Welcome one and all. We're just under 20 minutes away from the start of stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia and what a day it could be. There's just one climb today but it could still be a big one for the general classification contenders.
After Marco Pantani's ride to Oropa in 99, the climb has entered into folklore. The 2017 GC contenders will be hoping their ride up there is a little less eventful. Stephen Farrand has previewed the climb for us and you can read that here.
With several sprint stages this week, Tom Dumoulin has held onto the race lead he grabbed in Tuesday's time trial. He's got a substantial lead over Nairo Quintana going into today's stage.
1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 56:28:53 2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:23 3 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:02:38 4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:02:40 5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:02:47 6 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:03:05 7 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:56 8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:59 9 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 10 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:17
We're on our way to the start of stage 14. It'll be a fast battle to Oropa! #Giro100
Yesterday, Tom Dumoulin said that he wasn't concerned about today's climb as it's a length of effort he's well used to. He showed on Blockhaus that he could stay with and beat many of the GC contenders on the climbs and he'll be hoping for a similar performance today. Dumoulin might not be worried about his own capabilities but he's expecting his rivals to try and put him under the hammer. Read his full comments here.
The riders are on their way at the moment and we're just moments away from the start proper. We can expect attacks to come almost immediately.
Nairo Quintana is right behind the race directors car. He's staying out of trouble but he wants to be wise to any moves going off the front. With such a short stage it's not beyond belief that one of the big names could try something out of the box today.
Quintana moves up to the car to have a word with race director Mauro Vengi. He wants to get moving.
There are a number of non-starters today, including Andre Greipel and Jakub Mareczko. The sprinters headed home in a pre-planned abandon. Fernando Gaviria and Caleb Ewan, however, have decided to continue and try to make it to Milan.
The flag has dropped and the attacks are coming in. Unsurprisingly, Wilier Triestina have made the first move.
The Wilier rider is brought back and now we have a Bardiani rider on the move, Vincenzo Albanese. There's a lot of action behind him with plenty of riders trying to get over to him.
Adam Hansen is one of the riders interested in the breakaway. With bigger fish to fry next week, today could be a good day for the escapees.
Daniel Teklehaimanot jumps off the front but he is quickly followed by Fernando Gaviria. Teklehaimanot flicks his elbow for Gaviria to come through but the Colombian shakes his finger. Gaviria has a huge lead in the points classification but he's not letting any potential threat get up the road.
There are two intermediate sprints today and with some big mountain stages to come Gaviria will want to keep as many of them as he can for himself. Here is how things stand at the moment.
1 Fernando Gaviria (Col) Quick-Step Floors 315 pts 2 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek-Segafredo 192 3 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 144 4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe 117 5 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Orica-Scott 108 6 Lukas Pöstlberger (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 98 7 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 86 8 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) Dimension Data 76 9 Jakub Mareczko (Ita) Wilier Triestina 73 10 Roberto Ferrari (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 70
Teklehaimanot is determined to try and get away but Gaviria is more determined not to let him. Adam Hansen, who has also been trying to get into the break, gestures at Gaviria as if to say "give us a break."
This is a rapid start to today's stage. Everybody wants to be in the breakaway but nobody is getting free. Michael Woods is on the front for Cannondale Drapac as one of his teammates makes another attack.
The average speed has been pretty hot. The peloton has been averaging 54kph in the opening quarter of an hour.
Today's start town Castellania was the birthplace of five-time Giro d'Italia winner Fausto Coppi. Race leader Tom Dumoulin visited the grave of the former champion and his brother Serse ahead of the stage start.
This fast pace is helped by the fact that the opening 24km are slightly downhill. When they head through the town of Pieve del Cairo, the gradient will go into the plus figures as they begin a slow gradual ascent to the final climb.
Absolutely nothing being let lose right now. It's not for want of trying with riders almost constantly trying to get free. Grand Tour debutant Ryan Gibbons had a go and now it's Sergey Lagutin and Clement Chevrier trying their luck.
The pair out front are caught by a few chasers and we've got a new group of riders trying to get away. They've passed through Pieve del Cairo and the road begins its slow rise towards the finish.
102km remaining from 131km
The peloton is bunching up slightly as the pace knocks off a bit but still nobody can make a move stick. How long can this carry on?
Fernando Gaviria keeps his watch of Daniel Teklehaimanot. He's been right in his wheel from the very start.
It looks like we might just have our day's move as the peloton spreads across the road. There are three riders up the road, including Natnael Berhane, Daniel Martinez and Sergey Lagutin.
The trio have a minute on the peloton, which might not sound like much but it is the longest gap by far for a breakaway. It looks like this is the move.
None of the riders out front are a threat to the overall classification. Natnael Berhane is the best placed in the general classification at 38 minutes down while the other two are around two hours behind Tom Dumoulin in the GC.
93km remaining from 131km
Back in the peloton, it is FDJ that is doing the pace setting, giving Sunweb an easy ride for now. They've let the gap go out to almost two minutes at the moment.
It looks like the gap is not going to go out much further than the two-minute mark. The GC teams are interested in the stage win today.
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Sergey Laguntin is the elder statesman of this breakaway. The Gaxprom rider has been a professional since 2004. He has won a Grand Tour stage before. Last season he soloed to victory on stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana, beating AG2R's Axel Domont by 10 seconds.
On the other end of the scale, Daniel Martinez is the youngest in this three-man breakaway. The Colombian is just 21 years of age but he's a promising talent. This is his second ever Giro d'Italia.
81km remaining from 131km
Under the watchful eye of FDJ, the escapees only have 1:30 with just over 80km still to go. Movistar has stationed Daniele Bennati in the FDJ train.
In the group, Natnael Berhane splits the difference in terms of age. The Eritrean is in his fifth season as a professional. He's a former winner of the Tour of Turkey and the Tropicale Amissa Bongo. This is his fourth Grand Tour but his first Giro d'Italia.
Tom Dumoulin is bridged up to the back of the bunch by his teammates. Doesn't look like he had any problems, probably just stopped for a comfort break.
There are 35 points up for grabs in the mountains competition at the finish. Omar Fraile has the jersey at the moment but it is up for grabs for several people in the peloton. Fraile will have to finish well up in the standings today if he wants to keep the maglia azzurra for a few more days.
1 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data 49 pts 2 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 46 3 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 35 4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 27 5 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 24 6 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 22 7 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 19 8 Luis León Sanchez (Spa) Astana Pro Team 18 9 Sergey Firsanov (Rus) Gazprom – Rusvelo 17 10 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Cannondale-Drapac 17
Elsewhere in the cycling world Aude Biannic from FDJ's women's team spoke out about a crash she had during training earlier this week where she was hit from behind by a car. Read what she had to say here.
The intermediate sprint is uncontested by the escapees. They're more interested in making time on the peloton. Sergey Lagutin leads the trio through that point as the gap to the bunch behind grows to its largest yet at 2:13.
The peloton enjoying a nice day in the countryside.
62km remaining from 131km
We're past the halfway point of today's stage, the shortest of the Giro d'Italia. Orica-Scott have put a few riders to the front. The gap has extended somewhat to 2:25.
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The peloton has been strung out a little by a small bit of crosswinds. The peloton not breaking up but this will increase the stress levels just a little bit.
The little bit of wind has forced Sunweb to move closer to the front. They don't want to be out of place if the proverbial hits the fan.
It's still Movistar and FDJ, however, that are dominating the head of the peloton. Orica-Scott has Caleb Ewan up front. He's done his job in the sprinting, he now moves to a team role for the remainder of the Giro d'Italia.
Some interesting cobbled sections at the start of the climb to Oropa #Giro100 https://t.co/8HGjlqsnMv
The breakaway and the peloton pass through the second intermediate sprint without any contest. Lagutin was the first through again but he is no threat at all to the Gaviria in those standings.
If you missed the news earlier today, Team Sky could be wearing a special edition white jersey for the Tour de France this summer. Read the full story here.
Team Sky has had a Giro d'Italia to forget so far this year. The highlight for them so far was Geraint Thomas' second place in the time trial earlier in the week. With the Welshman heading home to rest up, the team's main hope of success is for a stage victory in the coming week.
47km remaining from 131km
The final climb is fast approaching and the peloton is bringing the three escapees back a little bit. They've now got just 1:20 but the peloton is likely to let them stay out there for a while longer.
Caleb Ewan now on the front of the peloton. He looks very relaxed with his wrists resting on the handlebars. No panic just now for the peloton.
inCycle: Behind the scenes with Fernando Gaviria at the Giro d'Italia #Giro100 | https://t.co/Z7Q5eRR9GQ https://t.co/bOrvTPJetz
Fernando Gaviria was asked in his post stage press conference yesterday if he would help Bob Jungels on the climbs, particularly on the Mortirolo, now that his sprinting duties are over. With a laugh, he told reporters, "I don't think that I've got the capability." He added that on the Mortirolo he would likely be in the grupetto from kilometre zero.
Patrick Lefevere confirmed to Cyclingnews yesterday that Fernando Gaviria would not be heading to the Tour de France this summer, despite Alessandro Petacchi telling the Colombian that he had to go. Read what Levefere had to say about his star sprinter here.
34km remaining from 131km
It's coming to crunch time and the breakaway has been brought back to just 51 seconds. The day is almost done for our three escapees.
Pierre Rolland drops back to the team car to fix his radio and pick up a few bidons. He's here for stage wins but has not picked up anything just yet. The final week will be the best opportunity for him.
The peloton has eased up, they're not ready catch the escapees just yet. Adam Yates is close to the back and he's having a laugh and a joke with his teammates.
30km remaining from 131km
The Oropa climb officially begins with 12 kilometres to go. However, the road will start rising in just a few kilometres time.
Once the riders hit the climb, it will be interesting to see if the GC contenders control things or if they will allow someone who doesn't pose a threat up the road to take victory.
25km remaining from 131km
The road is long and straight and the peloton can see the escapees up the road with just 40 seconds now separating the two groups. The pelootn has now spread across the road as the GC teams try to get to the front.
Last kilometre #hyperlapse of the climb to #Oropa #Giro100 @hyperlapserocks https://t.co/ASclDK0q2v
Tom Dumoulin spoke to reporters at the start of today's stage and said that he has only seen the Oropa climb on video. It may be a factor, but equally it might not. The Dutchman will know the gradients from the race book and provided he listens to how his body responds then he should be ok.
A look at what the riders can expect on the final climb. The toughest gradients come in the second half of the ascent.
The teams lining up in team order as we approach the climb. LottoNl-Jumbo make their first appearance anywhere near the front. Bora-Hansgrohe is up there, as are FDJ, Movistar, Sunweb and Orica-Scott.
17km remaining from 131km
The break's day is done as a Trek-Segafredo led peloton sweeps them up.
This is the sixth time that the Giro d'Italia will finish at the santuario di Oropa. It was last featured in the 2004 Giro d'Italia with Enrico Battaglin taking the victory. He's unlikely to be escaping up the road today as he helps his teammate Steven Kruijswijk.
There is a real battle for the front of the peloton. Trek-Segafredo is winning at the moment but Sunweb and Bahrain-Merida are up there too.
11km remaining from 131km
The peloton is on the cobbled sector as the climb to the santuario di Oropa begins.
There has been a crash. Adam Hansen has hit the deck on that cobbled sector.
Team Sky are also coming towards the front. They really would like something from today.
Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana and Thibaut Pinot are all huddled together near the front of the peloton. Tom Dumoulin is a little further back at the moment. Vasil Kiryienka peels off after setting the pace for a bit.
Omar Fraile is in trouble and he looks like he might be about to lose his mountains classification jersey.
Movistar hits the front with Jose Joaquin Rojas and Gorka Izagirre. They pull a gap out, which they didn't intend on doing, as Diego Rosa tries to catch them.
Rosa attacking now and he's left those Movistar riders behind.
8km remaining from 131km
Rosa has a small gap on the peloton now
The road is twisting and turning and Rosa has put the peloton out of sight for now. Movistar setting the pace but they're not too worried about Rosa who is almost an hour behind in the overall classification.
6km remaining from 131km
The gap is only going out very slowly. With just over 6km to go, Rosa only has 12 seconds as Movistar turn up the wick.
After a brief forray off the front, Movistar brings Rosa to heel and he'll have to wait for another chance.
5km remaining from 131km
Vincenzo Nibali is glued to the wheel of Nairo Quintana at the moment. The Italian sees the Colombian as the biggest threat right now. Winner Anacona takes up the pace setting ahead of Andre Amador and then Quintana in third wheel.
Igor Anton makes a speculative attack.
We could see him moving up the side earlier, obviously planning this move. He's won big at the Giro d'Italia before. What can he do here?
And now Zakarin attacks with Adam Yates in his wheel.
Tejay van Garderen is in trouble and he's dangling off the back. The dig by Zakarin brings back Igor Anton.
Anacona was shuffled back the bunch during that flurry of moves but he dives up the right side and stations himself at the front. He's burying himself for Quintana right now.
Franco Pelizzoti is up there for Vincenzo Nibali and it looks like Mikel Landa is sitting near the back of that group at the moment.
An attack from Yates but Kruijswijk is right on his wheel.
Pozzovivo attacks now and Bauke Mollema is in trouble at the back.
Some clear air between Pozzovivo and the group of favourites. Quintana is trying to chase him down.
Bob Jungels is dropped off the back as Quintana takes Pozzovivo back.
It looks like Thibaut Pinot is in trouble here. Tom Dumoulin has also been distanced by these attacks.
Dumoulin is not out of this though and he attacks. He's trying to bring back Zakarin and Quintana back, who have dropped Pozzovivo.
Quintana attacks and Zakarin pops. He's got no answer for the Colombian.
3km remaining from 131km
After looking strong just before, Pozzovivo has been dropped by the Dumoulin group.
Quintana has a 9-second lead on Dumoulin at the moment, but the Dutchman is bringing him back.
Mikel Landa has made it into this Dumoulin group which also contains Vincenzo Nibali and Adam Yates.
2km remaining from 131km
Pozzovivo, Pinot and Kruijswijk have joined forces 28 seconds behind Quintana.
1km remaining from 131km
Just seven seconds between Qiuntana and the Dumoulin group. The pink jersey is doing all the work here as he tries to bring back the Movistar rider.
Adam Yates has now been distanced by this second group as they almost catch Quintana.
Vincenzo Nibali has also gone pop.
The Dumoulin group catches Quintana and Dumoulin immediately launches an attack.
1km remaining from 131km
Dumoulin has his arms on the handlebars as he tries to ride away from his rivals. Flamme rouge
Nibali is battling to bring the leaders back. There are seven seconds at the moment with 800 metres to go.
Meanwhile, Pinot is doing the work in the main chase group. He's down 28 seconds at the moment.
Dumoulin still on the front with 500 metres to go.
Landa biding his time at the back, Zakarin second and Quintana third for now.
Zakarin goes for it.
Dumoulin chases and Quintana is dropped.
Dumoulin wins the stage ahead of Zakarin.
Landa crosses the line for third and Quintana comes over 12 seconds back in fourth.
Pinot is fifth but he loses over 30 seconds. He did catch Nibali to make sure that he didn't lose any positions in the overall classification.
Wow, Bauke Mollema finally crosses the line 1:47 down on Tom Dumoulin. That is a bad day for Mollema.
There is still a long way to go in this Giro d'Italia with lots of mountains to come, but that is a serious warning shot from Tom Dumoulin. Catch me if you can!
With the bonus seconds from the stage win, Dumoulin has boosted his lead in the overall classification to 2:47.
Nairo Quintana would have been expecting to make up some time on Tom Dumoulin so he will be very disappointed to have actually lost ground on his biggest rival. Perhaps Quintana paid for his earlier efforts on the climb.
.@tom_dumoulin is the first Dutch rider who wins in a time trial and in a hilltop finish at the Giro. #giro100
Here are how things ended on stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia.
1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 3:02:03 2 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:00:03 3 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 0:00:09 4 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:14 5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:00:35 6 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica-Scott 0:00:41 7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:43 8 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 9 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 0:00:46 10 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team
And this is what today's stage has done to the overall classification. Bauke Mollema was the biggest loser today.
1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 59:31:17 2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:02:47 3 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 0:03:25 4 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:40 5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:04:24 6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek-Segafredo 0:04:32 7 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:04:55 8 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:59 9 Bob Jungels (Lux) Quick-Step Floors 0:05:28 10 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:05:36
Tom Dumoulin was understandably delighted with his stage win today. This is what he had to say at the finish.
"Of course you dream about hitting back. I knew that they would attack and they did. It was very hard but I was always with my focus and I was quite relaxed. I couldn’t follow the first attack from Quintana so I had to follow my own pace a little bit. I came closer and closer and in the end I still had something left for the finish. It was incredible."
In the Giro d'Italia's history, only Italian riders have won in Oropa. With Tom Dumoulin's win, he has stopped that run. It also means that Italy's stretch without a stage win at this year's Giro d'Italia continues.
As well as keeping hold of the maglia rosa and taking the stage win, Tom Dumoulin is now the new leader of the king of the mountains competition.
Nairo Quintana, once again, kept his assessment of the day short and sweet. He had this to say of what happened.
"It was the only climb in the stage. There was a bit of a tail wind which made it really quick. I thought that I would be a bit better but it was a really fast climb and Tom is in a really good condition."
A full report is now available from today's stage and we are working on the full results, which will be with you as soon as possible. You will be able to find that all right here.
This was the moment that Tom Dumoulin won today's stage.
Vincenzo Nibali's DS Gorazd Stangelj was a little disappointed after the stage but he remained confident that his rider could bounce back from this result.
"We still don’t have feedback from Vincenzo. Our plan was to race on the wheels today and to control the situation but Tom was so super good today that nobody could follow him and he rode to a solo victory. We lost some priceless time but we did what we wanted to do and we are sure that Vincenzo gave everything and there is still the final week to gain something.
"Every second is important, otherwise Dumoulin wouldn’t go to try and gain more time. Perhaps, he knows that the last week could be difficult for him too so that’s why every moment he feels good he tries to gain some time. He also tries not to lose it but it’s not every day you can have perfect legs. We try every day and when you find someone with better than you are, this is the result."
Tomorrow's stage won't be quite as important for the GC riders as today was but they will have to stay attentive if they don't wish to lose any more time ahead of a crucial final week.
I mentioned earlier that Dumoulin was the new KOM. It's still tight at the top though and tomorrow's stage could see the jersey change hands again ahead of the rest day. This is how that classification looks after today.
1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 51 pts 2 Omar Fraile (Spa) Dimension Data 49 3 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 46 4 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 44 5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 37 6 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ 33 7 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) Dimension Data 24 8 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 22 9 Mikel Landa (Spa) Team Sky 20 10 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Team 18
We're going to leave you with this picture of Tom Dumoulin on the podium in the pink jersey. How many more of these can he get? Can he keep it until Milan? We'll be back again tomorrow for stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia and there'll be live coverage of the final stage of the Tour of California later today.
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