As it happened: late attack from the breakaway seals victory at stage 17 of the Giro d’Italia
Breakaway action is possible on this 200km hilly stage to Andalo
Buongiorno and welcome to stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia!
After yesterday’s excursion into the mountains, and fourth stage victory for Jonas Vingegaard, today’s parcours is far punchier, with three category three climbs, plus an uphill to the finish
Today’s parcours has one outcome written all over it: breakaway success. Not hard enough for the GC riders, but too hard for the sprinters, many riders will have spied this as one of, if not the, final chance to win a stage, and will therefore put their all in making this one succeed.
With such a breakaway-friendly parcours, and with 16 teams still lacking a stage win at the race, there will be a huge number of riders wanting to get into the breakaway, so brace yourself for another hectic start to the stage as riders fight to form the definitive group.
With such a breakaway-friendly parcours, and with 16 teams still lacking a stage win at the race, there will be a huge number of riders wanting to get into the breakaway, so brace yourself for another hectic start to the stage as riders fight to form the definitive group.
Large crowds have assembled in Cassano d'Adda to see the riders off from the unofficial start.
One battle set to intensify today is that for the Maglia Ciclamino. Having gained some more points yesterday, Jhonatan Narváez now lies just two points behind leader Paul Magnier, and today looks like prime territory for the Ecuadorian. He will surely try to get into the break to mop up more points, both at the finish and the intermediate sprint 140km into the stage, and Soudal-QuickStep will likely do all they can to prevent him from doing so.
Just 1 more kilometre in the neutralised zone before the stage is set to start.
Today's stage might feature over 3,000m of climbing but that's all to come later. The first 50km are all flat.
NSN are the most lively team so far, but no gaps have been estbalished yet.
Martin Marcellusi is the first rider to get a small gap with an attack.
Martin Marcellusi has been brought back, and three new riders lead the race - Mihkels, and two others.
Dylan Groenewegen has had to stop for a mechanical.
Mihkels is up the road with a Tudor and Movistar rider.
Narváez makes his first move to get up the road - and inevitably has Maglia Ciclamino rival Magnier glued to his wheel!
Jacobs and Froidevaux are the two riders leading the race with Mihkels.
Flat tyre for Arrieta. He's one of the riders you'd back to get into the break on a stage like today's.
190KM TO GO
Froidevaux, Jacobs and Mihkels lead the peloton by 20 seconds, but there's still plenty of interest and activity in the latter by riders eager to get up the road.
Two Polti riders are the latest to try and jump out of the peloton.
Bais and Maestri are the two Polti riders who attacked, and are still ahead of the peloton, but behind the three leaders.
The Polti duo have been caught by a small group of attackers from out the peloton.
They've all been brought back by the peloton, and the 3 leaders only have a very slender lead of a few seconds.
180KM TO GO
Mihkels, Jacobs and Froidevaux have been caught, so the peloton is all back together again!
That sparks another wave of attacks, Jasper Stuyven the latest to try.
A few more riders joined Stuyven, but UAE's Bjerg took a big turn at the front of the peloton to bring them all back.
A new group of 6 has formed and has a fragile lead on the peloton.
Now this group is beginning to make progress, increasing their lead to 10 seconds.
It's actually a 7-man group that leads the race: specifically: Leknessund, Christen, Valgren, Cavagna, Larsen, Tonelli and Tarozzi.
Ghebreigzabhier counters out of the peloton to try and bridge up to the leaders.
Another counter attack, this time by a Movistar rider, ahd sparked a flurry of new moves out of the peloton. This is still far from settled down.
6 of the 16 teams without a stage win are represented in this lead group - which means 10 of the winless teams aren't here, and therefore may not be happy with this move.
160KM TO GO
Their lead continues to grow, to 25 seconds, while fresh attacks keep coming from behind in the peloton.
The gap's coming down again though, to 15 seconds.
In about 10km the complexion of the stage is about to change significantly, as the road goes uphill for the first time for the first climb of the day. At this point, if the day’s break still hasn’t been formed, a whole different type of rider will be in contention to get into the break.
Tobias Bayer has attacked by himself and is trying to bridge up to the leaders without any assistance.
The pace has slowed down in the peloton for a first time in a while, but that only lasts a few moment as more attacks are fired out of the peloton.
150KM TO GO
Are the peloton done chasing for now? They've allowed the leading 7 to get 1:30 up to the road now, with Bayer 30 seconds up and a new counter-attacking group a few seconds.
Visma and Ineos have spread their riders across the road at the front of the peloton, leaving little room for anyone else to attack. This might beit for attacks out of the peloton.
Bayer has been caught by the 6-man counter that formed behind him.
The 7 riders in the lead group.
The 7 leaders start the climb, with a lead of over a minute on the chase group, and two minutes on the peloton. It seems they will be the break of the day - but can any of the group behind climb well enough to join them?
The climb they're on is the Passo dei Tre Termini, and it climbs at 8.2km at 5.9%.
The riders in the chase group are: Bais, Milessi, Van den Broeck, Van Dijke, Bayer and Kopecky.
Tudor Pro Cycling had led the peloton on the first part of the climb, and have now fired Stork off the front with an attack. Is he too far behind the groups already to catch them though?
Some interesting names and quality climbers are trying to get involved with Stork's attack - Rubio and O'Connor are both trying to go with him.
Magnier is being dropped from the peloton on the climb. Will this be Narváez's cue to try and get up the road?
Pellizzari has also been dropped from the peloton.
Visma have reacted to this O'Connor counter-move.
O'Connor has sat up and alloweed himself to come back into the peloton. As someone in the top ten on GC, Visma must have felt like they couldn't let him up the road.
The rest of the counter-attackers are still pressing on though.
Meanwhile the main chase group, which Bayer and Kopecky have been dropped out of, is only 20 seconds behind the leaders.
140KM TO GO
2km from the top, the leaders are 22 seconds ahead of the chase group, and 1:15 ahead of the peloton.
Narváez has made it into the large chase group (the one O'Connor one is before dropping back), which is ahead of the peloton and behind the main chase group.
This group with Narváez is full of many strong riders - Ciccone, Mas, Caurso, Van der Lee, Rubio are all there.
Van den Broeck, Milesi and Van Dijke are about to catch the leaders.
KOM - PASSO DEI TRE TERMINI
They first and second groups come together as the crest the climb, and Bais, having attacked from the group behind a little earlier, leads them over the top to take the KOM points uncontested.
The Narváez group crests the climb at about 35 seconds, and the peloton at about 1:30.
Caruso is remonstrating with the rest of the chase group to try and get them to work together. The race still hangs in the balance of whether or not they will bridge up to the leaders.
130KM TO GO
At the moment, the chase group is losing ground, falling to 50 seconds behind the leaders, and 40 seconds ahead of the peloton.
Whether or not this group makes it to the lead group may even determine the ultimate fate of the Maglia Ciclamino If it does, Narváez stands to take it from Magnier and build a big lead; if it doesn’t it’s advantage Magnier still.
This chase group was already big and unruly, but even more so now that another group of riders who attacked the peloton on the climb has joined them on the descent.
The chase group are pulling away from the peloton again, but the leaders are still 55 seconds up the road from them.
The riders are on to the day's second climb, the 7.8km, 4.3% Cocca di Lodrino.
120KM TO GO
Still the gap between the leaders and the chasers holds steady, at 47 seconds. The peloton seems happy to sit up though, allowing the gap to the leaders to grow to 2:55.
It's a very big group that is chasing the leaders. Here are the riders in it:
Narváez, Arrieta, Vlasov, Ciccone, Caruso, De la Cruz, Hirt, Mas, Rubio, Lopez, Stork, Gualdi, Van der Lee, Bayer, Garofoli, Leemrize, Van den Bossche and Donovan.
It seems this big chase group is indeed going to catch the leaders. As they continue the climb, they're now just 23 seconds behind them.
Cavagna has attacked out of the lead group.
But he's thought better of it and has sat up.
And now Cavagna has had another change of heart, and is pressing on after all.
The catch has been made, the chase group has caught the early break!
So we now have a massive group of 28 riders, behind lone leader Cavagna.
Cavagna is about to take the KOM points at the top, and we can anticipate some riders going for the remaining points in the group behind - namely Ciccone, Rubio and Van der Lee.
KOM - COCCA DI LODRINO
Cavagna crests the climb, while Ciccone wins the sprint for second ahead of Rubio and Van der Lee.
Visma are riding tempo in the peloton. This time, they seem happy to let the break take the stage win.
Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
110KM TO GO
Cavagana still leads, and by quite a bir margin. He's 1:10 up on the breakaway group, while the peloton is now a distant 4:47.
Cavagna is committed to this move, and his lead is getting bigger and bigger. It's up to 1:45.
Here are the new KOM rankings after the two climbs earlier:
1 Vingegaard 211
2 Ciccone 133
3 Gall 96
4 Van der Lee 84
5 Rubio 79
Movistar are the best represented team in the break with four riders, among them some quality riders. Mas and Rubio have already been active in breakaways since falling out of GC contention, and will like the look of the climbs coming up, while Milesi has also shown sterling form this Giro, and López has done some good work as a domestique.
After Movistar, UAE are the net best represented team with three, and could prove party poopers among the teams chasing their first stage win of the Giro by winning their fifth. Narváez is of course their main man, and will be extra motivated by the big points classification haul that would come with winning the stage, but Arrieta and Christen both have the pedigree to win the stage too.
It's calm enough in the peloton for Simone Consonni to take a brief stop to say hello to who we assume must be his partner and kids.
Cavagna really is on a mission! He's lead is growing and growing, up to 2:17. It's just a shame for him his that there are over 80km of this long stage to go.
Surprisingly, Visma have upped the pace in the peloton. For what purpose? It's unclear. Surely they don't intend to bring the break back?
There's been a split in the breakway group.
Jan Hirt has dragged the riders who were caught the wrong side of that split back into the group, so they are all back together again now.
The road is going gradually uphill, and will do so until starting the day's third climb, the San Lorenzo Dorsino (2.9km at 6.4%).
If you haven’t already, be sure to read Philippa York’ expert analysis of this final week of the Giro.
At last, for the first time in a while, Cavagna’s lead is coming down. It’s dipped beneath two minutes again.
It's raining, the heavens have opened!
Some refreshing rain might be welcomed by the riders on such a hot day, especially given the lack of descending on the menu. Certainly anyone following the action from the UK must be feeling jealous.
70KM TO GO
Cavagna's lead has grown again to 1:55 of the chase group, which is in turn 5: 30 ahead of the peloton, who, despite Visma's tempo-setting, appear happy to let them contest the stage.
Jayco-AlUla have taken over doing the work in the peloton. They're doing so to defend O'Connor's ninth place on GC, which is currently under threat by Caruso and De la Cruz.
The large breakaway group chasing Cavagna.
They’re nearing the foot of the climb, which is where we can possibly expect the breakaway group to start breaking up as the stronger climbers try to shed the weaker ones.
One rider to look out for in this respect is Ciccone. The Italian has been desperate for a stage win all Giro, and has one of his best chances so far to land one today having made the break. With no teammates in the break, however, he’ll have to race smartly.
The strength of De la Cruz and Caruso on the climbs is reflected by their high top 14 placings on GC. Have they used up too much energy in past stages defending those positions to compete for the stage win today, is the question.
Leknessund is another rider to watch, having already come so close with two second-place finishes. Can he ride the wave of positivity at Uno-X Mobility, following Dversnes' stage win on Sunday?
Freed up from domestique duties for podium contender Jai Hindley, Aleksandr Vlasov will want to capitalise on having made the breakaway today. He enjoys the kind of punchy climbs today is characterised by.
The rain seems to have eased off.
Rémi Cavagna, leading the race still.
Cavagna and the chasing breakaway are on the climb now.
At the top of the climb is the intermediate sprint, so Narváez will be attentive.
De la Cruz has attacked out of the chase group.
UAE are leading the chase of De la Cruz. They don't want to see these Maglia Rosa points disappear up the road.
De la Cruz can see Cavagna. It doesn't look like he's going to surirve to the intermediate sprint still in the lead.
De la Cruz has caught Cavagna, and behind the Arrieta-led chase is about to catch them.
The catch is made 300m from the top, and the sprint. Will anyone challenge Narváez?
INTERMEDIATE SPRINT
No they don't - Narváez takes the 12 points on offer, and becomes virtual leader in the Maglia Ciclamino!
Magnier's Soudal teammate Van den Bossche tried to challenge Narváez for the points on behalf of Magnier, but simply didn't have the same kick.
Van den Bossche and Ciccone and Narváez have gone clear together over the climb, and still have a lead of a few seconds.
Those three riders have been caught.
The virtual Points Classification:
1 Narváez 155 points
2 Magnier 145
3 Milan 78
4 Stuyven 71
5 Silva 70
Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
Garofoli has attacked out of the break! A another Soudal rider, he'll be partly riding to try and prevent Narváez from getting Points Classification points.
He's been caught, as Movistar chase.
The road is dragging uphill, and will continue tha way for most of the 45km still to ride.
Caruso has attacked, and taken three riders with him.
Valgren, Garofoli and López are the three riders with Caruso.
Those four riders are 15 seconds up on the chasers.
A reminder that 18 teams were represented in this breakaway group, including 13 of the winless teams. But only two of those teams, Movistar (with López) and EF (with Valgren) are in this leading quartet.
Leknessund is chasing after them, another rider of a team (Uno-X Mobility) who already have a win at this Giro.
Behind the leaders, the chasers are breaking up as they keep attacking each other.
There are still some splits in the chasing groups, and Narváez is attacking to try and close it.
Van den Broeck attacks from the chase group to try and force a selection.
Arrieta was one of the riders to follow Van den Broeck, and has attacked himself.
Rubio has joined Arrieta.
Now Vlasov joins Arrieta and Rubio.
They're descending for a short while after the long uphill drag, and Caruso and Garofoli have opened up a gap on the others who were in the lead group.
The leading quintet.
Rubio, Vlasov and Arrieta caught Leknessund, Valgren and López.
Rubio attacked to catch Caruso and Garofoli, but they've now been joined by Leknessund, López, Valgren and Vlasov.
Arrieta has made it back to the lead group, to become its eighth member.
De la Cruz and Van Dijke are trying to bridge up to the leading eight.
Ciccone and Narváez are conspicuous by their absence at the front.
Van Dijke and De la Cruz have joined the leaders. So that's ten at the front.
The chase group with Narváez and Ciccone in it are 30 seconds behind.
The chasers are coming back to the leaders, they're now just 18 seconds behind.
The chase group is made up of: Narváez, Mas, Ciccone, Van der Lee, Hirt, Stork, Donovan and Gualdi.
Back in the peloton, which is 6 minutes behind, Jayco-AlUla are still working in defence of O'Connor's 9th place on GC.
20KM TO GO
The Ciccone / Narváez group still has 30 seconds to make up to join the leaders. With only 20km left to ride, they're running out of time!
Caruso attacks, just as they start the San Lorenzo Dorsino climb!
He hasn't managed to break the group up though.
This climb lasts just 2.9km but averages 6.4%.
Caruso attacks again, and now Rubio counters.
Here comes Narváez! He attacks towards the bottom of the climb from the chase group behind.
Caruso and Rubio keep attacing from the front group, but haven't made a selection yet.
Narváez attacks again behind, but still has multiple riders on his wheel.
Rubio tries for a third time, and this time nobody has responded.
Rubio has a gap!
Valgren and Arrieta have responded, and are now about to catch Rubio.
Behind, Caruso and the others are looking at each other.
Arrieta, Rubio and Valgren lead over the Red Bull KM, a few seconds ahead of the chasers.
The riders have been climbing the 8km Andalo-Lever, and are nearing the summit.
Valgren and Rubio have gone clear of Arrieta, whose dropped back to Caruso, Vlasov, Leknessund and De la Cruz.
That chasing quartet are starting to look at each other - they need to be careful or could let the leading duo get out of sight!
Rubioand Valgren did get a lead of 15 seconds, but that's coming down again now the chasers are working together again.
Rubio and Valgren still have ten seconds as they near the top of the climb.
Menawhile Ciccone and Narváez are over a minute behind, and look out of contention now.
KOM - ANDALO-LEVER
Rubio takes the KOM points uncontested, for once free of Ciccone and his fast sprint.
10KM TO GO
12 seconds is the gap between Rubio and Valgren to Caruso, Vlasov, Leknessund and Arrieta.
There's now a short descent to take them to the foot of the final unclassified climb to the finish.
11 seconds is the gap between the leaders and the chasers.
Leknessund has lost some ground on the other three on this descent.
Leknessund is back on and now leads the chase to the two leaders.
Rubio is sitting on Valgren's wheel. He's already attacked the Dane multiple times today - does he have another one left in him?
Arrieta has attacked.
He's got a gap, and can see Rubio and Valgren ahead of him!
Rubio attacks!
But Valgren can follow.
Arrieta still has them in his sights.
And Arrieta catches them!
Valgren leads as they near the final 2km, and keeps looking behind him at the other two.
And now Vlasov, Leknessund and Caruso are about to catch them!
They've done it - so we now have 6 riders together with just 1800m to ride.
Caurso attacks! Only Rubio and Valgren follows.
Now all 6 are back together again.
Valgren attacks 1.1km from the line, and nobody follows him!
Leknessund is clear of the rest trying to chase, but Valgren's lead might be too big...
It looks like Valgren is going to do it.
Leknessund is second, yet again.
Caruso wins the sprint for third.
The other riders behind are arriving in ones and twos.
Here comes Narváez, who wins a sprint from a five-man group, to pick up a few more points in the race for the Maglia Ciclamino.
This will go down as one of the biggest wins if Michael Valgren's career. He might have won the Amstel Gold and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad classics, but never before in a stage of a Grand Tour.
The victory is also an emotional moment for Valgren, as the biggest since a horrible, career-threatening crash four years ago.
Spare a thought for Andreas Leknessund though. After again fighting hard to get into the breakaway,he once more has to settle for second-place - the third third time he has finished runner-up at this Giro.
It was an uneventful day for the GC contenders, who all arrived in the peloton 5:15 after Valgren.
While the GC remained the same, there was a significant change in the points classification as Jhonatan Narváez grabbed the Maglia Ciclamino from off the shoulders of Paul Magnier. The fate of the jersey is going to come down to the wire - here's what the rankings look like with just four stages left:
1 Narváez 157 points
2 Magnier 145
3 Leknessund 79
4 Milan 79
5 Stuyven 71
Thanks for joining us today, for what was an epic battle for the stage victory among the breakaway that raged for many hours, ultimately won by a very popular winner in Michael Valgren.
Tomorrow looks like it could be one for the sprinters - but a nasty 1km wall close to the finish will make things complicated. It’s fascinatingly poised between sprinters and attackers, while there’s hope again that the breakaway could succeed. And it could be the definitive day in the race for the Maglia Ciclamino. Whether Magnier can survive that final climb to sprint for the stage, or if Narváez can use it to break clear from the peloton, could be crucial in determining its fate. So join us again for what promises to be another fascinating stage
