Welcome to live coverage of stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia from Forlì to Reggio Emilia.
Good morrow to you all. It's an early start today as we've got a long day in the saddle in store. The teams are signing on and we'll have racing action in about 30 minutes.
Yesterday saw an extremely aggressive day of racing with 25 riders jumping off the front before Mikel Landa and Omar Fraile broke clear. They were eventually brought back by the chasers but Fraile would hold on to take Dimension Data's first ever Giro d'Italia victory. Missed it yesterday? Catch up on it all with our race report, plus video highlights, right here.
Despite the other team's best efforts, Tom Dumoulin remains very much in control of the maglia rosa, although there was some movement behind him with Tanel Kangert climbing back into the top 10. This is how things stand this morning.
Courtesy of his team, here is Dumoulin pinning on his numbers for another day of action. He'll be expecting a much easier time of it today.
Tom Dumoulin was almost down a teammate this morning as the bus left for the start without Simon Geschke. The German posted a picture of himself trying to thumb a ride outside the team's hotel. Thankfully, his home alone experience was postponed when the team turned around to pick him up. Geschke has been an important part of the Sunweb team thus far and Dumoulin certainly wouldn't want to leave him behind.
Sam Bennett talking to the press this morning. Along with Fernando Gaviria and Caleb Ewan, who have already won stages this year, Bennett is one of the favourites for the stage victory. Bennett has had two third places so far and with quickly dwindling opportunities he will want to get on the board today.
The riders have set off into the neutral section. It's 4.2km in length so racing should begin in a little over 5 minutes.
Today's stage, at a whopping 229km, is the longest of the Giro d'Italia. There are two categorised ascents to tackle but the rest is either descent or flat. With just one more opportunity for the sprinters remaining in this year's Giro d'Italia, they are unlikely to give any escapees too much rope today. Anything can happen, but the likes of Quick-Step, Orica-Scott and Bora-Hansgrohe will try to control things in the peloton.
Vincenzo Nibali will have been happy that things stayed as they began in the GC during yesterday's stage. The Italian had a faltering second weekend but has stabalised the ship in the lest few days. After yesterday's stage, he said that he was ready for Nairo Quintana to try and attack but it never came. Sitting down in fifth place at the moment, we can expect the shark of Messina to try something himself in the next couple of weeks. Whatever he does, he certainly has a lot of fans at his home race and this morning he spent time chatting to a few of them at the start.
As the flag drops the attacks begin and there are several riders trying to get up the road. With such a long day in store the peloton are likely to let this one got as early as possible.
At present Sergey Firsanov and Marco Marcato have a two-minute gap on the peloton. Will that be the break decided? Mirco Maestri is trying to bridge the gap. With such a long day, they'll need all the help they can get.
It seems that this will be our break for much of the day. Maestri is still chasing at about a minute behind the two leaders, who have 2:30 on the bunch.
News coming in from Dutch television station NOS that Andre Greipel will head home from the Giro d'Italia after today's stage so he will be extra hungry for victory today. Greipel already has one victory in his pocket, ensuring that he continues his almost decade-long run of a win at each Grand Tour he rides.
215km remaining from 229km
If you've been following the Giro d'Italia closely then you will have seen Victor Campanaerts asking someone out on a date in a novel way. The Belgian time trial champion wrote a message in ink on his chest and revealed it for the world to see on the start ramp and again at the finish. Thankfully she said yes because he has been slapped with a 100CHF fine by the UCI for his stunt. If it goes well then I'm sure he'll think it's worth it. Read the full story here.
A correction on the Andre Greipel news. It will be tomorrow's stage that will be his last rather than today.
206km remaining from 229km
The gap to the escapees continues to grow. There's no panic from the peloton early on. They will have plenty of time to bring this trio back once the climbs are done and dusted.
Sacha Modolo will be another rider looking for a bit of success today. Italy are still without a victory thus far in this year's Giro d'Italia. Modolo has been carbo loading in preparation for today's stage. He posted this picture of himself last night with the caption "they told me that tomorrow will be 230k."
Steven Kruijswijk's Giro d'Italia bid has gone far from plan so far this year. The Dutchman is over six minutes behind his compatriot in the overall classification with plenty more mountains to come. He told Sporza earlier today, "I don't feel super. It's not going to be as it was."
With just three up front, there is an opportunity for the mountains classification to change hands. Jan Polanc and Omar Fraile are euqal on points but it is Polanc at the moment that holds the jersey. There are points available for the first six riders over the line on the opening climb and the first four on the second, so we could see a little battle in the peloton for those crucial points.
The first hour of racing has seen the riders pushing along at a comparatively sedate 41.8kph. The gap to our three intrepid escapees is now 6:45 as they approach the first climb of the day the Colla di Casaglia.
The riders will be taking on the easier side of the Colle di Casaglia, where they approach through the town of Marradi. It's long at 17.1km but it averages just 3.4km with a maximum gradient of 8.8km. Some of the sprinters may find themselves distanced here but there will be sufficient time to get back to the peloton.
The toughest section of the Casaglia comes in the last seven kilometres, where it rises sharply for a couple of kilometres before leveling back down to a more manageable 3-5 per cent.
The breakaway are having a lonely day of it out there.
Lotto Soudal is doing the pace management at the front of the bunch and they've decided to cut a little time from the advantage of the escapees, bringing it down to 6 minutes.
Dimension Data are on the front as they approach the top of the climb, they're trying to set up Omar Fraile for the mountains classification jersey.
Daniel Teklehaimanot is leading out Fraile but Polanc is sitting in his wheel.
Jan Polanc tries to get the jump on Omar Fraile, coming from the back of the little Dimension Data train. He doesn't have the power to hold it all the way tot he KOM mark and Fraile overtakes him to take the points by a clear margin. Polanc gets a couple for himself but unless they catch the breakaway before the next climb, the jersey will be Fraile's for the next couple of days.
158km remaining from 229km
That is not the only Basque action going on at the moment. The women's peloton is out at the Emakumeen Bira this week. Marta Bastianelli won the opening stage. See the results here.
The Tour of California is also going on, of course. Evan Huffman won yesterday's stage while Rafal Majka continues to lead the overall classification. Catch up on all the action right here.
The peloton is strung out in a long line as Lotto Soudal resumes the pace setting duties. Orica-Scott and Quick-Step Floors have men in prominent places too. The speed of the bunch means that a large portion of riders are battling to keep in touch with the back of the bunch.
Today will be the sixth time that the Giro d'Italia has finished in Reggio Emilia. Alfredo Binda won in 1927 when the race first paid a visit. He would win the Giro d'Italia that year, his second of five Giro titles.
144km remaining from 229km
There's still plenty of speed in the peloton as they pass through the feed zone. The gap likely to go back out for a bit as they riders munch on lunch.
137km remaining from 229km
The breakaway riders are approaching Barberino del Mugello for the first of two intermediate sprints on today's stage.
The breakaway trio rides into town, through the dense crowds, and through the sprint point. No one bothers to sprint, though, as Marcato passes through first simply by virtue of it being his turn on the front.
Back in the peloton, Fernando Gaviria clips off to extend his lead in the points classification. No one else seems bothered.
127km remaining from 229km
Quick-Step lead the peloton up the climb, which is actually taking place on a motorway. 3:30 the gap.
There's little pressure on the shoulders of Tom Dumoulin on his second day in the pink jersey. His Sunweb team can take a back seat as the sprinters teams take control to ensure a bunch finish, but they had plenty of work to do yesterday, and will have plenty to do in the final week, where the GC rivals will be on the offensive. It remains to be seen how they cope in the high mountains - especially without Wilco Kelderman - but here's Dumoulin's assessment of his team's passing of the first hurdle yesterday.
118km remaining from 229km
The leaders are well down the descent and the gap to the peloton behind has grown back out again to 4:53.
The peloton is spreading out across the road. They've taken the gas off quite considerably. With more than 100km still to go there is no need to shut this down too early, certainly now that the climbs are over and done with.
The latest episode of inCycle is up online. Take a look behind the scenes with Fernando Gaviria at the Giro d'Italia.
98km remaining from 229km
None of the riders in today's breakaway have ever won a Grand Tour stage. At 33, Marco Marcato is the most experienced of the trio. He's only ridden the Giro d'Italia once before but has appeared at the Tour de France a handful of times. This is his first Grand Tour in two seasons after spending the last two years with the Pro Continental outfit Wanty-Groupe Gobert. His biggest victory to date is Paris-Tours.
A mechanical issue for Tejay van Garderen. He gets a very lengthy wheel change. He's already lost loads of time so he won't be too worried about losing position in the general classification. This really has been a tough Giro d'Italia for van Garderen. He went in with big hopes but he will leave wondering what the next steps in his career will be. Can he continue pitching himself as a Grand Tour contender?
Bora-Hansgrohe has put a man to the front of the bunch. The pace is upping as they begin to bring back these three attackers. After a bit of a battle, van Garderen makes it onto the strung out bunch.
With the bunch as it is right now, there is quite the time gap between the front and the back. It's likely van Garderen is going to hang around at the back for a while. His main aim will be to finish safely.
Thanks to the sprint focus of today's stage, Team Sunweb have had a pretty easy day of it. We've not seen hide nor hair of them for quite some time. Movistar is sitting at the back of the bunch of sprinters teams and Bob Jungels is up near the front with his Quick-Step Floors team.
The second intermediate sprint is coming up. The escapees are unlikely to contest it but Fernando Gaviria may be interested in mopping up a few more points. He's well clear in the standings and with Greipel set to go home, Jasper Stuyven is his biggest threat at the moment.
Mirco Maestri is the youngest man in the breakaway at just 25. This is his second appearance at the Giro d'Italia after making his debut last season. He's been enjoying a strong 2017 and finished second in the points competition at Tirreno-Adriatico, losing out to Peter Sagan in the end.
Outside of the Giro d'Italia, it was announced that Gary Sutton would no longer be the national coach for Cycling Australia. He's likely to be hot property now that he's on the market with a number of nations, including the USA, looking for a new track coach. His brother Shane resigned from the post of technical director for Great Britain after a bullying and sexism scandal last year. Read the full story here.
64km remaining from 229km
Quick-Step have been on the front for a while now and they continue to ramp up the pace. The speed is noticeably increasing and the escapees have to keep sprinting to prevent the catch happening too soon.
Like his companions, Sergey Firsanov is riding his second Giro d'Italia. The Russian is the most successful of the trio out front with a smattering of victories all over the place including a win at the Giro dell'Appennino last season. At just over an hour behind Tom Dumoulin, he is also the best placed in the general classification.
A long snake of riders appearing out of the front of the peloton. We're approaching the important part of this stage and we get our first vision of the maglia rosa and his team. It's still the sprinters' teams up front with Orica-Scott putting one man at the head of the peloton.
The last time that the Giro d'Italia visited Reggio Emilia was back in 2011. It was on stage 2 of that year's race and featured as a stage start for the first and only time.
The last time that the Giro d'Italia visited Reggio Emilia was back in 2011. It was on stage 2 of that year's race and featured as a stage start. It has been a start town on six occasions at the Giro d'Italia.
It last featured as a finish town in 2001 after the riders set out from Montecatini Terme, where the 2013 team time trials began at the World Championships. Back to the Giro and Pietro Caucchioli won on that stage. He broke away alone and won the stage by 33 seconds over a chasing group of riders, which included current Katusha team manager Jose Acevedo. He would go on to win another stage and would finish ninth overall.
This chase is reaping quick rewards as the advantage of the breakaway drops to 2:50. It's been a long day out there for the riders with 190km under their belt already.
Astana has been fairly quiet today but that wasn't the case yesterday as they played a big role in the breakaway. Tanel Kangert wasn't able to win the stage but after having a poor time trial he was able to put himself back into the top 10 ahead of the mountains to come. His teammate Dario Cataldo was also able to move himself up a few places. After a torrid build-up, the team is eager to get something to smile about from this Giro d'Italia. Read what Kangert had to say are yesterday's stage here.
Just 1:30 for the three out front. The peloton is only a kilometre behind them with 28km to go. It won't be long until they are brought back and the real sprint battle can begin. The escapees get the message and they are pushing out every little bit of energy they have left.
A wheel change for Simon Geschke. It doesn't take long until he's back on his bike. Unlike his team bus, the peloton aren't about to leave him behind.
It has been the same teams on the front throughout today, Lotto Soudal, Bora-Hansgrohe, Quick-Step Floors and Orica-Scott. Between them they have the top favourites for today with Andre Greipel, Sam Bennett, Fernando Gaviria and Caleb Ewan respectively.
There are a few others that could get into the mix. UAE Team Emirates has Sacha Modolo. By getting Marcato into the break, they have let themselves have a free ride today. Important as they are not a big favourite. There is no Nizzolo for Trek-Segafredo after he abandoned earlier this week. Vuelta a Espana stage winner, Kristian Sbaragli is an outside bet for Dimension Data and Fran Ventoso has a good kick on him for BMC, although he's even more of an outside bet.
After a furious chase, the peloton has eased up briefly. There are still 17 kilometres to go and the gap has fallen to 35 seconds. No sooner do I write that, than Orica-Scott push on.
Hearing that Max Richeze has been dropped off the back. That will be a blow for Gaviria. The Argentinian is an important rider for Gaviria.
13km remaining from 229km
Meanwhile, Richeze has made it back to the bunch. It may well have been a puncture for the Quick-Step rider. He needs to work hard to get back to the front.
11km remaining from 229km
It is Chris Juul Jensen doing the grunt work for Orica-Scott. He's settled into this role well for the team, since joining them last year.
8km remaining from 229km
As the bunch begins the approach to the 3km to go mark, we see the GC riders coming up to the front. They want to keep sage in case of any incidents in the bunch.
6km remaining from 229km
Svein Tuft (Orica-Scott) and Cersare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe) are the two doing much of the work as Jose Joaquin Rojas moves up for Movistar.
4km remaining from 229km
The sprinters are moving up the sides. With the GC teams trying to stay safe, there is not much space out on the road for the sprinters.
There are splits happening further back in the bunch. The 3km banner has passed and the GC riders are safe now and can relax a touch. Although they need to keep in tough with the peloton.
Bora Hansgrohe have a huge train on the front with Lotto Soudal moving up on their right. This is going to be a ding dong battle in the sprint.
Orica-Scott are being muscled out for now and Quick-Step have a hard with to move up too.
1km remaining from 229km
Zhupa's move doesn't last long. It was going to be hard to hold off the sprinters.
Another attack from Lotto Soudal but it doesn't last.
Richeze leads out Gaviria
Gaviria wins!
That's three for Gaviria and he's tightened his grip on the points classification.
There was a bit of worry for Quick-Step when Richeze was dropped earlier, but it all came back together and once he was let free there was no stopping Gaviria.
Jakub Mareczko took an impressive third place and Sam Bennett fought hard to come home in third place.
This is how things ended on today's stage.
There is no change in the overall classification after that stage.
Fernando Gaviria gave a brief interview before going on stage to collect his winner's prize.
This is the moment that Gaviria won his third Giro d'Italia stage.
Bob Jungels has of course kept hold of his young rider's jersey. He's up on stage now to pick up another one. Omar Fraile is up to get his mountains jersey too. He won the mountains classification at the Vuelta a Espana in 2015.
Domenico Pozzovivo made a tidy six seconds on his GC rivals after there was a split in the peloton. When splits happen they clock the times of the first rider in each group, so while there wasn't six seconds between Pozzovivo in 18th and Albanese in 19th that was the gap between Gaviria and Albanese so Pozzovivo gets to move up a place in the GC.
Tomorrow will be the last sprint opportunity in this year's Giro d'Italia and we'll see a mass exodus of sprinters following it. One man that wants to stay in it until Milan is Fernando Gaviria. If he can make it to Milan then he is a shoe-in for the points jersey. He's got a very clear lead in that competition at the moment.
Tom Dumoulin didn't have too many issues today. He said after the stage that today and tomorrow are all about survival. The most important stages are still to come.
Tomorrow should be an even more straightforward day out for the peloton. There is not a single climb and not not too many corners to worry about too. That can sometimes mean that riders switch off and that's when the accidents happen but, in theory, it should be a 'simple' day for the GC contenders.
We have full results, photos, a brief report and video highlights from today's stage. Check it all out here.
That is it from our live coverage today. We will be back for more action tomorrow and there will be lots of reaction from the stage later this evening. We will also have live coverage of the Tour of California in just a few hours.
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