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The 11 riders who had gone clear from the rest of the break have been brought back.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG are leading the peloton behind. They’re 3:15 behind the leaders.
Frigo, Houle, Konrad, Plapp and Zanna are the riders who have joined the 6.
130KM TO GO
More riders are bridging up to this lead group of 6, who are now pressing on.
Vacek and De Pretto have joined those four leaders.
They’re not pressing on, however, the Movistar duo aware that their leader Rubio is still in the main breakaway behind.
Four riders have slipped off the front of the breakaway group – Tarling, Formolo, Cepeda and Ulissi.
The breakaway group is very big for now, but is sure to break up once they start climbing Monte Grappa, in about 20km.
The highest ranked rider on GC in the break is Einer Rubio. The Movistar rider (who finished seventh overall last year) has done well to slip into this group unnoticed, as he’s a threat for the top ten, currently ranking 14th overall at just 4:26.
Some other riders confirmed as being in the break: Gaudu, Zanna, Plapp, Konrad, Pellizzari.
140KM TO GO
The Tiberi group is back with the first peloton. Crisis over – for now. If the Italian was hurting on that small first climb, the mountains coming up are likely to be too much for him to hang on.
To name a few of the standout names in this massive breakaway group: Bilbao, Martínez, Frigo Cattaneo, Scaroni, Fortunato, Vacek, Tarling.
There are about 35 riders together in the front group.
As a result, the Tiberi group is closing down on the pink jersey group They have them within 45 seconds.
The pink jersey group has sat up. They’ve given over a minute to the lead group.
Four riders have jumped out of the lead group.
About 30 riders have joined together to form a lead group, with the pink jersey group 50 seconds behind.
The pink jersey and the other GC favourites all seem to be in the same group, with other groups of breakaway hopefuls ahead of them.
150KM TO GO
Ayuso is at the team car. His UAE team are a little short in the front peloton, with McNulty and others in the Tiberi group.
The Tiberi group is now 1:30 behind. Bahrain are doing most of the pace-setting, with some help from Polti.
The front peloton has come back together again, but it’s still hectic racing.
It’s all got quite messy out there. A large group has got a small gap over the rest of the front peloton.
The Tiberi group has lost a bit more time, slipping down to 1:15.
160KM TO GO
Four riders have a small gap – Ulissi, Bilbao, Rafferty and another.
Both the leading peloton and the Tiberi chase group are large in size, with about the same number of riders in them.
Louis Meintjes and Francesco Busatto are among the latest to attack, but can’t establish a gap.
The Tiberi group is 50 seconds adrift from the main peloton.
One GC man is still missing from the peloton – Antonio Tiberi. The Italian was the first man to fall in the crash yesterday, and it appears is still hurting from it.
170KM TO GO
The second group on the road has caught the first group on the road. There are still some straggling groups, but no GC riders appear to have been caught out.
It has also seen the breakaway been caught.
The climb has caused splits in the peloton.
Conci takes the 3 KOM points at the top, on marking duties for his Astana teammate Fortunato.
Conci has also joined them, and is leading as the near the summit.
Cattaneo and Stock have used this climb to join up to the leaders.
MURO DI CA’ DEL POGGIO
180KM TO GO
More riders are attacking out of the peloton to try and bridge the 15 second gap to the leaders, but none are succeeding.
Now there are just four – Covili has been dropped.
This five-man group has the biggest gap any has had all day. They are:
At the intermediate sprint, Kooij and Van Uden also went for some points, placing third and fourth, having declined many of the points on offer in previous stages. Here are the updated rankings in the points classification:
M. Bais, Milesi and three other riders have a gap.
The sprint out the way, the attacks recommence.
Actually, Pedersen just about came around Plowright to take the maximum points.
Jensen Plowright challenges Pedersen for the sprint, and appears to pip him at the line.
190KM TO GO
An intermediate sprint is coming up in 2km, and thus Lidl-Trek have formed a train at the front of the peloton for Pedersen.
Andrea Pietrobon is the first rider in a while to get a small gap, but he too has been brought back.
Kasper Asgreen is at the back of the peloton, talking to his team car. He must be exhausted after his stage-winning efforts yesterday.
Still multiple attacks are being made, but it’s been a while since anyone opened up any delight between themselves and the peloton.
200KM TO GO
They too have been brought back. This could go on for a while longer yet.
Pedersen keeps trying, and has Soudal’s sprinter Paul Magnier with him.
More riders join them, before the peloton catches them.
As have Quintin Hermans, and Mads Pedersen in the maglia ciclamino.
Georg Steinhauser and Wout Poels have joined Planckaert.
Edward Planckaert has attacked and has a gap.
He’s brought back, by a fierce pace set by an Astana rider leading the peloton.
Michael Hepburn is the latest rider to have a small gap, albeit only of about two seconds.
Taco van der Hoorn is leading this one, trying to propel his teammate Louis Menitjes.
210KM TO GO
Egan Bernal is right at the back of the peloton. That’s not an ideal place for a rider 9th on GC to be. Is he feeling OK?
They’ve all been brought back.
A Bahrain and Soudal rider have bridged up to this leading quartet.
Fabio Van den Bossche is the Alpecin rider, and he and Van Aert have been joined by Vacek and Tarling.
Van Aert has gone again, and this time got a small gap, along with an Alpecin rider.
That pair has been brought back.
Gijs Van Hoecke has joined Konrad.
Patrick Konrad is the first rider to get a bit of a gap. With Ciccone out of the race and his GC bid over, Konrad and the rest of the Lidl-Trek team are freed up to exclusively chase stages.
Wout van Aert is interested. He’s among the first riders to try and get up the road.
OFFICIAL START
Del Toro is at the team car, as we wait for the flag. This is a big day for him, as he’ll start to learn how well he can climb this deep into a race.
Although we reach the mountains later in the stage, the first 100km today are flat. That will give some non-climbers the chance to get into the day’s break, and a head-start ahead of the climbing.
After yesterday’s rain, the weather is drier and skies bluer today.
The riders are off, rolling out from the unofficial start.
Despite his strong position, Del Toro is still being coy about his chances. «In my mind, or my body, things are the same,” he said after his time gains yesterday, “I just want to be up there.»
In the aftermath of yesterday’s crash, it’s been announced today that Giulio Ciccone will not be continuing the Giro. The Italian was taken to hospital after going down yesterday, and it’s been decided that he will abandon the race.
It was all change in the GC yesterday, as the late crash caused significant time gaps between many of the favourites and consequently changes in the order of the top ten. There’s likely to be yet more today as the riders take on the Alps for the first time.
15 minutes until the riders roll out in Fiume Veneto to start today’s 3.9km neutral zone.
Giro d’Italia: Kasper Asgreen solos to stage 14 breakaway victory as GC riders lose time in late-race crash
Here’s a look back at the stage 14 results.
A day for the breakaway specialists before week three kicks off?
And here’s the stage 15 map, as the riders make their way across Northeast Italy.
Here’s a look at the profile of today’s stage, which features ascents of the infamous Monte Grappa and the Passo Dori before the finish in Asiago.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 15 of the Giro d’Italia!
