down to second overall.
Although Amador moves into pink there are some question marks over his ability to stay with the best. He was distanced before the summit of the final climb and had to claw his way back on the descent.
This puts Nibali in a strong position. Now Movistar need to control the race tomorrow and Nibali was able to take a few seconds out of Valverde in the sprint for third.
Kruijswijk also had another strong day. He didn't attack like Valverde or Nibalia but he was never in trouble and followed all the important moves. He now sits 5th on GC, and on the same time as Valverde.
Majka was another follower in that sense, and he looked able and willing to follow whenever there were attacks. He's 6th on GC, 1'36 off Amador lead but had more support on the climbs than some would have predicted.
Zakarin was dropped briefly on the final climb but came back just before the descent to the line. He is in 7th at 2'01 but like Amador may well be under pressure tomorrow when we reach the high mountains.
Amador: “The truth is I didn’t ever imagine this. I didn’t think it could happen. I’m really happy to have this jersey.
You can find our complete collection of post-stage quotes, right here.
Valverde:
“The team was phenomenal today. We were represented in all the breaks. We had Giovanni who was second and Andrey in pink so we are really happy.
You can watch today's race highlights, right here.
Our race report, which includes, the results, photos, and video highlights from today can be found, just here.
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