As it happened: Denz edges out Gee for Giro d'Italia stage 14 victory

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia!

Today should see a chance for the breakaway or the sprinters with a largely flat stage aside from the first-category climb early on.

Two non-starters announced so far today...

EF Education-EasyPost rider Stefan De Bod is out with an infected wound.

Astana Qazaqstan lose their first rider of the Giro as Samuele Battistella goes home with a fever and gastrointestinal problems.

Only Jumbo-Visma and Bahrain Victorious remain with full squads now.

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Today's stage profile. The Simplonpass will likely see the sprinters drop from the peloton. They'll have 140km to get back on and chase down the breakaway.

And today's route map as the race heads from Switzerland across the border into Lombardia.

Around 20 minutes until the riders head out to start the stage and the neutral zone.

A look at the stage 13 results and GC standings heading into today's stage.

Yesterday's stage saw a triumph for the breakaway as Einer Rubio beat Thibaut Pinot and Alexander Cepeda on the abbreviated mountain stage to Crans-Montana.

Back in the peloton there was a GC stalemate as a headwind prevented any major attacks on the summit finish.

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Five minutes until the riders roll out to start the action.

The stage is underway. Just under 10 minutes until the real racing begins!

The calm before the storm...

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Thibaut Pinot has the red dossard as most combative rider yesterday. He's also back in the blue jersey after picking up a 64 KOM points on the stage.

Pascal Ackermann says he'll take a rest today so he and his UAE Team Emirates team won't be working for a sprint here.

The stage 11 winner said it'll be a day for the breakaway. Trek-Segafredo don't have Mads Pedersen anymore so they won't be working for a sprint either. Alpecin-Deceuninck are missing Kaden Groves, while Soudal-QuickStep only have two riders left to work for Davide Ballerini.

Jayco-AlUla, Astana Qazaqstan, Bahrain Victorious, and Movistar would be the main squads interested in a sprint with Michael Matthews, Mark Cavendish, Jonathan Milan, and Fernando Gaviria.

It's a sunny start in Sierra but there's more rain expected later on today.

193km to go

The flag drops and racing is underway on stage 14!

Breakaway attempts from the very start.

Intermarché-Circus-Wanty, UAE Team Emirates, Movistar all active up front.

Laurens Rex on the move for Intermarché.

He has a gap of around 10 seconds on the peloton.

Nobody else with the Belgian at the moment.

189km to go

More riders jumping from the peloton behind Rex, though.

And now a group has made it across to Rex.

Davide Ballerini, Michael Matthews and Mark Cavendish among the riders in this large group!

It's quite a large group of riders out here, 30-40 riders. We don't have the names of all those involved yet.

185km to go

It's very windy on this early section. And now the peloton is back across.

Now Gibbons is off the front.

Another group at the front as Gibbons is caught.

182km to go

Still no move clear as more riders attack.

Rex back out front in a small group. 

Now it's a move of around 15 men.

Alessandro De Marchi, Henok Mulubrhan, Davide Ballerini, Luis León Sánchez, Andrea Pasqualon, Bauke Mollema among those in the attack.

Stage 12 winner Nico Denz too. And Fernando Gaviria. 

176km to go

30 seconds back to the peloton.

Some riders tried to push the pace and attack in the peloton but now there's a slowing of the pace.

Maglia rosa Geraint Thomas goes to the front of the peloton.

Corratec-Selle Italia missed the break and send a rider on the attack.

Alexander Konyshev is the Corratec man attacking on this short unclassified climb.

Now Stephen Williams and Carlos Verona attack from the peloton.

Williams and Verona are ahead of Konyshev and closing in on the break.

The riders out front...

Davide Ballerini, Pieter Serry (Soudal-QuickStep), Larry Warbasse, Nicolas Prodhomme (AGR2 Citroën), Luis León Sánchez (Astana Qazaqstan), Andrea Pasqualon, Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain Victorious), Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM), Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa), Henok Mulubrhan (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ), Laurens Rex (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Fernando Gaviria (Movistar), Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla), Bauke Mollema, Otto Vergaerde (Trek-Segafredo)

And now Toms Skujins leads another attack from the peloton.

Sprinters Ballerini and Gaviria among the key riders out front. Mollema, Bettiol, De Marchi, and blue jersey contender Bais, too.

172km to go

40 seconds from the break to the chasers.

Derek Gee along with Williams in the chase. Thymen Arensman is also in there!

Lennard Kämna also in there. Both he and Arensman are within three minutes of the race lead.

Around 10 men in the chase. Jumbo-Visma are trying to close it down for obvious reasons.

The chase is speeding along, as are the peloton, so they're both closing in on the leading group...

More riders go from the peloton. Maglia ciclamino Jonathan Milan among those going.

Arensman and Kämna drop from the chase and wait for the peloton. That should calm the peloton down.

Around five men with Milan on the attack.

Now 30 seconds between the break and the chasers. More attacks from the peloton.

164km to go

The gap to the chase is slowly growing.

Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier is off the back of the race alone after getting caught in a crash with Ryan Gibbons earlier on. Gibbons is back at the front of the peloton, however.

Now things are slowing down in the peloton.

They have slowed way down and the gap is up to two minutes already!

40 seconds between break and chase.

The chasers...

Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Simon Clarke, Derek Gee, Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech), Will Barta, Carlos Verona (Movistar), Warren Barguil, Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-Samsic), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo)

Now Eolo-Kometa are riding off the front of the peloton with two riders... The peloton just letting them go – they don't want another big battle here.

Mattia Bais and Mirco Maestri in the move. They have almost three minutes to make up...

The riders are not far off the bottom of the Simplonpass now.

The Simplonpass. 20.2km at 6.5%.

And a look at the breakaway on the road to the climb.

157km to go

The chase group has caught the break.

The break... Three riders each for Israel, Movistar, Trek. Two for QuickStep, Arkéa, AG2R, Bahrain.

• Simon Clarke, Derek Gee, Stephen Williams (Israel-Premier Tech)
• Fernando Gaviria, Will Barta, Carlos Verona (Movistar)
• Bauke Mollema, Otto Vergaerde, Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo)
• Davide Ballerini, Pieter Serry (Soudal-QuickStep)
• Warren Barguil, Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-Samsic)
• Larry Warbasse, Nicolas Prodhomme (AGR2 Citroën)
• Andrea Pasqualon, Jasha Sütterlin (Bahrain Victorious)
• Luis León Sánchez (Astana Qazaqstan)
• Marius Mayrhofer (Team DSM)
• Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe)
• Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost)
• Davide Bais (Eolo-Kometa)
• Henok Mulubrhan (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè)
• Bruno Armirail (Groupama-FDJ)
• Laurens Rex (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty)
• Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla)
• Stefano Oldani (Alpecin-Deceuninck)

6:10 from the break to peloton.

Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier is back in the peloton now after a long chase back.

The Eolo-Kometa duo are 2:40 down on the break. 

Ineos Grenadiers control the peloton 6:40 down on the break. Salvatore Puccio leads the way.

Ineos Grenadiers in charge.

152km to go

Seven minutes now as the rain begins to fall.

Misty rain at the top of the climb and a headwind.

Gaviria among the breakaway. Movistar are controlling the move.

He'll be a favourite for victory if the other men in the break can't drop him before the finish. Obviously, this climb is a great place to get rid of him but the top is some 140km from the finish line...

Mattia Bais has joined his brother Davide in the break. We're not sure where Maestri is, though.

Really grim weather now. Heavy rain as the riders continue up the climb.

Maestri is also up in the break now. Three for Eolo-Kometa in the break, then.

Just under 6km to the top of the climb.

Puccio continues to lead the peloton as Verona leads the break.

Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-Samsic) has abandoned the race.

132 riders left in the race now.

141km to go

Ineos Grenadiers continue to lead the peloton. UAE and Jumbo up there with them.

Up front, Davide Bais and Bruno Armirail are battling for the points at the top of the climb.

Armirail is looking to defend his Groupama-FDJ teammate Thibaut Pinot's blue jersey here.

Armirail on the front with 500 metres to go.

40 and 18 points up for grabs for the first two riders.

Bais comes from behind in the sprint!

The Italian speeds past and takes 40 points. 

He moves up to 144 points to Pinot's 114 and he'll be back in blue.

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Eolo-Kometa lead the break down the start of the descent.

133km to go

Still around 6:40 back to the peloton.

Wide roads on the way down. It's not overly technical but it's very wet.

Revised time gap from break to peloton – eight minutes.

Several riders in the break with flapping rain jackets after missing their chance to zip them up before the descent. They'll be freezing on the way down.

120km to go

Across the border and the Giro d'Italia passes back into Italy.

Down to the bottom of the descent and the gap to the peloton is only going up.

The peloton is 9:30 down now.

Grim weather for the riders.

100km to go

10 minutes now as the riders approach the midway point of the stage.

Not much going on as the riders hit the flat road at bottom of the descent. We'll more or less be waiting for the attacks from the break, wherever they may come.

10:35 for the breakaway now.

The break is coming up to the first of the day's two intermediate sprints at Villadossola.

Hard to see exactly who contested the sprint. Everyone is in black rain jackets and it's still pouring. It looked like Mayrhofer.

88km to go

Mayrhofer led it ahead of Skujins and Gee.

84km to go

11:20 for the break now.

A nice shot of the peloton rounding a corner on the descent earlier on.

No moves in the break as the lead extends over 12 minutes.

74km to go

The situation remains the same as the riders race through the pouring rain. Ineos control the peloton, no attacks in the break.

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13 minutes for the breakaway now. The horrible weather isn't letting up at all.

64km to go

The break still all together at the moment on these flat roads. No attacks yet.

And as soon as I type that, Bettiol goes on the attack!

No immediate response from the break but now Nico Denz is going, too.

58km to go

More attacks flow behind with Laurens Rex leading the way. Denz makes it across to Bettiol.

All back together now as the group comes back across.

Now it's Rex and Oldani off the front across the day's second intermediate sprint.

Now Ballerini has bridged across to Rex and Oldani.

Toms Skujins is trying to get across to the trio. The gap to the rest of the break is around 15 seconds.

49km to go

Skujins is across to Rex, Ballerini, and Oldani!

More attacks from behind now as Williams makes a move.

44km to go

25 seconds from the leaders to the break.

Williams can't make it and he's back in the chase.

It's still raining hard here as the riders race alongside Lake Maggiore.

Sütterlin and Barta working on the front in the chase on behalf of Pasqualon and Gaviria.

39km to go

25 seconds still.

The Movistar and Bahrain domestiques are working hard here. 

30 seconds now.

The peloton is now 15:40 down, by the way.

The best-placed GC man in the breakaway is Armirail at 18:37 down on Thomas. He's currently racing into the virtual top 15 overall.

33km to go

37 seconds for the leaders now.

Now Williams is on the front of the chase along with the Movistar men.

16:50 for the peloton now! A massive gap.

Movistar continue to lead the chase. The gap is going out to the leaders, though.

Movistar doing the work in the chase.

Up to 55 seconds for Ballerini, Rex, Oldani and Skujins.

Skujins has a couple of podiums so far in this Giro. He was second on stage 12.

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Oldani was also in the break on stage 12. Rex was out in the attack a day earlier.

23km to go

The gap is slowly coming down now. Just under 50 seconds.

Eolo-Kometa are also working in the chase now.

19km to go

The four leaders still 50 seconds up the road. 17:50 back to the peloton.

The four leaders.

The lead quartet are still working well together as they head over a small rise in the road.

17km to go

The peloton passes the 30km to go mark. They're 18:10 down on the leaders.

Gee and Bettiol attack from the chase!

The gap is suddenly coming down? TV graphics show it going down to 20 seconds. That can't be right.

More attacks from behind now as the riders tackle more rises in the road.

14km to go

30 seconds for the leaders!

Armirail is now virtual third in the GC, 20 seconds off Thomas.

Gaviria is dropped from the break on those hills.

Clarke, the Bais brothers, Barguil, and the rest of the Movistar riders are also out the back.

11km to go

A reduced group chasing the four leaders now. Serry, Sanchez, Gee, Bettiol, Denz, Mollema, De Marchi all in there.

Gee fights on off the front. Mayrhofer with him.

And now Skujins accelerates at the front!

Oldani and Ballerini still with Skujins.

You'd imagine Skujins would hope to drop both Oldani and Ballerini here. They're both quick finishers.

10km to go

Not long now until the riders can finish off the stage and go and get a well-deserved shower...

Rex not too far off the back.

Denz, Bettiol, Gee, Mayrhofer are together off the front of the chase.

A lot going on here...

Skujins, Oldani and Ballerini still working well.

Oldani looking to add to his stage win in Genoa last year. Ballerini looking to add to his big win at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad two years ago. Skujins also searching for his first Grand Tour stage win after several podium spots.

8km to go

The trio still pushing on with a small gap.

Rex with Denz, Bettiol, Gee, Mayrhofer at 17 seconds now.

Further back we'll also see if Armirail can take pink. We haven't had a time check to the peloton in a while, though.

19:20 from the peloton to the front of the race.

Armirail is in the third group at 37 seconds down.

So he is in virtual pink. I think...

6km to go

17 seconds still. It looks like the leading trio might be holding on to contest the win here.

Armirail in virtual pink!

5km to go

15 seconds now!

A few seconds coming off the lead now.

4km to go

Ballerini, Oldani, Skujins still working well. 13 seconds.

They're all taking turns in the chase, as well.

3km to go

The leaders are hanging on to their advantage here. 13 seconds still.

19:25 to the peloton. Will Jumbo-Visma work on the front to keep Thomas in pink tonight? It would mean another round of lengthy podium appearances and press conferences for the Welshman.

2km to go

No sign of any cat-and-mouse games at the front.

The chasers can see them on this straight road. This is going to be close!

1km to go

Here we go!

The gap can't be more than 10 seconds or so.

They're closing in!

Oldani on the front with a move but the chasers are across!

An uphill run to the line.

Bettiol takes it up!

Denz behind Bettiol.

Denz powers through ahead of Gee!

Denz celebrates!

But did Derek Gee nip through to win!?

It was a photo finish!

Denz is celebrating after the line but that was a mad finish.

It looks like Denz has taken another stage win at the Giro d'Italia!

Finish

Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) has won stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia!

A fantastic end to the stage. High drama.

Giro d'Italia: Denz triumphs from the breakaway on stage 14

Gee second and Bettiol third in cold, rainy conditions

Now we wait for the peloton to come home. Will Armirail take pink?

Here's what Denz had to say after his win...

"I felt super good today and I got from the beginning the opportunity to go for the break, which I used again. I was marking Trek, Israel and Movistar, who were all with numbers. I thought we lost it because it seemed that they couldn't close it.

"But then the attacks went on the hills in the final. I still felt really good and followed. In the end, we almost closed it but when we stopped pushing, I thought it was all for nothing. I didn't want fourth because I already won so I closed it and then Bettiol launched. I jumped on his wheel and went full to the line and – again, crazy."

Sportsmanship between Denz and Bettiol after the line.

18 minutes later and the peloton are still racing to the line. Not too quickly, though.

Armirail will be the new maglia rosa!

He's the new race leader! The peloton crosses the line just over 21 minutes down.

Armirail was 18:37 down and finished 53 seconds behind Denz.

Here's what runner-up Derek Gee said after the stage...

"Just this much [signalling how close he was to the win], not strong enough, I’m really, really happy with [my legs].

"Simon [Clarke] knows these roads really well, he lives around here. His experience is invaluable. To have three in the group and be able to get that work out of Stevie was unbelievable, he did a great job. I’m sorry I couldn’t finish it off."

Bruno Armirail is the first French Giro leader since Laurent Jalabert in 1999!

Here's what Armirail had to say after the finish...

"I wanted to look for a stage win today. I didn't really imagine that I was going to take the maglia rosa tonight. It's amazing. I tried on stage 4 and was disappointed not to take the win home. But it's brilliant.

"The moment it became a reality for me was there at the end. In the last few kilometres I was hurting, struggling, really trying to stay with everyone. For the team it's fantastic after Thibaut's second place yesterday. It's a dream. I can't believe it."

Armirail is in pink by 1:41 from Thomas now.

Nico Denz celebrates his stage victory on the podium.

And here's Bruno Armirail in the maglia rosa.

Davide Bais back in the blue of the mountain classification leader tonight.

Giro d'Italia stage 14 GC standings: Thomas cedes race lead to Armirail

Frenchman leaps into maglia rosa with 20-minute time gain from breakaway

Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious) remains in the maglia ciclamino as leader of the points classification.

We'll have plenty of news and reaction coming in through the evening from Israel-Premier Tech, Ineos Grenadiers, new race leader Bruno Armirail, plus a preview of Sunday's stage 15 and more. Stay tuned...

That's all for our live coverage of stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia. Come back for more tomorrow!