Giro d'Italia 2015: Stage 7

Welcome to live coverage of Giro d'Italia stage 7 from Grosseto to Fiuggi

Welcome to live coverage of the longest stage of the race. The riders will be heading 264km from Grosseto to Fiuggi.

The big news this morning is that Albert Contador has emerged from the bus and is on his way to sign on. This was Contador just after making his way off the bus.

It was confirmed yesterday that Contador dislocated his shoulder twice following a finish line crash yesterday, first in the crash and subsequently outside the podium tent. Read what Contador had to say yesterday.

Ivan Basso reportedly shared a room with Contador last night. The Italian spoke to the media this morning saying: "We're all with him. I think he got through the night well."

The peloton has rolled out of Grosseto with Alberto Contador at the front of the bunch.

News from our reporter Barry Ryan, who is in Grosseto, is that Contador is riding with lower tyre pressures for today's stage. Lower pressures will help reduce the strain in his shoulder, but as the longest stage of the race it's going to be a tough day out for the Spaniard.

Contador spoke to reporters as he left the bus for sign on this morning, saying that he would give 100% to remain in the race. You can read what the race leader said here and find the latest information on his condition.

It's a rolling sort of day for the riders, with a single classified climb to contend with. It is a tricky uphill finish though, which should suit the likes of Michael Matthews and Sacha Modolo, or perhaps a plucky escapee. Here's a look at what they face today.

Of course Contador wasn't the only rider injured in that crash. Daniele Colli was arguably the worst off after the incident. TV images showed the Italian with his lower arm pointing 90 degrees in the wrong direction. A trip to the hospital confirmed what was obvious, that Colli had broken his arm.

Read up on the Italian's condition here.

@ComounaFlecha Fri, 15th May 2015 09:33:15

We have footage of the crash that took out Contador and Colli, which was sparked when Colli collided with a fan's camera lens. You can watch the video here, plus highlights of the whole stage here.

After 11km of racing the bunch is still all together. The peloton enjoyed a dry start to the day but their is rain heading south and some strong winds are expected later too.

@giroditalia Fri, 15th May 2015 09:43:36

Amidst all of this news about Contador and his injuries, it is easy to forget that Andre Greipel stormed to the third Giro d'Italia stage of his career after a superb lead out from his team. Hear what he had to say after his victory yesterday.

251km remaining from 264km

After 13km we've got three riders with a small gap of 28 seconds on the peloton. The trio are GIanfranco Zilioli (Androni Giocattoli), Fabio Sabatini (Etixx-QuickStep), and Jaroslaw Marycz (CCC Sprandi)

244km remaining from 264km

Our trio have been caught and after 20 kilometres of racing it is all back together.

Outside of the Giro d'Italia, Mark Cavendish took his third stage win at the Tour of California in Santa Clarita.

240km remaining from 264km

The peloton continue to tick along together after 24 kilometres.

Four riders have have gone off the front and they have 3:18 on the bunch. The four riders are Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli), Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF), Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC Sprandi), and Pier Paolo De Negri (Nippo-Vini Fantini).

Four riders have have gone off the front and they have 3:18 on the bunch. The four riders are Marco Bandiera (Androni Giocattoli), Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF), Nikolay Mihaylov (CCC Sprandi), and Pier Paolo De Negri (Nippo-Vini Fantini).

Alberto Contador has been understandably cautious with his left arm. His teammates have been helping him out since his crash yesterday, so that he doesn't have to lift it too high. Read the full story and latest update on Contador's condition here.

It is not a straightforward finish today, let us know your predictions for the stage win today and your thoughts on the crash of Contador and Colli by tweeting us at @Cyclingnewsfeed or @SadhbhOS

Despite the crash of Contador, which happened inside the final 3km, nothing has changed in the overall classification. Here is what the top 10 looks like this morning.

1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 20:25:36
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:02
3 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky 0:00:20
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:22
5 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
6 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge 0:00:37
7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:00:56
8 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:01
9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:15
10 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:01:18

@royvanrijn Fri, 15th May 2015 10:24:58

Today's stage finishes in Fiuggi. It's the ninth time that the Giro d'Italia will finish there. Francisco Ventoso last won there in 2011, when he beat Alessandro Petacchi to the punch. Ventoso isn't here this year but Petacchi is. Can he go one better in his final Giro d'Italia?

219km remaining from 264km

The gap to our four escapees has grown to 6:47 after around 45km of racing.

@KrStokdahl Fri, 15th May 2015 10:34:42

219km remaining from 264km

The gap to our four escapees has grown to 6:47 after around 40km of racing.

220km remaining from 264km

The latest time check has the four escapees at 10:23 after 40 kilometres of racing.

Reports coming through that the wind has really picked up at the finish and we could see the riders coming into Fiuggi slower than the current slowest schedule, which has them finishing at 17:34 CET.

Tinkoff-Saxo are not going to want to push the pace too hard, which will also be helping towards a slower pace, and other GC teams will be wary of taking advantage of Contador's injuries on a flat day like this.

@giroditalia Fri, 15th May 2015 10:54:57

Race organisers RCS have confirmed that 189 riders took to the start line this morning. Race leader  Contador was among those 189, with Daniele Colli the only non-starter this morning. Despite the crashes, only eight riders have abandoned this Giro d'Italia so far with George Bennett being pulled out before the race due to low cortisol levels.

Contador on the start line this morning, how well will his shoulder hold out on the longest day of the race.

As we mentioned earlier, today's finish is a slightly uphill one. Here's a brief description of that finale from the race organisers.

"Entering Fiuggi, the route takes a left turn and continues with a gradient of about 2% into the final kilometre. The road steepens slightly into the 350m home straight, on 7m-wide asphalt, with a gradient of 3-4%."

Tinkoff-Saxo head the buch with Astana and Team Sky right behind them. Contador is near the back of the Tinkoff-Saxo train with a teammate behind him to protect his rear wheel.

The gap to the breakaway has gone up to 11 minutes with headwinds taking their toll. It was going to be a long day out already but this will only make it longer for those concerned.

Tinkoff-Saxo owner Oleg Tinkov has been at the Giro d'Italia since the start. He was fairly subdued yesterday but he spoke to the media this morning saying that the decision to ride to day was Contador's alone. Read the full story here, including comments from team manager Stefano Feltrin.

208km remaining from 264km

The headwinds are testing our escapees too and the advantage has been reduced to 8:48 after 56 kilometres of racing.

200km remaining from 264km

With 200 kilometres still to go the four escapees have an 8:18 advantage on the peloton.

Michael Matthews could be a contender for victory today. Earlier this week, Cyclingnews took a closer look at the Australian's bike. You can see the result in this exclusive video.

We'd like to hear your predictions for today. You can get in touch with us on twitter at @Cyclingnewsfeed or @SadhbhOS

193km remaining from 264km

The riders have battled through 71 kilometres so far and the gap has stabilised at 8:18 for the escapees.

As the gap stops coming down, we'll take a look at the four men we have in the break. Marco Bandiera was in the break yesterday, and always an aggressive rider. However, the 30-year-old is yet to win his first Grand Tour stage. This is his third Giro d'Italia after making his debut at the race in 2012. He has also made one appearance at the Tour de France in 2009 when he was riding with Lampre.

Next up is Pierpaolo De Negri, who ensures we have a Nippo-Vini Fantini rider in the break once again. They'll be hoping for some better luck after Daniele Colli crashed out yesterday, abandoning with a broken arm.

The 28-year-old from Genoa, De Negri is in his second season with the team. He turned professional with ISD-NERI in 2010 and his biggest success to date was victory at the Trofeo Matteoti in 2012. This is his second appearance at the Giro d'Italia.

At 25, Nicola Boem is the youngest of the four escapees. Boem turned professional with Bardini in 2013 and made his Giro d'Italia debut in the same season. He rode it last season also, making this his third appearance.

Boem's biggest win was a stage of the Danmark Rundt last season.

Last but not least is our sole non-Italian in the break today, Nikolay Mihaylov. The 27-year-old Bulgarian joined the CCC Polsat team in 2012 and turned professional the following season when the team stepped up to Pro Continental level. He took three victories last season, including the Bulgarian national road championship.

@ldomalewski Fri, 15th May 2015 11:53:13

@tomdouglas16 Fri, 15th May 2015 11:54:18

184km remaining from 264km

The average speed over the opening two hours of racing has been just 35.7kph with the peloton and escapees battling against the tough headwind.

The break now have a 9:27 advantage over the peloton now, after dipping down to the 8-minute mark earlier on.

@friebos Fri, 15th May 2015 12:16:11

164km remaining from 264km

After 100 kilometres of racing the gap comes down once again to 8:55.

If you weren't with us earlier, Alberto Contador is riding with lower pressure in his tyres today to ease any strain on his shoulder. Cyclingnews took a closer look at Contador's bike this week. Take a look at what tech the Spaniard is using in this exclusive video.

@BluebirdDai Fri, 15th May 2015 12:21:47

The leaders are about to start climbing. It's only a small climb and it hasn't been classified. The fourth category climb does not come for another 80 kilometres.

@BKbakerboy Fri, 15th May 2015 12:14:54

That's a good question. There's every risk that Contador could injure himself further by riding on. It often takes a lot for a rider to abandon, especially when they're in the leader's jersey. The team have said that they will make continual assessment's on the Spaniard's condition throughout the stage, so there is every chance he could still climb off before the finish. Today's stage shouldn't be too challenging on Contador.

It is tomorrow's stage to Campitello Matese that will be the real test of his shoulder if and when he is forced to stand on the pedals in the climbs.

Robert Millar's popular blog is back for the Giro, take a look as he discusses Contador, Tinkoff-Saxo and their team tactics.

Outside of the Giro d'Italia, the Tour of California is taking place. The first shake up of the general classification is due to happen in today's time trial. However the stage has been moved from Big Bear Lake to Santa Clarita where yesterday's stage finished. Get the full details here.

@Cyclingnewsfeed Fri, 15th May 2015 13:05:05

46km remaining from 264km

As the riders close in on the the halfway point of the stage, the gap to the escapees has come down once again to 8:30

The crash that took down Contador and Colli yesterday wasn't the first caused by a fan. A big pile-up was caused on stage 2 in very surprising circumstances when a spectator tried to ride with the peloton. You can see the incident here.

After the spate of spectator induced crashes, race director Mauro Vengi spoke out, saying that it was impossible to put the Giro d'Italia in a cage. Read his full comments here.

Confirmation coming through that Daniele Colli has been operated on since his crash yesterday. The Italian broke his humerus in the fall and was taken straight to hospital. He's got a teammate in the break today in Pierpaolo de Negri.

@miketomalaris Fri, 15th May 2015 13:25:45

Tinkoff-Saxo team owner Oleg Tinkov spoke to the media ahead of today's stage. He said that the team is more optimistic but there were some tense moments after the stage yesterday.

"Yesterday I was really worried because you never know before the x-ray, because riders can tell you about sensations. Today we know that nothing is broken, all the ligaments and tendons are ok but we will see how it goes in the race."

Former rider now post race interviewer at the Giro, Daniel Lloyd says that the riders are some 30 minutes behind schedule and have averaged 34.5kph over the first four hours.

 Heinrich Haussler has had a challenging Giro d'Italia, he crashed twice on stage 2. The Australian champion is hoping that his team could challenge today.

"I’m getting better day by day but having a crash is not the best way to recover. Sleeping is the worst but it’s been getting better. It’s warm, not raining and today’s going to be a long day with a headwind but we’re going to go for the sprint today," he said on television ahead of the stage.

"The problem is on this kind of finish there’s not that many teams that could control it. Maybe BMC with Gilbert or GreenEdge with Michael Matthews but for the pure sprinters it’s maybe a little too hard."
 

114km remaining from 264km

Marco Bandiera takes the points at the intermediate sprint. The Italian gave a little dig off the front and his fellow escapees were happy to let him go.

@HareSimon Fri, 15th May 2015 13:27:03

After winning the first intermediate sprint Bandiera holds up a handwritten sign to the TV camera wishing his father a get well soon.

The pace in the peloton is pretty relaxed at the moment and the Colombian contingent Uran, Betancur and Chaves are happily chatting away in the middle of the bunch. The latest time check has the gap at over 11 minutes.

BMC have sent Amael Moinard to the front to help TInkoff-Saxo with the pace setting. The Frenchman has had a very good Giro so far.

There was a sprint from the peloton for the final points at the intermediate sprint. Nizzolo took 5th, Modolo 6th with Viviani taking the final point. Viviani isn't wearing red today, that belongs to Andre Greipel at the moment.

Viviani is now equal on points with Greipel with one more intermediate sprint to go before the finish. The Italian could take the jersey back there.

 The riders have been fortunate to avoid the rain so far in the stage. Showers passed across Tuscany this morning but wind that has slowed the race has kept the rain away.

However Saturday's mountain finish stage to Campitello Matese near Naples is expected to be raced under the rain.    

94km remaining from 264km

With 94km still to race, the break is still over nine minutes clear.

The break has passed through the second feed zone of the stage and other riders in the peloton are dropping back for bidons for their teammates.  

The stage has been underway for five hours but there is at least two more hours to go before the riders reach Fuiggi. 

According to AFP journalist Jean Montois, today's stage is the longest in the Giro since 1989. Back then the riders covered 275km during the fifth stage. 

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) has stayed carefully on the wheels so far in the stage, protected and escorted by his teammates. 

Read what he said before the start about his crash and shoulder by clicking here. There is also a video showing how he was cheered off at the start in Grosseto. 

83km remaining from 264km

Contador is riding on the drops as he  rides into a headwind. He does not seem in pain at the moment.

De Negri attacks to take the points on top of the only climbs of the day. He's no threat to the classification leader Jan Polanc who put himself in the jersey after his win two days ago.

78km remaining from 264km

There's a bit of a blockage in the peloton as they go through a narrow part of the road. Nobody has gone down though and the peloton make it through safely, led by BMC and Trek Factory Racing.

77km remaining from 264km

7:45 minutes after De Negri, the peloton make it over the one and only climb of the day. There's still a few lumps and bumps but none of it has been classified.

Stefano Pirazzi is one oftwo riders native to Fiuggi where the stage finishes today. Pirazzi has ridden every Giro since his debut in 2010, winning a stage in 2014 and the mountains classification in 2013.

@MRasmussen1974 Fri, 15th May 2015 14:56:54

67km remaining from 264km

Movistar have joined BMC on the front of the peloton, the two teams have pushed the pace of the peloton and the gap to the break is now 6:46.

Briefly away from the Giro, Sam Bennett has taken win in three days at the Bayern Rundfahrt, beating Nacer Bouhanni in the sprint.

59km remaining from 264km

Back to the Giro d'Italia and if you're just joining us a quick recap of what's happened today. Alberto Contador made the start despite crashing yesterday.  It was a slower start to the day than we've been used to in recent days. We had our first break attempt at about 13km with three men getting a small advantage but they were soon caught.

The four men who are out there now got away after 20 kilometres and have held an advantage of up to 11 minutes. With BMC doing a lot of work on the front they have now brought that gap to below 6 minutes for the first time in a long while.

The big talking point today has been the crash in the finale of yesterday's stage when Daniele Colli was taken down during the sprint by a camera lens. The subsequent after effects caused the race leader Contador to go down too, which resulted in a dislocated collar bone.

Contador was able to start this morning but Colli was not, after suffering a broken arm. He's been operated on and is beginning his recovery. You can watch the whole incident here.

55km remaining from 264km

The efforts of BMC et all are doing the damage to this gap. The four escapees have just 5:27 remaining of the lead.

@BMCProTeam Fri, 15th May 2015 15:21:27

The average speed says it all. Despite being a predomenently flat day out for the riders they have averaged 35kph. That is in part to do with the headwind that they faces for much of the opening kilometres, but the last few days have taken their toll too.

It's Dayer Quintana on the front of the peloton at the moment. He's still bandaged up after crashing on stage 2 and he's helped to bring the gap down to below 5 minutes with 50km to go. Movistar won the last time that the Giro visited Fiuggi, can they do it again?

48km remaining from 264km

The gap is consistently coming down with the efforts of Movistar, Trek and BMC and it now stands at just 4:23.

A potential winner today is Michael Matthews, who already has one stage and two days in pink under his belt. We took a look at the Australian's bike earlier this week and you can view that here.

Speaking of Matthews, he's just paid a visit to the medical car. Unsure of what is wrong with the Australian,but it doesn't look too serious as he works his way back to the peloton.

42km remaining from 264km

Cannondale-Garmin joining in the party at the front of the bunch as the peloton take chunks out of the lead. With 42km to go the four out front only have 2:49 remaining of their once great lead.

@friebos Fri, 15th May 2015 15:46:25

In the meantime, UCI president Brian Cookson has spoken out to defend the decision to allow Astana to keep their WorldTour licence, after former president Hein Verbruggen accused his of being a weak leader. Read his response here.

37km remaining from 264km

As Cannondale Garmin lead the chase they have brought the gap down to 1:33. we could see a lot more action at the front soon with the intermediate sprint only 3km away.

If Viviani is able to take points in the sprint and Greipel does not, the Italian will take back the red jersey for tomorrow.

Bandiera took the full points at the intermediate sprint in the breakaway. Behind in the peloton it was Nizzolo followed by Viviani. The Team Sky rider takes two points which puts him back in the lead of the points competition. There is, of course, the points at the finish line so it could be taken away from him still.

30km remaining from 264km

We're nearing crunch time as the gap falls to just 42 seconds. How long before we see an attack from the peloton?

There has been a changing of the guard at the front of the peloton with Team Sky, Orica-GreenEdge, CCC Sprandi and Giant-Alpecin putting men on the front.

Alberto Contador is pretty far back in the peloton. He's not got any teammates around him at the moment as he fights his was back to the front.

25km remaining from 264km

Tinkoff-Saxo have regrouped and now there are three riders with Contador at the front including Juul Jensen, and Mick Rogers.

A crash involving Siutsou of Sky and a Ishibashi of Vini Fantini but both are back up and going again pretty quickly.

22km remaining from 264km

The peloton look like they've eased off the pace, they don't want to catch the escapees too early. The lead has stalled at 30 seconds for our four men.

Mihaylov attacks from the break as Bandiera decides to sit up and wait for the peloton.

Boem has also sat up. He and Bandiera shake hands and are reabsorbed back into the peloton.

20km remaining from 264km

Mihaylov has a very small advantage of 6 seconds now and he gives a wave to the camera, his day is done.

We're inside the final 20km and the break has been caught now. Juul Jenson has swung off and Manuele Boaro is the lone Tinkoff-Saxo rider on the front.

18km remaining from 264km

Boaro has company now from his teammates as Team Sky also move to the front with Kiryienka takes Porte up the peloton.

Tom Boonen looks in trouble on this small rise in the road as does Heinrich Haussler.

17km remaining from 264km

All the big GC favourites are sat near the front of the bunch as Tinkoff-Saxo still set the pace right on the front.

Petacchi is dropped from the peloton, he won't be contesting the sprint today.

13km remaining from 264km

The peloton are on a small descent at the moment. They've still got one more unclassified climb to go before they hit the run to the line. The finish has a 3-4% gradient.

10km remaining from 264km

Five Tinkoff-Saxo riders with Contador on the front, as the peloton strings out on this descent. After yesterday, they'll want this group to be as small as possible.

@MRasmussen1974 Fri, 15th May 2015 16:30:52

9km remaining from 264km

Igor Anton is back with the team car it looks like he's done for today. Anton is a former winner on the Zoncolan and held the leader's jersey at the Vuelta a few years ago.

7km remaining from 264km

Still gruppo compatto at the moment. Nobody has dared attack yet.

Andre Greipel is hanging on the back of the group but he's still there as the group is drastically whittled down.

Pirazzi has been looming behind the GC teams for the last 10 kilometres. He's from this region and has indicated that he would do something today. He won a stage of last year's Giro.

The peloton enter a 700m tunnel, which has an upwards gradient.

Everybody makes it through the tunnel and they immediately go under the 5km to go banner.

3km remaining from 264km

Greipel has survived that climb and he's gone up to the front with a teammate. Orica-GreenEdge and Lampre have also moved to the fore.

It is team Sky that are setting the pace with four riders at the pointy end of the bunch.

Cannondale Garmin are also in the mix with 2.5km to go. They're hoping Slagter can take the win today.

1.5 to go and Lotto-Soudal, Orica and Lampre have taken over the work.

Flamme rouge with Orica at the front

Greipel has gone and he won't contest the sprint

Matthews leading out Gerrans

Lampre lead the sprint with Modolo

Modolo wins

Sorry that is Ulissi who takes the win

Ulissi came up the right side of the road to take the win. He collapses on the ground and the emotion is evident on his face.

It was Lobato in second with Gerrans in third.

That victory ends a turbulent 12 months for Ulissi. The Italian tested positive for elevated levels of Salbutamol. He was banned for nine months and made his return to racing at the Vuelta al País Vasco in April.

Confirmation of the top 10 from today's stage.

1 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 7:22:21
2 Juan Jose Lobato (Spa) Movistar Team
3 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
4 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Southeast Pro Cycling
5 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani CSF
6 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani CSF
7 Fabio Felline (Ita) Trek Factory Racing
8 Grega Bole (Slo) CCC Sprandi Polkowice
9 Kévin Reza (Fra) FDJ.fr
10 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha

Alberto Contador finished safely in the bunch and will retain the pink jersey for tomorrow. Stage 8 will be the real test of his injured shoulder with two second category climbs and the opening first cat ascent of Colle Mollella.

A look at the overall classification after that stage

1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 27:42:00
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:02
3 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky 0:00:20
4 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:22
5 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:00:28
6 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica GreenEdge 0:00:37
7 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team 0:00:56
8 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team 0:01:01
9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:15
10 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:01:18

We are already compiling a gallery, a report and results from today's stage. You can find all that right here.

Contador spoke at the finish, calling it a very difficult day and saying he suffered a lot oin the opening four hours of today's monster stage.

Stage winner Diego Ulissi said after the stage that "this win erases everything that has gone before."

That is it from us today make sure to check out our report for photos and results from today's stage.