Tirreno-Adriatico stage 5 - As it happened live

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the queen stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.

The peloton is setting off to start stage 5 with a long 9.8km neutral start.

The action will kick off in around 15 minutes.

The big news this morning is that today's stage has been shortened due to high winds at the summit of Sarnano-Sassotetto. As a result, the finishing climb has been shortened by 2.5km.

Meanwhile over in Paris-Nice, the wind has meant organisers have cut the 197km stage down to just 80km...

Paris-Nice and Tirreno-Adriatico stages shortened due to high winds

Sassotetto summit finish cut by 2.5km while Paris-Nice stage 6 reduced to 80km

Here's the new finishing climb profile. It's still a tough one at 10.7km and an average gradient of 7.3%.

And here's the new map of the finish. The section of road running to the crossroads on the left has been removed from the route.

Elsewhere, Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal-QuickStep) was fined 500CHF for removing his helmet during yesterday's stage 4. UCI regulations state that riders can be disqualified for doing so, though the Frenchman escaped with a fine instead.

French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) is the only non-starter today.

166km to go

Racing is underway at the start of stage 5 and the riders kick off the action.

HIlly ground from the very start in Morro d'Oro.

Attacks fly early on but no breakaway yet.

155km to go

No moves yet as the attacks continue.

Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) is among the attackers.

He's on the move with Zdenek Stybar (Jayco-AlUla), Erik Fetter (Eolo-Kometa), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic), and Florian Stork (Team DSM).

Davide Ballerini (Soudal-QuickStep) has made it into that group, too.

150km to go

The seven riders are pulling away from the peloton and are a minute up the road.

So that's Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo), Davide Ballerini (Soudal-QuickStep), Zdenek Stybar (Jayco-AlUla), Erik Fetter (Eolo-Kometa), Anthony Perez (Cofidis), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-Samsic), and Florian Stork (Team DSM) in the breakaway.

147km to go

The breakaway has three minutes on the peloton now.

It's a stronger group than we've seen in previous days, with Simmons, Stybar, and Ballerini the standout names.

A look back at stage 4, which saw Primož Roglič sprint to victory at the uphill finish in Tortoreto.

The gap has come down a little to the breakaway. It stands at 2:20.

130km to go

Guglielmi is the best-placed GC man among the breakaway riders. He's 2:35 down on  race leader Kämna.

Simmons has dropped away from the breakaway...

125km to go

It's been a hilly start but not too tough. Quite a surprise to see Simmons going backwards.

Add EF riders Jonathan Caicedo and Julius van den Berg to the list of riders who didn't start today. They fell ill overnight.

120km to go

Simmons is a minute down on the break now. The peloton a further 1:20 back.

After initially being shortened to 80km due to high winds, stage 6 of Paris-Nice has now been cancelled altogether.

Get the latest on the news over at our Paris-Nice stage 6 live coverage. Full news story to follow.

The 1.1 women's race Drentse Acht van Westerveld has also been cancelled today due to heavy snowfall.

113km to go

Back in Tirreno-Adriatico, Quinn Simmons has rejoined the peloton.

Of course, Simmons won the green KOM jersey at last year's race.

For now, Eolo-Kometa's Davide Bais (who wore it last year before Simmons took over) remains in the classification lead.

For the remaining six breakaway riders, the time gap remains stable at 2:30.

101km to go

No change in the break-peloton situation at the moment.

Primoz Roglic promises to shave his legs after success in Tirreno-Adriatico

'I said I'd only shave my legs when I win a race, it's nice to be back,' says Jumbo-Visma leader

'Exceptionally violent winds' made decision to cancel Paris-Nice stage 6 'inevitable'

Plan to hold shortened stage dashed by extreme gusts

Bora-Hansgrohe control the peloton on behalf of race leader Lennard Kämna.

89km to go

They remain at 2:30 down on the breakaway.

A look at the breakaway riders out on course today.

Our man on the ground in Italy Stephen Farrand reporting rain showers and heavy winds at the finish, with talk of 70kph winds in places. 

It's raining at the moment but the race goes on for now.

75km to go

Still around 2:30-2:40 from the peloton to the break.

Still Perez, Fetter, Guglielmi, Stork, Ballerini, Stybar in the breakaway.

A video of the strong winds at the finish today.

The riders have been on rolling roads all day and they're heading towards the intermediate sprint at Amandola next.

The roads are damp at the moment but the rain has stopped.

69km to go

Guglielmi is dropped from the breakaway. Five left up front now.

Oh, there he is. The Frenchman is making his way back up to the front.

Stybar leads the breakaway over the intermediate sprint. No contest there.

62km to go

The six men of the breakaway are two minutes on the peloton.

Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) has gone down in the peloton. Cameras didn't catch the crash but his jacket is on the floor, suggesting he was putting it on and maybe got hit by a gust of wind.

If you want to find out how to watch Tirreno-Adriatico then you can't go wrong with our streaming guide.

Kämna in Tirreno-Adriatico lead but fears the return of Roglic in mountain stages

'Six seconds on Primoz Roglic is not a lot, he's always a concern' says young Bora-Hansgrohe leader

Rai now showing images from the finish with the high winds up on the mountain. We'll see how the stage progresses...

57km to go

Meanwhile, the riders are still traversing the up-and-down roads on today's stage. No classified climb just yet – San Ginesio comes in around 15km.

Bora-Hansgrohe still in charge at the head of the peloton. Bahrain Victorious, Movistar, and Jumbo-Visma also up there.

The riders have passed the base of the day's final climb and will set off and a loop to the north before coming back around to take on the summit finish.

37.1kph average speed so far today.

Into the final 50km and the peloton has sped up.

48km to go

Under a minute for the breakaway now.

Still the same teams at the front.

It's not a day for Wout van Aert today but might be for Tom Pidcock. The Briton was caught up in a late crash with the Belgian yesterday though...

Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock come crashing down at Tirreno-Adriatico

Fetter is dropped from the break as Ineos Grenadiers take to the front of the peloton.

Five left out front as Stybar begins to struggle.

41km to go

Four left now and there are 35 seconds back to the peloton. They're on the climb of San Ginesio.

Ballerini, Guglielmi, Perez, Stork continue on towards the top.

Stork leads it over the top as Stybar is caught by the peloton.

37km to go

The breakaway hang on out front down the descent.

Guglielmi nearly loses it on the way down after a gust of wind caught him. He's lucky not to run wide into a wall.

25 seconds from the Ineos-led peloton to the leaders.

Perez, Stork and Ballerini remain out front. Guglielmi off the back.

Sprinters drop from the rear of the peloton on this hilly terrain. Another uphill now, this time unclassified.

30km to go

It's over for the breakaway.

More riders drop from the peloton, mostly sprinters and non-climbers.

The peloton begins the climb to Gualdo now. It's 4.7km long at an average of 5.6%.

25km to go

Ineos fully in control at the front.

Van Aert drops out the rear of the peloton.

Kwiatkowski and Ganna continue on the front with five other Ineos men – the whole team.

22km to go

Movistar and Jumbo-Visma also up there.

Now Movistar put a few riders up front as Kwiatkowski drops away.

Over the top of the climb and Alessandro Santaromita (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) sneaks up to the front to grab the points.

20km to go

A descent, a short rise, another descent, a flat portion, and then we're heading to the final climb.

Movistar now with four men up front. They're all-in for Enric Mas.

Ineos Grenadiers back to the front now on this rise up after the summit in Gualdo. Kwiatkowski is back.

More riders trail off the rear, including Omloop het Nieuwsblad winner Dylan van Baarle.

Some strong wind on the way down the other side.

Remy Rochas (Cofidis) has to unclip a foot after getting caught twice by gusts.

16km to go

Meanwhile, Movistar continue at the front.

Their leader Enric Mas also getting buffeted by the wind.

Movistar and Ineos at the front.

12km to go

The Spanish squad continue to command the front as they head towards the base of the final climb.

Here's a look at this finishing climb.

Still a kilometre to go until the climbing begins.

Some news from the women's peloton...

Kristen Faulkner risks disqualification from Strade Bianche over glucose monitor

Jayco-AlUla rider claims the sensor on her arm did not collect in-race data

Now they're heading uphill on the road to the finish. The climb has begun.

10km to go

It's still Movistar in the lead. Jumbo-Visma not up there just yet for Roglič.

Two left for Movistar on the front. Bora-Hansgrohe lined up behind them for race leader Kämna.

9km to go

No moves yet, as expected.

Ganna and Kwiatkowski are out the rear of the peloton, their work for the day done.

8km to go

Around 40 or so in the peloton at the moment.

Now it's Bora-Hansgrohe on the front.

Two men ahead of Kämna and one behind.

7km to go

Not a high pace on the way up so far, few riders dropping yet.

There is a headwind on the way up, though on the winding road up the direction changes every few hundred metres.

Julian Alaphilippe collides with Attila Valter towards the rear of the peloton. The Frenchman accidentally came together with the Hungarian and unclipped to stay upright. No harm done.

6km to go

UAE Team Emirates come to the front of the peloton with force as Davide Formolo ups the pace.

Mathieu van der Poel among the riders dropping from the peloton now.

A big turn for Formolo has the peloton strung out behind him and riders dropping left, right, and centre.

Pidcock and Lutsenko are hanging on at the rear.

5km to go

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) attacks!

Caruso only has a few seconds as Formolo continues to work behind.

Alaphilippe drops away now.

In this section the wind is blowing across the road, but one turn and it switches to a headwind.

4km to go

Valter, George Bennett, Magnus Sheffield also drop.

Caruso has around 10 seconds.

A big slowdown now as the riders hit an exposed section and head into the wind.

Snow on the side of the road, high winds. It's grim up there.

Caruso's advantage remains the same, not big moves from behind yet. Riders wind across the road with mini accelerations.

3km to go

Rain also falling at the moment.

Now Almeida takes it up at the front.

He has Hindley and Kämna behind him. Then Buitrago and Fortunato.

Almeida drops back from the front and now Hindley takes it up. Around 20 left in the group.

Caruso's advantage is going up. 20 seconds now!

2km to go

He was 45 seconds down on Kämna at the start of the day.

We're waiting for a Roglič move at some point. He needs six seconds on Kämna to take the race lead.

There's a hilly stage coming up tomorrow so today's summit finish isn't the be-all and end-all, however.

23 seconds for Caruso now. Carthy takes to the front of the peloton.

Hindley on his wheel.

It's brutal up there with the wind blowing in their faces for much of the climb.

Pidcock, Arensman and Michael Woods are hanging on at the back of the group.

1.5km to go

Caruso remains 23 seconds up the road.

Ciccone takes it up and now Mas accelerates.

10 seconds fall off Caruso's lead.

They're past the toughest gradients but now the attacks are coming.

Buitrago is stuck on Mas' wheel. Ciccone is next in line.

1km to go

Mas isn't far off Caruso now.

Mas and Ciccone catch Caruso!

Buitrago and Carthy also there. FIve out front.

500m to go

Will anyone else get across?

The peloton has closed in! 300m to go

All back together for the final dash to the line.

Bahrain lead it into the finale.

Carthy makes the first move!

Kelderman pushes past him and leads it out.

Ciccone and Caruso behind Kelderman.

Very heavy headwinds here.

Vlasov and Geoghegan Hart open the final sprint!

Ciccone and Roglič come up alongside them.

Roglič just edges it at the finish line!

Another win and the race lead for Roglič. He gets 10 bonus seconds ahead of Ciccone and Geoghegan Hart.

Roglič lay in wait in the group all the way up and only made his move in the dying metres.

Between the climb and the wind, that was a very long final 500 metres.

Kämna took fourth behind his teammate Hindley. He's out of the blue jersey tonight.

It looked like Ciccone had that win there. Roglič just came up the outside in literally the final few metres of the climb.

He waited for the perfect time and unleashed all his power in the final dash for the line. Roglič took that by almost a bike length in the end. What a finish.

A thought for Caruso, who looked all set to win at 1.5km out.

Roglič now leads the race by four seconds from Kämna.

He also leads the points classification with 24 points to Jasper Philipsen's 22.

He also leads the mountain classification with 20 points. Giulio Ciccone and Davide Bais are next on 16 and 13 points respectively.

Photos of the finish might take a while to come in from our Getty colleagues today given the conditions up there.

An indoor podium for Roglič. He still does his trademark ski jump celebration and sprays the Astoria Spumante (out of the front door of whatever building they've managed to corral for the makeshift ceremony), though.

Here's our stage 5 race report...

Tirreno-Adriatico: Roglic doubles up with win at Sarnano-Sassotetto

Kämna misses out in small sprint in shortened finale as Jumbo-Visma rider takes race lead

Here's a look at that dash to the finish line, Roglič on the right alongside Ciccone and Geoghegan Hart.

How to watch Tirreno-Adriatico – live streaming

Tirreno-Adriatico – results and news

Tirreno-Adriatico route

And a look at Roglič crossing the line ahead of Ciccone. At the time it looked closer than it was but the Slovenian left it late – or timed it perfectly...

Stay tuned for plenty of news and reaction coming in from the race via our man on the ground Stephen Farrand.