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Giro d'Italia stage 20 – Live coverage

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Good morning. So this is it (probably). The day that will decide the outcome of the 2020 Giro d'Italia. It's stage 20 and we climb to Sestiere three times during the stage after the route had to be altered earlier in the week. 

Here's how the GC stands coming into the race. It's incredibly close and there's less than 15 seconds between first and third and three riders, who have never been on a Grand Tour podium, set to decide the race.

Kelderman has only held the lead for a day, well about 124km to be more precise, but this is without doubt the biggest day of his career. It's the same for the other two maglia rosa candidates, to be fair. And can you totally rule out Bilbao who came back on stage 18 and is a dark horse for the podium at the very least.

We're about 15 minutes from the start of stage 20. I've checked Telegram and there's no last minute alternations as far as I can see. 

We're close to the start of the stage here in Alba. The mood is tense but it's more through excitement, whereas yesterday it was just tense due to the row between the organisers and the majority of teams. We've not seen Vegni yet this morning but he's around for sure. Yesterday the Italian told reporters that 'someone would pay' for what happened on stage 19. Frankly, you can see his argument but you can also understand why the riders have had enough. From broken bubbles to having helicopters flown at their heads, this has been a stressful race. The circumstances have been tough and RCS have tried to mitigate several problems but everyone will be relieved when we reach Milan and they can go home.

This is what's awaiting the riders on today's stage, and they'll climb it three times. 

Sunweb are probably willing to let a break go in the hope that the bonus seconds are  taken but Ineos will probably drive the peloton today in the hope of cracking Kelderman. Hindley is in a really interesting position because if he doesn't wait for Kelderman then he has to drop Tao Geoghegan Hart.

Of course this stage would have been even harder if we'd had the Colle dell’Agnello and Col d’Izoard but they were both pulled from the route about a week ago. Still, there's enough mountain terrain on the menu to blow this race apart.

In terms of the break, this is the last chance for a number of teams to take a stage, so that will help Sunweb to some extent but there's also a couple of intermediate sprints in the stage too, one about 58km in and then the second one just before the final ascent. 

Click here for our main preview that looks ahead to the final weekend of action at the Giro d'Italia.

Kelderman has spoken to RAI this morning and this is what the Dutch rider has had to say:

"Nervous, yes. For sure, it’s the last big day, and a hard day, for sure. I try to hold it and get it to Milan. Racing conditions, I have no fear of. It’s just that we are short, together in GC. We can expect some attacks. That’s the biggest fear, but we have a super strong team, and try to control. I still feel really good, so I look forward to it."

We are up and running on stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia. The flag has dropped and the stage has begun. Here we go!

Conditions are slightly overcast, a riders have arm warmers on, but it's almost November. No attacks just yet but it's only a matter of time.

Just a reminder of where things stand on GC:

1 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 80:29:19
2 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 0:0:12
3 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:0:15
4 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:01:19
5 Joao Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:02:16
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:03:59
7 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:05:40
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:05:47
9 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:06:46
10 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:28

There's really only four riders fighting for the podium but could we see an audacious attack from Nibali on the penultimate ascent? He won't win the race but he's got that sort of attack in his locker, even if the legs aren't great. Also, he's one of the few riders in the top ten who would be willing to risk everything with a long-range attack.

8km covered and the bunch is still together. 

20km covered in the stage so far, so that's 170km to go. Maths!

The first 107km of the stage are relatively flat but then we start the long road uphill to the base of the first ascent. 

24km into the stage and we have a break and there are some interesting names in there.

The gaps are around 10-20 seconds for now but they could quickly expand if the bunch sits up. They're not traveling as fast at the moment.

That's an interesting move from McNulty but Sunweb and Ineos have kept their riders back. Bahrain have one rider up the road, which is a probably a smart move given the fact that Ineos are going to probably blow the race apart on the final set of climbs.

Situation

30km covered and those two leading groups have formed one large breakaway with the peloton at around 40 seconds. 

40km and the gap has gone out massively to six minutes. 

Riders in the break are:

Astana have missed the move and are leading the chase, which simply takes the pressure off the other GC teams. Astana are chasing the stage of course and perhaps hoping to see Fuglsang move up at the end of the day. 

McNulty is the highest placed rider on GC, 14th at 33:12. He's no threat to the top-ten but was probably following wheels this morning and is using this as further experience in his maiden Grand Tour. He has come undone in the last week of racing but at 22 has a great future ahead of him.

Situation

It looks like Demare and Viviani are going to sprint it out for the intermediate points. It's worth pointing out that this is a rare time Savio's Androni team have missed the break.

Demare wins the sprint and Viviani doesn't contest it.

57km covered and the gap to the main field is holding at seven minutes.

Earlier in the stage we saw Ganna and Denz marking each other and both riders will be important today because the longer they last the deeper the rest of the Ineos and Sunweb climbers can go into the stage. 

We've covered 67km of the stage so far and the sun is finally out. 

The large break have 7'10 on the peloton. 

It's still Astana who lead the peloton at the moment, with Bahrain McLaren just behind them. 

Tao Geoghegan Hart and his Ineos teammates are just behind Kelderman and Hindley with 117km to go.

Adam Hansen, who got a lot of heat yesterday (unfairly) has released a statement regarding yesterday's scenes. This is probably his final road race as a pro and he deserves credit for his career and what he's done to support riders. Here are his comments. 

108km to go and the gap is at 7'09 with Astana still setting the pace on the front of the peloton.

You can follow our live coverage from the Vuelta a Espana (stage 5) just here.

The bunch line out due to the pressure from Astana but the pace is steady rather than lightening quick and we 104km to go, with the gap is at 7'09.

A reminder of the riders in the break as we see Astana continue with two riders on the front of the peloton.

The break continue to work well together as they hold their advantage at over 7 minutes as a few riders in the bunch drop back and take off some extra layers.

96km to go and although we're not close to the first ascent to Sestriere the road gradually starts to climb from here.

The break hit the feedzone with 7'07 over the peloton.

The entire Astana team have moved up and started to set the pace. They're trying to win the stage today and vault Fuglsang a bit higher up the GC. The Dane is in sixth but could move ahead of Almeida by the end of the day if the QuickStep rider cracks early on.

At some point though Ineos are going to take this up and will start to increase the tempo. They might want to use Ganna on the run-in to the first climb and on the lower slopes. 

There's a bit of a split in the peloton through the feedzone and Ineos are being forced to chase because Kelderman, Sunweb and Astana have a small gap. 89km to go.

Further up the road and the break have started to climb towards the first ascent of the day as the Ineos group come back to the rest of the peloton.

The  increase in pace from Astana has cut 30 seconds off the break's lead.

Astana have moved back to just two riders on the front of the main field as we see the gap drop to 6'03 with 80km to go.

A slight easing in gradient and the break lines out as a few riders drop back to the cars for fresh bottles and to take off arm warmers. The gap is down to 5'56 with 76km to go.

We're about 8km from the official start of the climb to Sestriere. A reminder, the peloton will race up the climb three times today after the route was changed last week.

Astana continue to plug away on the front with an other rider posted to the front. Just behind them we have all of Sunweb. 

Is it going to be Fugslang who goes on a long-range attack because he only has a few teammates left? That would be something special as we see Dane sit third in line. The gap to the break continues to drop and it's at 5'37.

The peloton are going to start losing riders soon as the road continues to climb and Astana keep the pace high. All of Bahrain McLaren are near the font with Bilbao nearly tucked in.

Ineos will be happy with the situation as things stand as Astana continue to do all the work on the front of he peloton. 71km to go as up front the break are close to the start of the first climb to Sestriere.

Conci has moved off the front of the break and a few riders are trying to follow. 71km to go.

The break split up and Demare is one of the first victims.

Viviani has also been distanced.

Back in the bunch a number of riders have also been dropped. 

QuickStep are setting the pace for the break, which is down to about 16 riders. McNulty is there.

69km to go and the leaders have 5'11 over the maglia rosa group.

Sagan has lost contact with the peloton.

Two of Sagan's teammates have been dropped too so Majka and Konrad are quite isolated at this point and we're still not on the first major climb. 68km to go.

Astana are down to just one rider on the front and it looks like Ineos are moving up. 67km to go.

We have one Astana rider and then all of Ineos. They're going to set the pace as we reach the first major ascent.

Fuglsang has dropped back to about 15th in the maglia rosa group.

Ben Swift comes to the front, has a word with Astana's last man as further up the road Demare comes back to the break and even has a little dig off the front.

Onto a flatter section of road before we reach the climb with the gap at 5'02 and 62km left to race.

As the road rises again the break are holding their lead at 5'09 with Demare and Viviani still present. The break should make it over the first ascent of the climb.

Back in the peloton and still no major acceleration from Ineos, with the last man standing from Astana on the front. 

Demare has been dropped again as  we see Bahrain try and hit the front of the peloton. 

The break have found another 15 seconds on the peloton. 

57km to go and Ineos move up as they look to win the Giro d'Italia.

We're down to about 45 riders in the maglia rosa group.

Puccio is up first and then we'll have Ganna for Ineos.

Puccio brings back 15 seconds on the break almost right away but the biggest aim now is to put pressure on Kelderman. 

3km from the summit of the first climb with the gap at 4'40.

Puccio continues to set the pace on the front right now as Ineos's pace leads to a few more riders slipping off the back of the peloton.

1.3km from the summit for the break but their lead is down to four minutes. 

Fiorelli has attacked from the break and should take the points at the top of the climb. 

Filippo Fiorelli is first over the top with 52km to go.

Ballerini was second over the top, followed by Bouchard as further down the climb Ineos set the pace with Puccio leading Ganna.

And it looks like Ballerini has gone alone on the descent. 

Ballerini is hurtling down the descent but there's no time gap at the moment.

Conci is leading the chase right now with about 13 riders still in the main break, and the peloton at 3'54 with 44km to go.

Ineos continue to set the pace for the peloton,  which is now at 4'19 with 41km to go.

Ballerini is off the descent, takes a left hand corner, before a short flat section and then the climb begins. We'll head up this climb twice more.

Ballerini has the car with him so the lead is pulling out on the rest of the break as we start to climb.

Ballerini took about 45 seconds on the maglia rosa group on that descent and the gap has gone out to 4'31.

Demare has just been caught by the peloton.

Puccio leads Ganna with 37km to go and the pace is about to be taken to another level. 

Situation

And Ganna hits the front now with 35km to go. Ineos are making their move on the penultimate climb.

Ganna's work has shaved about 30 seconds off Ballerini's lead as we see Viviani and two more riders swept up by the peloton.

1'15 for Ballerini on the chase group at the moment. 

Puccio is still in the peloton, second wheel as he briefly gives Ganna a turn.

How long can Ballerini last because right now he's holding the maglia rosa group at 4'07. Puccio has now peeled off.

Holmes has just attacked and is now the second rider on the road.

The road starts to kick up now with some pitches at 9 per cent. Tao Geoghegan Hart still has five riders with him. 

32km to go and Majka is off the back.

That's a surprise to see Majka off the front at this point. He came into the stage sitting tenth overall. 

Ballerini has lost a minute to the maglia rosa group so his lead is at 3'11 with 31km to go.

It's still Ganna on the front with four more Ineos riders just behind him. Then we have Kelderman and four riders from Sunweb. 

30km to go for Ballerini, who has five riders from the break chasing him at 48 seconds and now Ganna sits up.

And it's Dennis who takes over.

Kelderman just has Hindley with him and the race has been destroyed by Dennis again as Fuglsang goes backwards. 

Nibali dropped, Almeida dropped.

We're down to about five riders and now with 29km to go Kelderman is going backwards.

Geoghegan Hart can't even hold Dennis, who has to slow. 

Almeida is with Kelderman and Bilbao but already Kelderman is losing pink. The gap is about 5 seconds for now.

In terms of the GC we have just Dennis, Hindley and Geoghegan Hart in the group. Kelderman has company with 3km to go but Hindley is now the virtual leader on the road.

Bilbao will ride with Kelderman because he wants the podium but right now Dennis is pulling Geoghegan Hart and Hindley away. 

Rubio is now leading the stage after passing Ballerini with 28km to go.

Nibali and Fuglsang have made contact with the Kelderman group but they're 30 seconds down on Hindley and Geoghegan Hart.

Hindley is looking back, possible for team car but the descent is coming up.

The Dennis train continues to cut through the remnants of the break with McNulty trying to hang on.

McNulty has been dropped but there's no Fuglsang in the Kelderman group, which is now 35 seconds down.

Kelderman is not getting any help as we see Rubio lead over the top of the climb with 2'06 on maglia rosa group but only 1'29 on the Hindley, Dennis, Geoghegan Hart trio.

Kelderman could be a minute down by the time he comes over the summit. He only had 15 seconds at the start of the day. The Dutchman's only hope is that QuickStep bring this back together as they have numbers in the chase group. They don't have a Rohan Dennis though.

Hindley and Geoghegan Hart have 41 seconds on the maglia rosa group. 

22km to go as we hurtle down this final descent of the Giro d'Italia.

The gap is pulling out to 50 seconds now.

The gap is holding between 40-50 seconds between the two key groups with 17km to go.

Nibali has a teammate in the chase, Bilbao too, and in the short valley the gap could drop a bit more.

Hindley on paper is the weaker time trialist so he has to take time on Geoghegan Hart at the finish today.

The gap between the two main group is still around 35 seconds with just 13km to go.

Out front and Rubio is still leading as he hits the foot of the final climb. He has 1'07 on the Dennis group.

The Dennis group has picked up two riders from AG2R and Matt Holmes but none of those riders will work.

Kelderman is at about 53 seconds with 12km to go. Even if he comes back, he'll get dropped again. 

Serry and Ballerini have caught Rubio with 11.5km to go but they only have 31 seconds on Dennis.

Kelderman is now a minute down.

1'10 now for Kelderman so if we didn't know it before, we do now. This is a race between Hindley and Geoghegan Hart for the final maglia rosa.

The Rubio group only have 13 seconds with 9.8km to go.

Dennis and company have caught what was left of the early break so the bonus seconds are back up for grabs and we have an intermediate sprint coming up.

500m to go until the sprint.

Kelderman is now at 1'42. 

Dennis winds things up for the sprint.

Hindley takes it, Geoghegan Hart second, and Dennis third and they've dropped the rest of the group. The Australian looks really good.

6.6km to go as Dennis moves back to the front.

Serry has come back so we have four leaders again.

Hindley has a four second lead on Geoghegan Hart in GC as things stand but there are bonus seconds on the line too. Hindley has to attack before the line though.

Geoghegan Hart has moved to the back of the trio for the first time. The Ineos rider gets on the radio.

Dennis lifts the pace but the Kelderman group has taken 14 seconds back, so are the leaders slowing?

5km to go on this final mountain stage.

Nibali is hanging onto the Kelderman, Bilbao and Almeida group.

It's Knox who has lifted the pace and Nibali has been dropped. 

Up ahead and Serry has been dropped but the Kelderman group are at 1'09.

1'06 now but that gap could go out again as soon as we see attacks at the front of the race. 3.9km to go and Almeida has attacked and Kelderman and Bilbao can't follow.

Kelderman is still making up time though, with the gap at 54 seconds.

Almeida could be moving back onto the podium but now Hindley attacks with 3.4km to go.

Geoghegan Hart comes back, and so does Dennis, almost right away.

Serry waits for Almeida but Kelderman could be off the top three by the end of tomorrow.

2.6km to go and Hindley puts in a big attack but Geoghegan Hart is right on his wheel.

Geoghegan Hart just has to follow at this point.

2.1km to go and Hindley goes again but once more Geoghegan Hart hangs on.

Hindley goes again, that's four but it's not as powerful.

Dennis is back. 1.7km to go.

If Hindley has anything left he needs to make the difference now. And he goes again with 1.3km to go.

Just 800m to go and they're riding next to each other. 

Hindley moves to the front with 500m to go.

Hindley winds things up. 200m to go.

Geoghegan Hart comes over the top and takes the stage. 

1 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 4:52:45
2 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
3 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:0:25

Almeida comes over the line and is closer to the podium with Kelderman finishing at 1'36.

Here's our report and results as we wait to see who is in pink as they should be on the same time after that finish. 

No confirmed results just yet but we're hearing that Hindley is in pink.

So Sunweb keep the jersey but Geoghegan Hart is second and on the same time. Hindley is heading to the podium to wear the maglia rosa for the first time in his career.

1 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 4:52:45
2 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb
3 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 0:0:25
4 Joao Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:01:01
5 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R la Mondiale 0:01:34
6 Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes (Col) Movistar Team 0:01:35
7 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren
8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
9 Attila Valter (Hun) CCC Team 0:01:48
10 James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:02:00

General classification
1 Jai Hindley (Aus) Team Sunweb 85:22:07
2 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:01:32
4 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Bahrain McLaren 0:02:51
5 Joao Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:03:14
6 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:06:32
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Trek-Segafredo 0:07:46
8 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:08:05
9 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Deceuninck-Quickstep 0:09:24
10 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain McLaren 0:10:08

Let's hear from the new race leader:

I'm speechless. It's something I've dreamed about since I was a little boy. To wear the leader's jersey in a Grand Tour is an incredible privilege. It's not ideal to take it off Wilco but it's nice to keep it in the team. I'm at a loss for words. I saw he wasn't looking super great the first time up the climb. I was thinking I was going to get rid of him and try to take time on him, but I didn't have it in my legs. I was trying everything when I was attacking and I just couldn't get rid of him. I thought I could beat him in the sprint but he was too strong.

(On time trial) I don't know - I'm going to give it my best tomorrow and see how it goes. Regardless of the result I'm happy with how I've been riding and I'm super happy with how the team's ridden this Giro.

And here's what the stage winner had to say:

"There's still one more day to go. It's extremely close. We'll see what happens. This is bike racing, anything can happen. It's been an incredible day, unbelievable scenery, beautiful weather what a stage from everyone. I'm really happy. I was super comfortable. I knew it wasn't for me to force it. I was focussed on the stage. I knew we had a lot of time on the riders behind. It was up him to make the difference. I knew that he couldn't once he made his first attack."
(First TT)

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