Live coverage of stage 6 of the Giro d'Italia from Cassino to San Giovanni Rotondo.
Good morning. I hope you've got some sustenance ready because today is the longest stage of this year's Giro d'Italia. We've had quite a few stages over the 200km mark already in this opening week but this one tops out at a tidy 238km.
With such a long day in the saddle, today could be one for the breakaway. It's a bit too hard for the sprinters at the finish, and the GC teams won't want to burn too much energy trying to keep a break at close quarters. Maybe we'll see Thomas De Gendt in his first break of the Giro.
With that in mind, we can expect a bit of a bigger fight for the breakaway today. Over the first few days, the move has gone pretty early and with little resistance from the bunch. We'll find out if this is the case very soon with the start in just 10 minutes. Mercifully, it's only a two-kilometre neutral zone.
The general classification is unlikely to see any major changes, but this is the Giro d'Italia so you never really know. Just in case, here's a reminder of how things stand in the GC.
Primoz Roglic has signed on and we're just about ready to get going today.
As the riders get underway, I'd like to correct a previous statement. Today's stage is actually the second longest of the race. Stage 8 is a mighty one kilometre longer and contains more classified climbs. I feel tired just thinking about it. That's probably why I'm not a professional rider.
No news yet of any riders not signing on this morning. We do start today two riders lighter than we started yesterday, however, following the departure of Tom Dumoulin and Jelle Vanendert.
The riders have passed through kilometre zero and, as expected, it is a massive bun fight for a place in the breakaway.
For those of you who'd like to see it and not just imagine it, this was the peloton riding through the kilometre zero point a short while ago.
We have just one classified climb in today's stage, with 18 points available at the top. Bidard is the only rider that can draw close to mountains classification leader Ciccone but he can't surpass him. We may well see Ciccone getting back into the breakaway today, after a few days back in the peloton.
There is a lot of action going on at the front of the peloton with multiple riders trying to get away. Among those trying to distance the peloton are Gogl, Gavazzi, Gehereihzabher, Boivin and Hatsuyama. They manage to take 19 seconds on the bunch before they're brought back.
223km remaining from 238km
The pair has 30 seconds now, with Rota and Gastauer trying to bridge the gap.
Marcato is also getting in on the party. The gap is still only a few seconds at the moment. It's just 12 seconds now as there are plenty of teams interested in trying to make the group.
I've shown you the GC and the mountains classification, so I must not forget the points classification. Pascal Ackermann consolidated his place at the top of the standings with his win yesterday and he should keep a hold of the jersey, but we'll have to wait and see.
News coming in that Laurens ten Dam has abandoned. He was the last rider across the line yesterday. We'll bring you more information as we get it.
There was some commissaire controversy earlier this week at the Giro d'Italia. Not to feel left out, we had some across the pond at the Tour of California. Tejay van Garderen was given the same time as the peloton, despite being held up behind a crash that occurred outside the three-kilometre mark. Deceuninck-QuickStep's Kasper Asgreen was initially given the race lead, but it was taken off him and given back to van Garderen much to the chagrin of Asgreen's boss Patrick Lefevere. Read more about what Lefevere had to say here.
With all this attacking, there is a lot of jostling for position and there has been a crash in the bunch. We're hearing that race leader Primoz Roglic was involved in the crash. No news on how he's doing.
Roglic has lost some time due to that crash and he is now around 30 seconds off the back of the main peloton. There is quite a bit of time for him to get back on. Rafal Majka has also been caught up in the incident.
Zakarin and Landa were also delayed by the crash, but the bunch has now decided to wait for the affected riders. We should be all back together presently.
After that bout of chaos, it is all back together for the bunch. In the meantime, we do not yet have a breakaway.
200km remaining from 238km
The medical car is up at the back of the peloton after that crash a little while ago. Everyone got back on their bikes, so hopefully no serious injuries.
So, it looks like Roglic's leg took the brunt of his fall and he's ripped a large chunk out of his bibshorts. Let's hope he can get a replacement pair.
I know that kit makers are always looking for prime ventilation, but that might be a bit too much for Roglic, particularly in these conditions.
Up front, the attacks are still coming thick and fast. We now have a seven-man move with Rojas, Peters, Serry, Plaza, Bagioli, Wyss and Conti having a go.
The gap is just 16 seconds for the group of leaders after 50 kilometres of racing. The average speed over the first hour was 39.6kph.
Wyss has been dropped from this latest break attempt so it's just six riders trying to get away. The gap is still quite small at the moment at just 22 seconds.
Wyss has found some news friends to help him chase back to the front group. They are: Amador, Masnada, Carboni, Madouas and Oomen.
188km remaining from 238km
Wyss has now been dropped from the chasing group. Not a great day for the Swiss man. It obviously wasn't meant to be.
The two groups have come together and we now have a 13-man move at the front of affairs with a 57-second lead over the peloton.
It's no surprise that the Italian Pro Continental teams are all in there and with Israel Cycling Academy getting up there we have a full complement of wildcard teams. The gap is now two minutes so it looks like this could be our day's break.
A lot of the sprinter teams have put guys up front, now that we don't have the possibility of a bunch finish. Interesting to see Movistar put to riders up at the front of affairs too. No surprise that Jumbo-Visma, Bahrain-Merida or Mitchelton-Scott have opted to keep all their riders in the peloton.
We can bring you news that Roglic has a big plaster on now, so he's a bit more covered up. He also got his cuts disinfected.
This is an image from behind that earlier crash. If you squint, you can see that point jersey wearer Pascal Ackermann was also involved in the spill.
157km remaining from 238km
Team Sunweb have confirmed that Robert Power has abandoned after coming down in that same crash as Roglic. It's not been a great week for Sunweb.
Another image of that crash with Mikel Landa assessing his injuries. He'll be happy he's not too badly hurt after a few big crashes in the last 12 months.
148km remaining from 238km
The bunch is bring strung out by Jumbo-Visma. They have hinted that they might look to give away the pink jersey on today's stage, but they definitely don't want it to be too much. They're keeping this breakaway on a surprisingly short leash given the length of the stage. The gap sits at 4:26.
In the breakaway today there is just one rider that has previously won a stage of the Giro d'Italia and that is Andrey Amador. The Costa Rican won a mountainous stage to Cervinia in the 2012 Giro d'Italia. He has also worn the maglia rosa, spending a day in it during the 2016 Giro d'Italia.
Carboni had an issue with his shoe cover on his left foot. To fix it, he rested his leg on his top tube and adjusted it with his right hand. A brave move, thankfully he didn't come across any potholes.
Aside from the Tom Dumoulin's departure from the Giro d'Italia, the major news yesterday was the suspension of several riders who were involved in the Austrian police investigation Operation Aderlass. As a result, riders were pulled from both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour of California. Two of those involved, Kristijan Koren and retired rider Borut Bozic, are from Slovenia - the home nation of Primoz Roglic. The race leader was asked about the news in his post-stage press conference and he called the news 'sad for Slovenian cycling'. You can read Roglic's full comments here.
127km remaining from 238km
More information on that crash that occurred in the first part of today's stage. Quite a few big names were involved and we've had one abandon as a result of it, Robert Power.
It's a long day and Roglic is in a chatty mood today. After having what looked like a heart to heart with his teammate Laurens De Plus - with his hand on his back - he has now dropped back to have a chat with Ilnur Zakarin.
A great picture of the breakaway forming earlier today. You can see the peloton just in the background and Pieter Serry is looking over his shoulder. The break formed in two waves and you can also see the chasing group that joined up with them to make the 13-rider group that we have now.
While the riders are all stocking up on lunch, the gap has grown out a bit to just over five minutes. It's still a tight leash and it remains to be seen if Jumbo-Visma will let it stay out there or if they'll try to bring it back. A lot depends on what happens with Conti and whether or not the team is happy to give away the pink jersey or not.
The weather has been a bit mixed today. We've had some sunshine and some rain. At the moment it's dry, which will be very welcomed by the riders.
Though it's not raining, it's still pretty cool out there and there are lots of arm warmers about.
107km remaining from 238km
As long ago as February, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) had described the Tour of California as one of his big objectives for the first half of the season. But a little over two weeks ago, all that changed in a single phone call.
The riders are on a short unclassified climb, after that the road keeps heading down towards the bottom of the one and only classified climb of the day. The Coppa Casarinelle is 15 kilometres and averages 4.4 per cent, with a maximum gradient of nine per cent. It peaks just inside 20 kilometres to go.
I mentioned Andrey Amador as being the only rider in the breakaway group to have won a stage of the Giro d'Italia. There are some riders who, while they haven't won at the Giro, have taken Grand Tour stage wins. Israel Cycling Academy's Ruben Plaza is one of those. At 39 he is one of the oldest riders in the peloton and he has won a stage of the Tour de France and the Vuelta a Espana. A win today would let him complete the set. This is his 13th Grand Tour appearance during his long career.
95km remaining from 238km
A few of the Astana riders are putting some extra layers on for this descent. One of those is Miguel Angel Lopez, who is wearing the white jersey of best young rider. Some dark clouds out there and we might have some more rain before the day is done.
82km remaining from 238km
79km remaining from 238km
For now the echelons are at the back of the peloton as the weaker riders are spat out of the gruppo.
The breakaway riders are riding in a double line, sharing the effort and getting more protection from the wind.
Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) is still the virtual maglia rosa. He's 1:59 down on Roglic.
73km remaining from 238km
70km remaining from 238km
The riders have already spent four hours in the saddle, with 68km left to race.
65km remaining from 238km
The race returns to the state road SS17, giving more to room to the peloton.
61km remaining from 238km
Jumbo is riding half road into the side wind, protecting their riders but putting everyone else into the gutter and the wind.
Mitchelton-Scott is sat in the slipstream of Jumbo, carefully protecting Simon Yates. That has proved a vital strategy so far in the Giro, helping the British climber avoid most of the splits and crashes.
53km remaining from 238km
50km remaining from 238km
The peloton is looking a bit more focused as we get into the pointy end of today's stage. They've been pretty relaxed so far but they need to be much more attentive as there will be plenty of jostling for position when this climb comes up.
The additional layers are also coming off some. You don't want to be trying to take a jersey off when the hammer comes down so it's better to have it off sooner rather than later.
The gap to the leaders has come down a few seconds, but it's still hovering over the five-minute mark. We'll get an idea soon as to whether or not Jumbo-Visma is keen to shut the break down entirely or let it stay away and see if Conti takes the maglia rosa.
35km remaining from 238km
This climb is a second category effort so it should split up the breakaway.
Riders in this breakaway that can climb reasonably well are Amador, Plaza, Antunes, Conti, Oomen, Conci and Madouas. So, there should be a decent competition on this climb.
29km remaining from 238km
Fausto Masnada has decided to go on a long one and has attacked the breakaway. He's taken Valerio Conti with him.
27km remaining from 238km
Carboni is trying to bridge the gap on his own and Madouas is attempting to follow him.
Conti is sitting on Masnada's wheel and isn't doing any work. Masnada is not too happy with that and he puts in an acceleration, which puts Conti in trouble. Masnada slows down and they're back together.
The gap between the two breakaway groups is now 34 seconds. There were a few attacks, but the second group is working a bit better together.
Now Oomen kicks on, taking Antunes and Carboni with him. Madouas works hard to bridge the gap.
The gap is closed and now Plaza attacks. Plaza is a rider that never backs down.
It looks like Amador is trying to follow him but Plaza is alone at the moment.
23km remaining from 238km
This is an impressive ride from Rojas. I know it's not a massive climb, but he used to be a sprinter.
21km remaining from 238km
Up front, Masnada continues to set the pace. Perhaps he's done a deal with Conti, "you can have pink but you have to let me win the stage".
Antunes is now trying to bridge up to the Plaza group. The gaps are getting much bigger between all of these groups on the climb.
Oh dear! Conti almost has a coming together with a dog on the loose. Conti went one way and the dog followed and he had to switch directions again. There is a moto nearby and the dog is picked up before the chasing group comes through.
18km remaining from 238km
Antunes was caught by that third group, which is now 50 seconds behind Masnada and Conti, and now Serry has a go. There is a 20-second gap between groups two and three.
Having managed the gap very well throughout the day, Jumbo-Visma are happy to let it keep growing and growing. The two leaders have 7:14 now and if this keep going then Conti will have a massive advantage at the end of the day.
Conti is a decent enough climber so he could have this jersey for quite a while. UAE Team Emirates don't have a GC rider so they'll be happy to keep the pink jersey warm for a few days.
13km remaining from 238km
At the second intermediate sprint, Conti goes through and takes the full points. He also earns three bonus seconds for his troubles. Masnada moves to the front immediately, as the road heads up again.
If these two get to the line, I would put a lot of money (metaphorically speaking) on Masnada taking the win. He has done a lot of work with little complaint.
The leaders are on a flat stretch of road and they're giving it everything. In the second group, Rojas is trying to push things on and he's brought the gap from 35 to 30 seconds. Masnada and Conti seem to be in control at the moment.
7km remaining from 238km
The three behind don't seem to be able to make a serious dent in the advantage of Conti and Masnada. Try as they might, it won't go below the 30-second mark.
We're into the final five kilometres and the leaders have 33 seconds ont he chasers and 7:48 on the maglia rosa. Conti will have a lead of over five minutes to Roglic after today's stage. It must be said that Carboni will move into the white jersey. With Ciccone in the mountains jersey, an Italian will have the lead in three of the four competitons.
3km remaining from 238km
2km remaining from 238km
Plaza attacks from the chasing group.
Masnada now moves to the front as we go into the final kilmometre.
The two leaders are still working together. No cat and mouse at all
500 to go and Masnada moves to the front.
Conti takes the front again, is he leading Masnada out?
Masnada sprints past Conti and Conti doesn't react.
Masnada takes the stage win and Conti will move into pink.
Rojas and Plaza sprint for third place and it's Rojas that takes the final podium spot.
The remnants of the breakaway continue to cross the line. We have a long wait for the peloton.
It has now been over two minutes since the leaders crossed the line so Conti officially has the race lead now.
The peloton is into the final kilometre now
Gianni Savio is now running down the finishing straight. Let's hope he doesn't get taken out by the peloton.
Boivin sprints out of the peloton to cross the line just ahead of the Jumbo-Visma team.
Pieter Serry spoke to Eurosport after crossing the line, this is what he had to say:
Fausto Masnada giving Androni their first Giro d'Italia win since 2012, when Miguel Angel Rubiano and Roberto Ferrari took a stage apiece.
We have the GC results through and Conti holds a 1:41 lead over Carboni with Peters third at 2:09 back. Roglic is now 5:24 back so won't have to worry about pink for a while.
First of all, here is the stage top 10 from today.
And this is the new-look top 10 in the GC.
Of course, we can expect quite a few of these riders in the top 10 to drop back down the standings when we hit the big mountains. However, there are some interesting names in there. Andrey Amador is one and Sam Oomen is the other. Oomen lost a lot of time looking after Tom Dumoulin in the opening days, but this puts him right back into the mix and gives Sunweb some good news after losing Robert Power today, on top of Dumoulin yesterday.
Some words from our new race leader Valerio Conti.
Obviously you can't account for bad luck, but Conti could keep the maglia rosa until stage 12 or 13. It all depends on how his time trial goes this weekend.
Another image of today's winner Fausto Masnada.
This is what Masnada had to say after his victory.
Fausto Masnada is in his third year as a professional after signing with Androni in 2017. He spent some time as a stagiaire with Lampre-Merida in 2016. During his young career, he has finished third at the Tour of Turkey, won the Tour of Hainan and won two stages of this year's Tour of the Alps.
For results, photos and a report from today's stage then click here.
There were some reports of an 'investigation' at the Astana bus after men in blue overalls were seen by the bus. Astana have clarified that the bus was just being disinfected.
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