Welcome to live coverage of the penultimate stage of the Giro d'italia from Pordenone to Asiago.
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the penultimate stage of the 2017 Giro d'Italia. Make sure you put your seat belts on and keep your arms and legs inside the carriage because it's going to be an fast ride today.
The riders are signing on and there are huge crowds in Pordenone ahead of what is set to be a very exciting day. Nairo Quintana is a very popular man this morning.
We're just 15 minutes away from the start of the stage. It is all very close at the top of the standings and it's all up for grabs over the next two days.
One man that won't be on the start line though is Steven Kruijswijk. The Dutchman confirmed this morning that he had pulled out of the race with just two days to go after developing stomach problems overnight. You can read the full story here.
Vincenzo Nibali has been chatting with race director Mauro Vegni, who availed himself of an ice cream in these scorching temperatures. Nibali's team owner, the Prince of Bahrain is in town. He told Cyclingnews that he thinks the Italian can win the Giro d'Italia but we'll have to wait and see.
Here is a little snippet of what the Prince of Bahrain had to say this morning.
The riders are on the start line and we're just moments away from the action.
As we said, it's very close at the top of the standings and there are four riders who are in with a realistic shot at taking the overall victory. Barry Ryan has taken an in-depth look at the various storylines that could unfold over this weekend. Read that here.
The riders are making their way through the neutral zone at the moment. Racing proper expected in the next couple of minutes.
Nairo Quintana was the man in pink this morning. What will his lead be this evening, or will he even have the maglia rosa? Who knows?
As you can see from the profile above, the start of today's stage is relatively easy. Things will really begin to hot up just before the 100km mark when the riders begin the ascent of the Monte Grappa. Cannondale-Drapac rider Joe Dombriwski made his own prediction this morning, saying that it would be on the descent of this climb where the race would blow up. The finish is interesting too, with the last climb peaking at 15km to go - potentially a chance for Dumoulin to bring things back together if he has been distanced on that final ascent.
Five km done and dusted and there have been plenty of attacks but the peloton is not letting anything go just yet.
Mikel Landa finally broke his run of second places yesterday with victory in Piancavallo. The victory also helped him seal the overall victory in the mountains classification. After a tough end to the opening week, the result will be a big boost to the Spaniard and the team.
Six riders, including Pippo Pozzato, have a 30-second lead on the peloton at the moment. We'll bring you the other names as we get them.
There is a fast chase going on behind and the high pace means that the peloton has split into two groups.
The riders out front are: Dylan Teuns, Tom-Jelte Slagter, Matthieu Ladagnous, Dries Devenyns, Maxim Belkov and Filipo Pozzato. They now have over one minute on the chasing peloton.
Behind this group of six, Dimension Data is doing the chasing. As the last open stage of the Giro d'Italia, there are plenty of teams eager to make it into the breakaway.
The favourites will want to let this breakaway go as soon as possible so that they can step off the gas and save their legs for the finale. There will be plenty that aren't happy that Dimension Data has decided to chase this down.
It's not just the fight for the maglia rosa that is going to be hotly contested this weekend. The maglia bianca is another close affair with Adam Yates leading Bob Jungels by just 38 seconds. Davide Formolo is not too far behind at 2:02 either.
With a time trial yesterday, Yates - like Quintana in the GC - knows that he has to take time out of his closest rival if he wants to secure victory in the young rider classification.
150km remaining from 190km
There is reportedly a 30-second gap between the two pelotons with 50 riders in the first of the two groups. None of the big favourites appear to be caught out by this split.
The peloton winding its way through the opening kilometres of today's stage. The six leaders have 52 seconds on the first peloton and 1:39 over the second major group.
However this Giro d'Italia plays out, Tom Dumoulin seems to have secured himself a new contract. According to the Dutch press, he has penned a new deal to keep himself at Sunweb until at least 2021. Read the full story here.
The peloton appears to have stepped off the gas quite a bit as they tick along at about 30kph over this stretch. With that, the gap to the six leaders is going back out again to 1:30. There is still 20 seconds between the two pelotons.
Scratch that. The gap has quickly ballooned to four minutes and not a moment too soon. Perhaps someone had a word with the Dimension Data team to tell them that the game was up for that breakaway.
A little side note, the Giro d'Italia press team reports that a whopping 3.8 metric tons of rubbish was collected after yesterday's stage, 90 per cent of which will be recycled. That's rubbish from riders and fans.
As we mentioned earlier the prince of Bahrain was in town this morning and will be around all weekend. We caught a quick word with him ahead of the stage. Read what he said here.
Simone Andreetta and Gregor Muhlberger have set off in chase of the six leaders. The pair are making decent ground now that the peloton has slowed things down. They are 1:45 behind the leaders, while the peloton is almost five minutes back.
Nairo Quintana was caught briefly by a gaggle of journalists this morning after he stepped off the sign-on stage. The Colombian was short as ever in his assessment of what was needed today. He noted that he would have to make more time on Dumoulin in the finish if he hopes to hold off a comeback from the big Dutchman.
The GC is as wide open this year as it has been in recent seasons. Let us know what you think will happen this weekend on Twitter. You can tweet me on @SadhbhOS.
119km remaining from 190km
Dumoulin may have got caught in the wrong end of the peloton yesterday but he won't let that happen again. He is up near the front with Pinot and Ag2R right behind him.
Speaking of Pinot, he seems to have overnight became the hot favourite on Twitter. Many are saying he will win the Giro, if not also this stage.
With 109 km to go, the gap ist at 6:50.
Quintana is tucked safely within a group of teammates at the head of the chasing group.
Tom Dumoulin said yesterday that he knew he was in for a bad day right from the start. He's hoping for a better day out today.
Dumoulin's teammate Simon Geschke said that yesterday's struggle was more of a mental issue for Dumoulin rather than a physical one.
After getting as close as 1:23, Andreetta and Muhlberger have been brought back to the peloton, making it just two groups on the road for now. The six leaders have 7:36 on the peloton as they approach the intermediate sprint. No contest there as they've got bigger things to worry about.
The riders are now onto the Monte Grappa. The climb last featured in the 2014 Giro d'Italia as a mountain time trial. Nairo Quintana won on that day to help secure his overall victory.
This is how the Monte Grappa shapes up. It's not overly steep but it is blooming long at 24km. The descent is not an easy task either.
93km remaining from 190km
Here is Ilnur Zakarin at the start this morning. The Russian could play an interesting role if he goes on the attack, which is highly likely. He's got one teammate in the breakaway today and Belkov could be key for him later today. Zakarin is only 1:21 down, so he poses a big threat to the guys ahead of him in the GC.
The gradient begins to bite and Pozzato is distanced. It's not a surprise that he is the first to go, this is not his terrain at all.
The breakaway has been on the Monte Grappa for quite some time but the peloton is only just getting there. Lots of action on the front as the GC teams try to make sure they're in the right place. This Giro has hammered home the importance of being near the front in these situations.
Bahrain, CCC Sprandi and Trek-Segafredo have joined Movistar on the front of the bunch. There were rumours in the French press this morning that the Velon teams of Trek and Orica would try to help Dumoulin win the Giro. We'll see if that is true.
The steepest gradients of this climb come right at the start and the peloton is thinning out quite quickly. Rory Sutherland is setting the pace with Bahrain's Manuele Boaro right behind him. Quintana is the fourth man in that little train. Dumoulin is a little further back on the outside of the group.
Interesting to see how present CCC Sprandi Polkowice is at the front of the bunch. Their rider Jan Hirt has enjoyed a strong final week and could be in with a shout of a top 10 by the end. It's a long shot though at 10 minutes down on the 10th place rider.
87km remaining from 190km
Meanwhile, in the peloton, Katusha is not happy with the pace. They push up the outside to stick a few riders on the front. They immediately pull out a gap with Vicioso and Kiserlovski.
It seems that wasn't intentional. Movistar played their bluff and allowed the gap to go out. Vicioso looked over his shoulder and realised that the rest of the peloton was not behind them. They immediately sat up and went back to the peloton. They're now just behind De la Parte for Movistar.
Those of you who watched yesterday's stage might recall Eugenio Alafaci throwing a bidon at Rory Sutherland. The Italian issued an apology about his actions and escaped with a 200CHF fine. Read the full story here.
Bad news for Nairo Quintana as Winner Anacona gets distanced. It's been a tough few days and it's obviously taking its toll on the Colombian.
84km remaining from 190km
Another Movistar rider in trouble. This time it's Izagirre dangling towards the back. Quintana has just De la Parte and Amador with him near the front of the bunch. This has been a brutal Giro d'Italia.
It looks like Nibali is without any teammates in that group while Dumoulin seems to have Geschke a few places back in the bunch. Katusha still putting the hurt on.
And Pinot loses Morabito to the pace. He's still got a rider up the road and another teammate in the bunch with him. Kiserlovski is cooked and he moves off the bunch as Mamykin takes up the front. Zakarin looking relaxed in the bunch.
Simon Geschke is now having trouble keeping in touch with the bunch. Dumoulin also has ten Dam in the group, but he is well back too. Katusha is destroying the peloton on this climb.
Mamykin does a quick little surge and is followed by De la Parte. He decides better of it and he flicks off the front of the pack and goes back to ride with Zakarin.
Meanwhile, Geschke and ten Dam get the hurry on by the team car and they move up to ride in front of Dumoulin. Nibali now has Pelizotti with him. Nobody too isolated just yet, but there's still a while to go on this climb.
It's an interesting little chess game at the moment as Katusha and Movistar keep battling for control of the front of the peloton. The little moves by the Sunweb and Bahrain riders were more a show of presence than anything else. Their leaders don't need them just yet with so many other riders around at the moment.
Ladagnous now struggling off the back of the escape group. He has to put in a little dig to regain contact. The road is really narrow here and when the peloton arrives it will be hard to follow an attack if you're too far back.
Fans have always had a slightly odd sense of humour, myself included, and it appears that yesterday fans were trying to give Dumoulin some toilet paper on the climbs. Let's hope he won't need it today.
75km remaining from 190km
Quintana is forced to chase down Zakarin, because even he at fifth overall is a big threat to the maglia rosa.
That has had a huge impact on the group of favourites. Just 15 riders left, including Quintnaa, Zakarin, Nibali, Pozzovivo, Jungels, Dumoulin and Pinot.
Another push again reduces the group by about 5 riders and Dumoulin is now dangling off the back. Is he in trouble?
Mikel Landa manages to get back up to that main group of favourites as Belkov drops back, giving Katusha two teammates in this group.
The other rider with Zakarin is Kiserlovski, who looked done earlier on but he's grinding out the pace now.
Belkov has had enough. He swings off the front but he's trying his best to keep in touch. He might be needed again.
Mollema is leading the way in the chase group. Notably, he's got Adam Yates with him. He was hoping to make time on Jungels but he's losing it at the moment.
20 seconds between the Mollema and Quintana groups. Quintana's group is just 2:36 behind the two remaining leaders.
Mollema is going backwards very quickly right now. He looks like he's in a lot of trouble.
70km remaining from 190km
Riders making it over to the Quintana group, including Jan Hirt, Sebastian Reichenbach and Adam Yates.
Mollema has now also made it back, as has Amador for Quintana. It looks like Phil Deignan is in that group too.
There are about 20 riders in that maglia rosa group.
Dupont is in that group for Pozzovivo. He keeps switching across the road, trying to find a gap so that he can move up to his team leader but the road is narrow and it's harder than it looks.
The full make-up of that maglia rosa group: Quintana, Amador, Cataldo, Zakarin, Belkov, Kiserlovski, Jungels, Mollema, Pinot, Reichenbach, Pozzovivo, Nibali, Landa, Yates, Henao, Konrad, Fraile, Dupont and Hirt.
67km remaining from 190km
An impressive ride from Patrick Konrad to make it into this group. He's battling on the back but still a mighty effort from the young rider.
Over the top of the Monte Grappa and Movistar shoves past Katusha to lead it down. Quintana perhaps remembering Zakarin's big crash at last year's Giro d'Italia. Let's hope they all make it down ok.
There are varying degrees of descending skill in this group of favourites and with such a twisting and narrow descent we're likely to see plenty of riders distanced on the way down.
The riders are taking it quite gently at the moment as Teuns regains contact with Devenyns up front. This is a very long descent. In fact, at 26km it is longer than the climb today.
If you missed the news earlier in the day, Steven Kruijswijk is not racing today. The Dutchman fell ill overnight and decided to abandon the race. Such a shame with just two more days to go. Read the full story here.
The leaders asking the TV moto what is their gap to the chasers. If they were reading Cyclingnews then we'd be able to tell them that they've got just 2:13now, after having over 7 minutes at the start of the Monte Grappa stage.
Ladagnous is caught and passed by the attacking Dario Cataldo. He's perhaps waiting for his teammate Thibaut Pinot in the following group.
51km remaining from 190km
The backing off in pace means that a few dropped riders have been able to get back in touch with this group of favourites. It's hard to get an exact read on the entire make-up but Tejay van Garderen is one of those who has been lucky enough to get back up there.
Away from today's racing, there has been some good news for Stijn Vandenbergh. The Belgian crashed heavily at the Four days of Dunkirk and has been in hospital for the last two weeks with concussion. He has finally been released to go home.
Simone Pettili was another rider who bridged the gap and he's now gone on the attack. He's got one of the Cannondale Drapac riders on his tail trying to chase him down and another of his teammates, perhaps Polanc.
A hairy moment for Devenyns as he has to check his line going through a corner. All is well though and the two leaders still have 2:20 on the group behind.
Tom Jelte Slagter is still plugging along in no man's land. He's at 1:27 behind the two leaders.
Just 40km to go. Those three that tried to attack have been brought back. We've got a bit of a stalemate in the group of favourites for now. They're likely waiting for the final climb.
Less than 10km until the leaders hit the final climb. It tops out with 15km to go and then there's an undulating, and at times fast, ride to the finish.
This is what the last climb looks like.
Slagter still on his lonesome. Not making any real ground on the two out front and the group of favourites is slowly bringing him back.
Even in war there is time for helping your rivals. Nibali picks up a bidon from Movistar. With such tight twisting roads it's hard for the riders to drop back to the car. All's fair in love and war, well sometimes.
It looks like De la Parte has made it back to that favourites group, which is good news for Quintana. He's now got two teammates with him as Slagter is reeled back in at last. Dumoulin also has Geschke and Ten Dem back with him. It's on like donky kong!
Cataldo has also been bought back so it's just the two riders up the road now. They have 2:44, but they'll need as much time as possible before they start this climb in about 1km.
There's about 30 riders in that main group now, after being whittled down to less than 10 on the ascent. It's likely to be very much reduced when they hit the next climb, which the leaders have just started.
This is the last climb of the Giro d'Italia 2017. Can the riders make it count?
I don't know about you, but I'm excited about this. Movistar leads the main group onto the final climb.
A mechanical problem for Kiserlovski at the bottom of the climb. That's a blow for Zakarin. Can he make it back on and still be able to make an impact.
26km remaining from 190km
This is like the calm before the storm. Lots of teams coming up to the front, ready to blow the race apart. Who will go first?
26km remaining from 190km
Meanwhile, Teuns' former break companion Ladagnous has just dropped out of the back of the main group. Just Reichenback left with Pinot.
Movistar trying to string out this group and there are riders dropping out the back but there are still about 30 at the moment, including all of the favourites.
Morabito climbs his way back into that group for Pinot too. Meanwhile, Jan Hirt for CCC Sprandi is trying to move his way up as is Zakarin. Katusha was very active on the last climb, will Zakarin attack soon?
Good news for Zakarin. After a huge effort, Kiserlovski as got back into this group. How is he feeling after the chase though?
1:58 for Teuns. He's unlikely to make it, but it's a strong effort nonetheless.
Behind Teuns, Franco Pellizzoti has been dropped. That is Nibali all alone for now. He's fifth wheel at the moment behind Pinot, Quintana and his two Movistar teammates.
Nibali attacks!
23km remaining from 190km
He doesn't have much of a gap but he's pening some serious gaps. He's got Quintana behind him now with Pozzovivo, Zakarin and Pinot. Dumoulin has lost touch.
22km remaining from 190km
In all of that, Devenyns was brought back and spat out the back. His day out front is done.
There is a halt in hostilities and a few riders are bringing their way back up. The group has swelled again to about 20 riders. Yates and Jungels are both in that group too.
Zakarin attacks and he brings Pozzovivo with him. It is Hirt that does the chasing.
With each attack, Mollema is having to fight hard to get back. It seems like only a matter of time before he blows up for good.
It is strange that the others aren't really chasing. Zakarin is 1:21 behind in fifth place and Pozzovivo 1:30 in sixth.
Just as I write that, Quintana attacks and takes Nibali with him.
During his last attack, Quintana didn't work with Nibali, much to the annoyance of the Italian. There is no love lost between the pair, but they are working together for now.
20km remaining from 190km
Zakarin doing much of the work in his group as Pozzovivo sits on his wheel. They're just about to make contact with Teuns.
They do catch Teuns, who is utterly cooked and can't even attempt to stick with them.
Further doen the climb, Dumoulin is trying to rally the troops in a chase. FDJ is setting the pace for now and they're clawing their way back to Quintana and Nibali.
Quintana and Nibali are now 15 seconds behind the two leaders. There is a further 12 seconds between them and the Dumoulin group.
Pinot attacks now and leaves the Dumoulin group behind. Jungels is setting the pace for the chase.
Pinot easily makes it back to the Quintana group and now Dumoulin is working hard to close the gap. It's only a few seconds between them now.
18km remaining from 190km
Quintana attacks as the slope hits 11 per cent. Pinot is right in his wheel.
Pinot