Giro d'Italia stage 10 - Live coverage

Buongiorno and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia.

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height, the riders are lined up for the start in L'Aquila. 

The city was virtually destroyed in an a major earthquake in 2009 but can celebrate the start of the Corsa Rosa today.

The riders roll out of the city centre under warm blue skies but there are worries of immediate attacks and later echelons in the valley road to Foligno. 

The riders are tucked behind the race directors car awaiting for the flag to be dropped.

The stage starts with the Sella di Corno climb and so we're expecting attacks from the start. 

Indeed we have attacks. 

Before the start several teams warmed up on rollers, including the new race leader Egan Bernal. 

We have several attackers up the road and the peloton has slowed and blocked the road. 

There are five riders on the attack. 

They attacked on the flat, before the climb started. 

Amongst the five are some usual breakaway suspects: 

Simon Pellaud (Androni-Sidermec), Umberto Marengo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Samuele Rivi (EOLO-Kometa), Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Kobe Gossens (Lotto Soudal). 

The five already have a lead of 2:00. 

The GC teams and the sprint teams seem happy with the riders up the road. It should allow the sprint  teams to control things, while the GC teams save themselves for the risk of echelons later. 

The Jumbo-Visma and Alepcin-Fenix teams gathering on the front to control the breakaway.

130km to go

The stage is the shortest of this year's Giro at just 139km and so the peloton is keeping the break under control.

The break starts the Sella di Corno climb but it is not steep and so offers a fast ride over the hills toward Rieti. 

 The first intermediate sprint comes in Rieti, then the route turns due north and runs directly towards Foligno. 

The road rolls up and down  to the only categorised climb of the day, the fourth-category Valico della Somma, from the top of which 40 kilometres remain to the finish, giving the bunch plenty of time to reel in the breakaway group if it desires.

The Giro d'Italia is more than a bike race.

Indeed, on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death, today's stage finishes in Foligno, where Dante’s Divina Commedia was first printed in 1472.

Three riders did not start this morning: Matej Mohoric (Bahrain) after his high-speed crash yesterday and also Jasper De Buyst (Lotto Soudal) and Clement Champoussin (AG2R Citroën).   

The sprinters' team seem to have done a deal to control the break, with all the sprint teams putting a rider on the front to help with the work.  

The gap is staying at around 1:30. The peloton is keeping the five attackers on a short leash.

We have a new race leader today. 

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) won stage 9 with an explosive attack on the steep gravel track at Campo Felice on Sunday. The Colombian became the new pink jersey after Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ) was dropped earlier on the climb.

Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana-Premier Tech) were second and third respectively at seven seconds, while Remo Evenepoel (Deceuninck-QuickStep) came in a further three seconds later in fourth to retain his second-place position on GC.

To read our full stage report and see our photo gallery and full results, click below.

Stage 9: Castel di Sangro - Campo Felice

Bernal's late attack on the Giro d'Italia's off-road summit finish of Campo Felice netted him both the stage win and the overall lead, simultaneously confirming that, after a troubled 18 months, he is back at the top of his game.

Any lingering doubts about Bernal's longstanding back injuries before Sunday all-but evaporated when the Ineos Grenadiers rider powered out of a fast-shattering pack in the final kilometre with a vicious double acceleration.

Click below to read what Bernal said after taking his first ever Grand Tour stage win and after pulling on the maglia rosa. He was in tears post stage as he spoke. 

Egan Bernal back to his best with blistering Giro d'Italia attack

115km to go

The break is over the Sella di Corno and are enjoying the descent.

 Their lead stayed pegged at 2:00 as five riders take turns to work on the front of the peloton. 

Alpecin, Qhubekha, UAE, Cofidis, Jumbo all have one rider on the front.

Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) is back on the attack and his team seem happy. 

The road to Rieti is fast along the valley, then stage heads into the rolling hills to cross into the Umbria region.

We've tipped over the 100km to go point of the stage. 

The five riders in the break are working together like clockwork but so is the peloton and keeping them at just 2:00.

The speed is up in the peloton but riders can save energy by staying protected on the wheels.

Here's the intermediate sprint in Rieti.

Pellaud leads it out but goes too early. Rivi takes it, beating  Marengo and Pellaud.

We expect a big-name battle for the remaining points.

Here we go. 

Intermarche lead it out for Pasqualon.  

But Viviani comes off his wheel and beats Pasqualon and Sagan. 

Oops. We have a closed level crossing!

The break has to stop. 

The five attackers are stopped for about 30 seconds but are off again.

However the peloton was not stopped and so only the break will lose time. There will not be a resetting of the break. 

Fortunately for the five, the peloton does not want to catch them just yet, but on the roads near the finish in Foligno. 

The peloton is in the centre of Rieti. 

The Giro often passes through the city on the way to the Monte Terminillo climb that looms over the city.  

Terminillo is the local ski resort for Roma, with the eternal city just 90 minutes away.  

This is the break of the day, with Simon Pellaud (Androni-Sidermec), Umberto Marengo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Samuele Rivi (EOLO-Kometa), Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Kobe Gossens (Lotto Soudal) giving it big licks to hold off the peloton. 

It's great to see the crowds out along the road as Italy again emerges from months of lockdown and restrictions. 

From Rieti the stage turns north and climbs over the border into Umbria and then Valico della Somma before Spoleto. 

From the summit there are just 40km of fast downhill and valley roads. But watch out for the cross winds! 

This is the stage map.

70km to go

The break is trying to push on at speed but the peloton is also on their case.

The gap is at 1:50 after the level crossing cost the break at least 30 seconds. 

The race passes near the Lago di Piediluco and the Marmore waterfall offering some stunning views. 

The riders are travelling at close to 50km/h and so have little time to enjoy them.  

65km to go

The break of five: Simon Pellaud (Androni-Sidermec), Umberto Marengo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè), Samuele Rivi (EOLO-Kometa), Taco Van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Kobe Gossens (Lotto Soudal) lead by 2:10. 

As the stage crosses the mid-way point, several teams feed their riders from the roadside. 

Riders Israel, Intermarche and Bike Exchange all grab bidons and musettes. 

The peloton ups the speed for a descent, bringing the gap down to 1:25.  

However the break is also going full gas to hold them off.

Bora-Hansgrohe have taken over at the front of the peloton. 

Are they trying to up the pace and make some of the other sprinters suffer to benefit Sagan?

Bora are trying to hurt their rivals on the two climbs that come in the next 10km.

There's an uncategorised climb first at Cantoniera and then the longer and steeper Valico della Somma.

Bora's high pace has brought the break to only 45 seconds.

The pace is hurting some sprinters and indeed Dylan Groenwegen has been spat out the back.

Marengo has been dropped from the break, which only leads by 30 seconds now.

The break is near the summit of the Cantoniera climb. The GC teams are also trying to stay near the front to stay safe as Bora blow things apart.

Sagan is sat behind his teammates as they close down the break. 

The riders are on the fast valley road but will soon start the Valico della Somma climb.

43km to go

Gruppo compatto! 

Tim Merlier is off the back as the climb starts. He has 4 teammates with him but they face a hard chase on the road to Foligno.

Nizzolo is also slipping out of the back with 1km to go to the top of the Valico. 

Sagan is also suffering up front on the wheels of his teammates.

The riders can see the entrance to the tunnel, which marks the end of the climb.

Max Richeze is also spat out the back. Gaviria has lost his lead out man.

Sagan moves off the front to check which sprinters have been dropped. 

His teammates up front keep the pace high on the descent. 

Aleotti, Oss and Buchmann are riding hard for Bora. 

The Nizzolo group is 20 seconds off the back. Fortunately the Italian has Campenaerts to help chase the Sagan peloton.

Egan Bernal is sat on the wheels not far from the front.

Nizzolo is swapping turns with Campenaerts but Israel Start-Up Nation is now riding with Bora to help Cimolai and stop Nizzolo getting back on.

And very soon there could be some strong side winds in the valley to Foligno.

Nizzolo and Campenaerts are at 26 seconds but need to make a huge effort to get into the slipstream of the team cars. 

The riders are stunning Spoleto.

Nizzolo shakes his head and they ease up.

Just before the race judges pulled out a block of team cars and so the peloton was further up the road.

Nizzolo thanks Campenaerts with an arm on his shoulder. He thanks his other teammates via his radio. 

ISN are still driving the pace with Bora.  

The sprinters in the front group are Sagan, Gaviria, Viviani and Cimolai. 

Nizzolo, Merlier and Groenwegen have been distanced. 

It's time for the time bonus sprint and Deceuninck are going for it!! 

But so are Ineos!!

But Evenepoel comes back at them, gets on Bernal's wheel and hits the front.

But Jhonatan Narváez comes up to take the sprint. He took 3 seconds, Evenepoel took 2 seconds and  took 1 second. 

The Bernal-Evenepoel battle is a battle for every second.

15km to go

The pace has eased after the fight for the time bounses. 

The riders in the group is starting to think about the finish now. 

Yet again its quite a tactical one.

Sagan has returned to the front to sit in the slipstream of his teammates. 

10km to go

After the fast descent, the leaders in the peloton start to look at each other.

Surprisingly Simon Yates is near the back. 

Indeed, the GC teams are all fighting for position. There's a breeze from the rider's left.

Bernal is riding up near the front.

Sagan has 3 teammates but they are tired after all their hard work to split the group. 

5km to go

UAE are there for Gaviria. 

There's a fight for position as the first corners near.

We're inside the final 3km. The GC leaders can relax a little. 

Here come Team DSM. 

The turns start with 1.5km to go. 

It's a sprint to the first right turn.

Bora lead it out! 

Last km!

One DSM riders goes down.

Is there a split? 

There is. 

Sagan versus Gaviria.

Sagaaaaan!!!

Peter Sagan hit the front after the last corner and held off the rest. 

He had to close down Molano who took a flier but did it. 

Gaviria was on Molano's wheel but let Sagan close the gap in hope of a perfect lead out. However Sagan kept going all the way to the line.

Cimolai was third but a few bike lengths behind. 

This is the top ten for the stage.

1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe 3:10:56
2 Fernando Gaviria Rendon (Col) UAE Team Emirates
3 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Start-up Nation
4 Stefano Oldani (Ita) Lotto Soudal
5 Gianni Vermeersch (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
6 Dries De Bondt (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
7 Andrea Vendrame (Ita) AG2R Citroën Team
8 Vincenzo Albanese (Ita) Eolo-Kometa Cycling Team
9 Elia Viviani (Ita) Cofidis
10 Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates

Sagan punched the air in celebration, that's his first sprint win at the Giro. Last year he won with an attack. 

This is the top ten for the stage and the top ten on GC. 

Notice that Evenepoel has pulled back a Sagan on Bernal in the hectic, aggressive late intermediate sprint.

Sagan was happy to win.

Sagan praised his teammates after all their hard work to shake up the stage, drop some rival sprinters and then lead out the sprint.

"For sure - today I think was a very good day for us. We tried our best and in the end I won and I'm very happy for that.  I have to say thanks to all my teammates," Sagan said. 

Sagan confirmed he is chasing the cyclamen-points jersey.

"When Caleb won the second stage I was very good. It was an uphill and I had very good legs, I started from a little back and I had good speed but I was closed on the barriers and luckily I didn't crash," he explained. 

"Today I'm very happy to win a stage like this. It was a great effort from all the team. Day by day - we still have halfway to go and I will try my best [for the points jersey]."

At the team buses, riders are warming down and starting to enjoy a break from racing and Tuesday's first rest day. 

Here's Simon Yates on his TT bike on the rollers snapped by our man Barry Ryan at the Giro d'Italia. 

Egan Bernal kept the maglia rosa but lost a second to Evenepoel in the late intermediate sprint. 

"I was just following Pippo. I saw an opportunity and I just went behind him," Bernal said, trying to avoid building-up any rivalry with Evenepoel.    

"If you're going behind him it's easier. I take one second but I didn't do any effort, so why not? We are here also to enjoy the race and we are doing that. 

"It was actually really hard, Bora did a great job into the climb, they did a really hard pace. I think everyone was full gas. It was harder than we expected in the morning. Finally we save the day and we are happy."

A late split in the peloton after a crash with 2km to go, meant that Vlasov was in the front group in the same time as Sagan, while Bernal and Evenepoel were in the second group. 

However the race judges have ruled that they were delayed by the crash and so where given the same time as the riders they were with when the crash happened.  

This shot shows Bernal protected by his teammates.

The Bernal-Evenepoel sprint battle ended with smiles and congratulatory touches. 

Before the smiles it was fast and aggressive.

Click below to read about the Bernal -v- Evenepoel battle. 

Egan Bernal and Remco Evenepoel fight for bonus seconds on Giro d'Italia stage 10

The two big stories today, before Tuesday's rest day are the Bernal-Evenepoel rivalry and Sagan's win after Bora disposed of many of his sprint rivals.

We will have full coverage of the rivalry later. to read our full stage report and see our full results and growing photo gallery, click below.  

Giro d'Italia: Peter Sagan wins stage 10

Evenepoel may have gained a second but Bernal is still in pink. 

Thanks to winning the stage, Sagan also took the lead the cyclamen points jersey competition. 

He has 108 points, with Gaviria second on 91. 

Thanks for joining us for full live coverage from stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia. It was quite a day, with Bora cracking some of their sprint rivals, Bernal and Evenepoel fighting for the intermediate time bonuses in a sprint and then Sagan winning the stage in Foligno. 

Click below to read our full stage report and see our growing photo gallery and full results.

Giro d'Italia: Peter Sagan wins stage 10

Thanks for joining us for full live coverage.

Tuesday is the first rest day of this year's Giro d'Italia and so our live coverage returns on Wednesday for the hugely important ands very spectacular dirt road stage to Montalcino in Tuscany. 

Giro d'Italia 2021: Stage 11 preview

Ci vediamo Mercoledi!