Giro d'Italia stage 19 - Live coverage

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A GC stalemate as Bouwman captures second stage victory and secures blue jersey

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Stage 19 Giro d'Italia 2022 profile

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia. The peloton head back into the mountains for another summit finish today!

After yesterday's flat stage, it's another tough day out in the mountains and a return to the GC battle with just three seconds separating Richard Carapaz and Jai Hindley at the top of the standings.

The map for today's stage 19. The race heads into Slovenia today and circles around Udine in Friuli in the far north-east of Italy.

We're around 45 minutes from the start of today's stage at the moment.

There'll be a 6.3km neutral zone to start the stage.

Will we see another battle between these two on the final climb today?

Just under 30 minutes to the start today, meanwhile, and the riders are signing in at Marano Lagunare.

Here's a look at the stage 18 results and the GC standings heading into today's stage.

Just over 10 minutes until the riders roll out to start the neutral zone on today's stage now.

Maglia rosa Richard Carapaz heads to the start in Marano Lagunare today.

The peloton roll out at the start to kick off stage 19.

A 6.3km neutral zone should take around 15 minutes to pass through.

The riders still heading through the neutral zone currently.

178km to go

Dries De Bondt now up front pulling Van der Poel along.

174km to go

Still more attacks fly at the front but nothing solid away yet.

170km to go

Almost 70km before any climbing today. It does head uphill much of the way, though the slope is gradual.

Edoardo Affini (Jumbo-Visma) and Davide Ballerini (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) among the men on the attack now.

Mark Cavendish (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and Thymen Arensman (Team DSM) up front now.

Affini is driving a move with a small gap.

Eenkhoorn, Cort, Valter, Tonelli, Vendrame, Bouwman, Gaviria up there.

163km to go

DSM pushing at the head of the peloton, 20 seconds behind the move.

Jefferson Cepeda (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) the only man to DNS today. 151 men left in the race.

159km to go

DSM are leading the peloton in the chase. A Jumbo-Visma rider waves away the TV moto in front of the peloton to try and stop any drafting benefits.

Israel-Premier Tech, DSM, Lotto Soudal, Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè among those attacking now.

30 seconds up to the lead move.

151km to go

148km to go

No team controlling the peloton at the moment. A very slow roll-along with a few riders from Lotto, AG2R, Jumbo, Trek up front.

144km to go

Around 35km to go until the break hits the first climb of the day, the third-category climb of Villanova Grotte.

Ineos Grenadiers head to the front of the peloton to take control as the gap hits 5:30.

6:20 now...

134km to go

A look at the break, with Ballerini and Affini up front.

128km to go

Now Bora-Hansgrohe move up to the front of the peloton.

The peloton speeds up a little after the team take over the pacemaking.

The breakaway reach the first intermediate sprint of the day in Buja. Gaviria jumps off the front and he's followed by Theuns and Ballerini. A bit of competition on a day that isn't really for them.

Just over 10km to go until the start of the day's first climb.

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Bora-Hansgrohe have brought the break's advantage to 10:45. Still a huge gap.

The Giro passes through Alessandro De Marchi's home region today and he stops at the side of the road to greet some fans and family before getting back in the peloton shortly afterwards.

114km to go

The gap is coming down gradually at the moment as Bora-Hansgrohe continue to control the pace in the peloton.

The breakaway are closing in on the first climb of the day, the third-category hill. 9:40 back to the peloton.

106km to go

Still all together in the break as the riders head uphill.

Affini leading the way currently.

A look at the breakaway.

Looks like Ballerini had a brief run-in with a spectator on the side of the road there. Someone wandered too far into the road.

9:20 back to the peloton from the breakaway now.

9-4-2-1 points up for grabs at the top here.

102km to go

A short descent and then it's back uphill for another third-category climb. It'll be the Passo di Tanamea (8.9km at 5.5%).

Some sprinters drop off the rear of the peloton. Maglia ciclamino Arnaud Démare is among them.

98km to go

As well as Porte being distanced on the climb, RAI report that Pavel Sivakov crashed earlier in the stage. Not a great day for Ineos Grenadiers so far.

Some news elsewhere as Wout van Aert has confirmed that he will go for the green jersey at this year's Tour de France, meaning his Jumbo-Visma team will be balancing the hunt for two jerseys this July.

92km to go

Bradley Wiggins reports from the Eurosport bike that the Australian shouted "gastro" to him after being dropped from the peloton, adding that he had thrown up while riding, too. He's clearly suffering from stomach problems today, then.

Splits off the back of the peloton after that climb and descent, but it doesn't look like any major GC names were dropped.

Pozzovivo is reportedly missing from the front group, actually.

86km to go

The break is still all together up front.

Bora-Hansgrohe continue to lead the peloton at 8:30 down.

The peloton has swelled after that descent as dropped riders get back on.

The break gets over the top and of course it's Bouwman who grabs another nine points.

Affini leads the way down the descent and they'll look to push the pace now. It's a long, hilly run downhill and over a few rises too to the bottom of the first-category Kolovrat climb.

80km to go

That's not a big surprise given the reports of his condition earlier.

Now the riders cross the border into Slovenia.

72km to go

Most of the break pulling through to keep the pace up now. Of course, Ballerini, Davy, and Affini are working for their teammates Schmid, Valter, and Bouwman – each of them better climbers.

67km to go

65km to go

Here's a look at Kolovrat. It's a hard climb at 10.3km, 9.2% but the top comes at 43km still to go...

The gap back to the peloton is up to 8:55 now. They're pulling it out here on the run to the climb!

It's been a fast day so far. The riders pass through the town of Kobarid some seven minutes ahead of the fastest time schedule.

54km to go

52km to go

12% slopes for the break currently.

Cort and Vendrame struggling the most in the break.

51km to go

Schmid, Bouwman, Tonelli, and Valter left at the front.

Bora-Hansgrohe continue to lead the peloton while Edoardo Zardini (Drone Hopper-Androni Giocattoli) makes an attack.

Zardini has 25 seconds on the peloton now. Not a very high pace from Bora-Hansgrohe so far.

49km to go

The break hits the mid-climb flat section for around a kilometre. The remainder of the climb is less steep than that starting 5km, 10% section.

Riders drop out the back of the peloton on the climb. Good climbers like Diego Ulissi and Bauke Mollema among them.

47km to go

Big crowds on the climb in Slovenia here.

Zardini still hangs out in front of the peloton, around 20 seconds up.

Zardini passing some riders who have dropped back from the breakaway now.

46km to go

Affini back in the peloton now after his second day of hard work out front.

44km to go

And Bora-Hansgrohe still lead there. Ineos and Bahrain behind them.

The peloton still 3km from the top as the break hits the final 500 metres of the climb.

Bouwman leads the break over the top of Kolovrat unchallenged. He's confirmed as the maglia azzurra winner, as long as he finishes the race.

43km to go

Just a couple of kilometres of descent and the break will be back in Italy.

Confirmation of 40 points for Bouwman at the top to take him to 276 points. Schmid took 18, Tonelli 12 and Valter nine.

Eight minutes between break and peloton as the leaders cross the border back into Italy.

Vendrame came back on the descent and immediately tried to jump off the front of the  break!

Meanwhile, the peloton lies at 7:15 down.

Still around 25km of descent and valley roads to go until the riders hit the final climb.

Schmid leading the break down the descent now. Still five up there after Vendrame came back.

30km to go

There is another intermediate sprint before the final climb, but it's just for 3-2-1 bonus seconds. It's in Cividale del Friuli some 19km away.

Back in the peloton, it's Bora with four, Ineos with four and then Bahrain with five.

25km to go

Some technical sections through the woods here. Good to see all the riders staying upright so far.

Vendrame, Schmid, Tonelli, Bouwman, and Valter finish the descent 6:50 up on the peloton. Now a 13km run in the valley.

20km to go

The break are certain to contest the stage victory today. With Vendrame dropping on the last climb and Tonelli also getting into some trouble, it looks like Bouwman, Schmid, and Valter should be the strongest, though that looked apparent on paper when the break was formed.

Back in the peloton, meanwhile, we're likely to see another showdown between the GC top three – Carapaz, Hindley, and Landa. They've shown themselves to be the best climbers so far in the race, though it's only a short finishing climb and you'd think the peloton would have to be slimmed down early on for them to get away from the rest.

15km to go

The peloton is less than 30 riders at this point, by the way.

Over half of those men are from Bora, Ineos, Bahrain, and Intermarché.

Lorenzo Fortunato (Eolo-Kometa) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) try and attack on the flat but Bora-Hansgrohe chase it down.

12km to go

The break close in on that intermediate sprint in Cividale del Friuli.

Here's a look at the final climb as the break are almost at the base.

8km to go

And now the breakaway quintet hit the climb.

Again, it's a climb of two parts with a short descent in the middle. This time, the second part of the climb is the toughest with gradients in the double digits near the top.

7km to go

8:30 back to the breakaway now.

6km to go

No attacks in the break yet. They're spreading out across the road every so often with nobody willing to take it up properly.

Ineos Grenadiers still leading the head of the peloton as the group approaches the climb.

5km to go

Now the break finish the first part of the climb and hit the short mid-climb descent.

Ineos Grenadiers pushing the pace in the peloton now.

4km to go

Eight minutes back to the peloton.

Ineos with three men ahead of Carapaz. 

Now Tonelli puts in a bit of an acceleration before deciding against it.

3km to go

The break have enough time to slow and look around at each other and they sure are taking it.

Bouwman attacks shortly after the 3km banner.

Everybody else sticks with him, though. Valter responds.

2.5km to go

It's all cagey again...

7:30 back to the peloton, which is still led by Ineos.

Tonelli makes a move. Bouwman matches him quickly.

Schmid, Valter, and Vendrame get back too.

2km to go

Tonelli looks to be in a bit of trouble, too.

Vendrame trying to work his way back but the toughest gradients lie ahead. 10% section at the moment.

And now Vendrame comes back!

The final 600 metres are run on pretty shallow gradients of around 5% after the steep stuff.

1.5km to go

All together in the break, still.

López, Pozzovivo, Valverde dropped from the peloton.

Bouwman leads the break. All together still!

1km to go

Now Schmid on the front ahead of Tonelli.

No attacks yet...

The climbers not even pushing the pace to get rid of Vendrame on these hard slopes.

5:30 back to the peloton, now.

800m to go

A very small 'peloton' here. 

The main favourites still in there.

Carapaz attacks! Hindley and Landa are with him (shock).

Carthy, Nibali, Hirt among those behind.

The GC men just passed the 2km mark.

400m to go

Now Landa goes!

Landa gets a gap.

250m to go

Schmid responds

The final corner saw Schmid put Vendrame off the road! They didn't see that corner coming at all...

Bouwman easily takes the win after that.

Second stage win of the Giro d'Italia for Koen Bouwman!

Meanwhile, Carapaz, Hindley, and Landa are riding together.

More riders come across to the GC men as they hit the final kilometre.

Carapaz and Hindley accelerate but there's no separation.

Now the GC men come to the final corner. Carapaz leads a group of seven or so.

All around the corner just fine.

No change in the GC race as the main favourites all finish together.

The Giro d'Italia parcours was engineered to ensure a battle to the final few days and that's what is going to happen. 

Schmid complains that Bouwman cut him off around the final corner, causing him to put Vendrame and Valter wide as a result.

A shot of Bouwman celebrating victory atop the climb.

The gaps are so large on the GC (aside from first and second) that it looks like that final climb hasn't led to any changes at all...

Vendrame not happy with that finish either. He says he's thankful there were no barriers on the outside of that corner.

A look at Schmid protesting with his arms out behind the celebrating Bouwman.

A look at that final kilometre, which saw the breakaway ride a very cagey climb before exploding in a controversial finish, while the GC favourites matched one another once again.

Here's our stage 19 report complete with results and photo gallery

And here's a look at the updated GC standings with all the info from stage 19

Elsewhere today there was plenty of other racing going on. Check out results from the second stage of the Boucles de la Mayenne, our report from the opener of the RideLondon Classique, the action from the fourth stage of the Thüringen Tour, and a report from the fourth stage of the Tour of Norway, too.

Meanwhile, here's Bouwman celebrating a stage win at the 2022 Giro d'Italia once again.

And here's Carapaz in pink yet again. He'll be hoping to do this two more times on Saturday and Sunday to secure his second Giro d'Italia title.

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