Giro d'Italia stage 17 – Live coverage

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All the action as the Italian Grand Tour heads towards another mountain summit finish

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Hello and welcome to our live race coverage from stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia.

We are in Canazei this morning and about 40 minutes away from the official start of stage 17 with the racing heading to Sega di Ala for another summit finish. This should be a cracker. 

Peter Cossins profiled today's stage and wrote this:

The route descends steadily for the opening 50 kilometres. The first of the day’s three climbs is the third-category ascent to Sveseri, which is close to 9 per cent for 3km. Beyond it, the riders will descend for another 40km to reach Trento, location of the first intermediate sprint.

Here's how things look in the overall standings heading into stage 17.

One rider who needs to make up time is Simon Yates, who bar one stage in the mountains has been off the pace, and has consistently lost time to Bernal (who hasn't?). Here's what the BikeExchange rider had to say on the rest day.

Philippa York, who will be covering the Tour of Britain with us later in the year (can't wait!) came through on the rest day with her GC analysis of the main contenders. Have a read before the start of the stage.

And good news, there were no COVID-19 cases in the race on the second rest-day.

Conditions this morning are pretty good, not warm but there's some sunshine for the riders after the terrible weather we saw the day before the rest day.

We're about 10 minutes away from the roll out on stage 17. Bernal is at the front and waiting patiently for the beginning of the stage.

And the flag has dropped but we have a neutralized zone to contend with before the fight for the break starts. It'll be an interesting opening hour with most of the first 50km downhill, so it might be hard to form a break. We shall see. 

James Knox riding next to Bernal at the front and they share a few words. Might we see an attack from the young British climber today?

Dries De Bondt is right near the front and talking to the lead race car. You can bet your house he will at least try and get in the break today. 

And now we're racing on stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia. We're already racing at speed as rider try and clip off the front. No dice so far. 

Cataldo, Torres and a rider from QuickStep are among those trying to break free in the early kilometers. AG2R try their luck next. 

Already we have the entire peloton strung out with 190km to go but this terrain doesn't really lend itself to forcing a break. It's been a rapid start though. 

A rider from UAE is the one to even get more than a 10m gap but he's about to be closed down. It's Gaviria.

Intermarche are next with two riders and Knox marks this one. Again we're all back together with 187km to go.

The two Intermarche riders have actually pressed on and they have about three or four seconds over the peloton. 

Ineos are just sitting back and waiting. They just to want to keep Bernal safe and aren't interested in who goes up the road for the time being. It will be interesting to see if that tactic changes should a rider like Simon Yates try and infiltrate an early move. For now we're all back together with 185km to go.

Lawrence Warbasse is the next rider to try his luck and he's joined by Simone Petilli. The gap is at about 5 seconds with 181km to go.

That move has been shut down but Torres tries once more. He lines out the bunch and ISN are interested in following but so are about 30 more riders and it's all back together again. 

We've already covered almost 20km but still no break with too many riders intent on going clear and cancelling each other out. We do have about a dozen off the front but once more it comes back together. 

Bora go next but the headwind is having an affect as we see a move with Dan Martin brought back. 

Knox again and two from Bora but they're reeled in too. This has been relentless. 

A brief moment of calm but then Bardiani fire a rider up the road and again it's closed down. 

Pro bike: Sam Boardman's L39ION of LA Specialized Tarmac

167km to go

Average speed so far in the stage has been 55kph as three more riders attack. And this is the first time we've seen anything like a substantial gap but it's only about 7-8 seconds with 161km to go.

Movistar, Intermarche and Androni are in the lead move but they only have 10 seconds at most. Scrap that it's about 5 seconds now.

That trio have been joined by about 10 more riders but the peloton haven't sat up yet. 

154km to go and four riders have gone clear but the gap is just four seconds and we have a large counter attack on the move.

The two front groups have merged and the gap is at 13 seconds. 

Geoffrey Bouchard and Dries De Bondt are two riders in the break.

Bardiani aren't happy so they're on the attack with two riders now.

There's a much larger group clear of the peloton, they're behind the Dries De Bondt and Bouchard group.

So we have eight riders clear still, with 10 seconds as the larger counter attack is about to be brought back. Cyclingnews blogger Matteo Jorgenson is in the break.

149km to go

And now there's another group clear and chasing the leading eight with LL Sanchez on the front of that second group. The bunch aren't happy though. 

It's all back together as Bouchard sits up and takes a drink. 147km to go and still no break. The road does kick up soon, so we might see another wave of attacks. And again Dan Martin is in the next split. 

About a dozen riders have slipped clear with 146km to go. Two Quickstep riders are in the move. Could this, finally, be the break of the day?

14 riders are in the break and the gap is at 15 seconds. 

The first sign of Ineos at the front and they fan out.. we could have our break of the day. 141km to go. Martin is there for ISN.

Moscon and LL Sanchez are in the break as we see Trek Segafredo counter with one rider. The gap is at 34 seconds with 140km go. We'll have a full list of riders soon.

Ineos are called into action as we see Bennett go on the attack with two other riders. The main break still has 49 seconds.

The three rider Bennett move has been caught. 138km to go.

Knox, Hermans, Serry, Martin, Ulissi, Hirt, Sanchez are among the riders in the break as we approach the third cat climb. The bunch looked to have calmed down just a bit with the gap at 58 seconds.

Mountains leader Bouchard is also in the break and he's setting the pace on the front, with just under 20 riders in this move. The maglia rosa is on the front and the peloton have indeed sat up. Brambilla has gone clear though and he's chasing the break. 

136km to go

There are still riders not happy in the bunch and there's another wave of attacks and Bennett tries again.

There are some splits already in the peloton as a chase group forms of around 10 riders. 

The race is split by just 34 seconds as Intermarche try and keep the break clear. 

This is such a difficult stage to control as Ineos see another batch of attacks fire off the front.

The break are back out to 1'04 with Bouchard and the two Intermarche riders pushing the pace with 134km to go. It looked like De Bondt was first to the top of the climb. 

It's under a minute now because Ineos are not happy about that second group on the road. 

Despite the size of the lead group they're working well together on this descent. Formolo is in the chase group. 

Bennett again is trying to g clear but it doesn't look like his attack is going to stick. 

Ganna is setting the pace for the maglia rosa group, which is down to less than 50 riders. 

So it looks like the second group has been caught so we have Gianni Moscon, Geoffrey Bouchard, Dries De Bondt, Simone Ravanelli, Luis León Sánchez Gil, Giovanni Carboni, Felix Grossschartner, James Knox, Pieter Serry, Matteo Badilatti, Jan Hirt, Quinten Hermans, Andrea Pasqualon, Daniel Martin, Matteo Jorgenson, Antonio Pedrero Lopez, Jacopo Mosca, Valerio Conti, and Alessandro Covi clear with a 1'02 gap.

The calming influence of Puccio returns to the front of the peloton with 127km to go. The gap is at 1'35.

125km to go

It's a really long descent now into the valley before we have two intermediate sprints. The break have 3'11. Dan Martin is best placed at 15'10 but he'll be thinking of the stage win first and foremost today. Looking at the profile, the break would need around seven minutes plus before the last two climbs to stand a chance. 

It will be interesting to see where the likes of EF and BikeExchange try and put Ineos under pressure. Perhaps Astana Premier Tech will try too but DSM and Bahrain are more likely to follow given their firepower in the race. 

Moscon is up the road for Ineos but the rest of the team are on the front and setting the pace for Bernal. 

The maglia rosa is on the front and sharing a joke with Puccio as the gap drifts out to 5'02. The race leader is so relaxed and confident after his two stage wins and dominant performance so far but he will know that there's still a long way to go in this year's race. 

Away from the Giro, former WorldTour rider Ted King finished in the top ten in a 155-mile gravel race having had collarbone surgery just a few weeks ago. You can read his thoughts on that race and Unbound Gravel, right here.

There's a change at the front of the bunch with Team BikeExchange putting two riders up front with 105km to go. The gap to the break, meanwhile, has evened out to 4'58.

The gap had been around 5'20 but the work from Yates's team has started to have an effect. They clearly want to set something up for Yates later on but there's still a long way to go until the next climb. 

Dries De Bondt takes the intermediate sprint points ahead of Andrea Pasqualon. They're the only two riders who were interested. 

In other news, Chris Froome has talked more about his comeback and his race programme for the next few months. 

BikeExchange have posted three riders on the front of the main field now with 97km to go and the gap at 4'46.

97km to go

Jos Van Emden has pointed the finger at Alpecin-Fenix rider Gianni Vermeersch for the mass crash at the start of stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia, which saw the stage neutralised shortly after the peloton left Grado.

BikeExchange are just holding the break at under five minutes with 87km to go. We've another intermediate sprint coming up, and then those two first category climbs in the final 40km of the stage.

It's the vastly experienced Cameron Meyer on the front right now and the gap is down to 4'30 with 85km to go.

Right now this gap between the break and the peloton isn't anything like what the riders up front would need to hold on for the stage win. It's 4'20 now.

A rider from ISN comes to the front and orders the TV moto to move up and stop giving BikeExchange the benefit of drafting. Seems fair enough. 

Yates is at 4'20 on Bernal but he's only 40 seconds off the podium. Today he'll want to put Carthy and Caruso under pressure first and foremost. 

Through the feedzone for the peloton with the gap at 3'38 with 73km to go. 

With the intermediate sprint coming up De Bondt takes off and grabs the points.

The peloton remain strung out though as we head into the final 70km of the stage. The gap is at 3'36.

The break are starting to mess around a bit with a  few riders skipping turns and then a few accelerations. The gap is out to 3'51 though as we head to the first major climb of the day.

63km to go

There's 3.5km between the break and the climb.

Mechanical for De Bondt as we dip into the final 60km of today's action. 

De Bondt is paced back to the break but we're fast approaching the first category climb and we could see the break explode on the early slopes because they can't wait to hang around if they want the stage win today. The bunch are only at 3'52.

Matt White has put all of BikeExchange to the front of the peloton with 55km to go. They're really intent on making the most of today's mountain stage. 

BikeExchange have firepower today like Nieve, Kangert, Schultz but are they going to split the race on the first climb? Up ahead and Matteo Jorgenson has been distanced by the break with 52km to go.

And now Ineos have hit the front and BikeExchange have been totally replaced for now. There's a real race into the foot of the climb. 

De Bondt has been dropped. 

51km to go

The leaders are on the climb proper now and they line out with a lead of 3'12. BikeExchange are back at the front of the peloton with EF starting to move up.

It's around 7 per cent for both the break and the peloton as Dan Martin sits in third wheel.

The Intermarche riders are setting the pace for the break as BikeExchange lose Meyer and Hepburn from the peloton. 

Martin takes over at the front of the break before Moscon comes through to take a turn as Covi loses ground. Moscon wants to keep the pace up so BikeExchange do more work. We're also racing in his region.

50km to go and the break have 3'13 over the maglia rosa group.

Evenepoel has been dropped. And no one is waiting for him.

Remco is back in the cars as he continues to lose ground as more and more riders are dropped from the break. We're down to less than a dozen riders now.

We've still got 11km of climbing on this ascent as Yates' team continue to set the pace with the gap holding at 3'10.

Evenepoel has gone but lets see which other GC riders have bad legs after the rest day. There are always a few. 

Up ahead and Dan Martin has upped the pace and only Moscon and Bouchard can follow for now.. the rest are closing though with 48km to go.

Nothing yet from Knox or Serry. They're just following for now.

The gap is holding for now as we see De Bondt caught by the peloton. Bernal is sitting right on Yates' wheel with 47km to go.

There are just 11 riders up front and left in the break at the moment, while we have about 45 riders in the maglia rosa group. 

It's Scotson on the front with Nieve and Kangert. Yates and Schultz are actually just a bit further back in the peloton. 

Bouchard rounds a corner at speed and takes a look back at who is left:

Gianni Moscon, Geoffrey Bouchard, Simone Ravanelli, Luis León Sánchez Gil, Giovanni Carboni, James Knox, Pieter Serry, Matteo Badilatti, Jan Hirt, Quinten Hermans, Daniel Martin, Antonio Pedrero Lopez,  and Jacopo Mosca. 

Dan Martin moves to the front again and once more lifts the pace and everyone is fighting to stay in contention. 

Back in the bunch and Jhonatan Manuel Narvaez has been dropped with 45km to go.

Carr has been dropped so Carthy only has Bettiol left as we see Mikel Nieve set a furious pace. The break are at 2'36 with 44km to go.

We're 6.6km from the summit of the climb with Moscon now driving the pace for the break. Bernal is down to just two teammates. 

Once more Dan Martin lifts the pace as he trades turns with Moscon. 

Dan Martin accelerates again and Conti has been distanced. The gap is only 2'17. 

Martin really goes this time and Moscon is on his wheel. A few more riders make it across in ones and twos. The Irishman kicks again. Moscon is like a magnet though.

Formolo is losing ground to the peloton with 42km to go.

Bouchard has been dropped by the break too but he's still chasing. 

Martin, Moscon, Pedrero and then Bouchard are clear of the rest of the break with 42km to go. Down the climb and it's still Nieve setting the pace with the gap at 2'26 with 41km to go.

Bouchard has gone. So it's just Martin, Moscon and Pedrero with 4km until we hit the summit. Martin is doing all the work. 

40km to go

There are still three Trek riders in the maglia rosa group... might they try something on the descent?

It's still Martin doing all the work at the front of the race as we see the gap drop to 2'14. The stage still favours the maglia rosa group given that we have 39km left. Even with the descent that's to come before the last ascent towards the finish.

Only Evenepoel and Formolo have been dropped in terms of the GC riders. Everyone else is here as Pedrero comes through and takes a turn for the first time. 

LL Sanchez has been caught by the maglia rosa group. He'll slot in and give Vlasov as much support as possible. 

Bouhard has made it back, so we have four leaders again. 

Evenepoel hasn't totally lost ground by the way, he's riding in the cars so should make it back on the descent. 

Good chase from Evenepoel who was dropped at the foot of the climb but has made it back. Up ahead and Bouchard is first over the climb as the break start the descent with a lead of 2'53. 

We could see the break form to about 10 riders ahead of the final climb as Dan Martin leads the charge off the climb. 

Ravanelli and Carboni are chasing with the two QuickStep riders a bit further back. 

Nibali is bringing Ciccone to the front for the descent. The next 16km are going to be incredibly fast.

Bouchard has taken over at the front of the break as they continue this rapid descent towards the foot of the final climb. 

Ciccone bike change and it's Nibali and another teammate who waits for him. That works in the break's favour because we expected Trek to try something before the climb. With 31km to go the gap is at 2'36.

Moscon is tearing down the climb as we rattle through these kilometers. The stage is wide, wide open at this point. Martin or Bernal?

Trek have done a good job of bringing Ciccone back to the maglia rosa group. 28km to go.

It's a short valley before the final climb but the break really need more time. The gap is at 2'28 now. 

Massive crash and it's Ciccone and Caruso down.

Schultz, Evenepoel, I think Nieve. 

Ciccone was just coming back from a mechanical and had made it back. 

Ciccone has a problem with his bike, and we saw Evenepoel hobbling. It looked like he went right into the guard rail and hit his back and side.

Out in front and the four leaders have 2'39 with 23km to go. As Ciccone has 30 seconds to make up.

Good news is that Evenepoel is riding again. He's been cleared after medical checks.

It's Kangert now setting the pace but Yates lost two riders in that fall. 

The four leaders are in the valley with 19.7km to go. They have 2'28 on the maglia rosa group but Ciccone is losing more and more time. He was sixth on GC coming into the stage.

Two more riders up front with the leading group containing Gianni Moscon, Geoffrey Bouchard, Simone Ravanelli, Giovanni Carboni, Daniel Martin, and Antonio Pedrero.

Ciccone is closing with Louis Vervaeke. He's about 20 seconds back. The QuickStep pair have sat up from chasing the break.

Ciccone has a bike change. Now he's chasing on his own as QuickStep start chasing the break, most likely for Almeida. 

The six leaders have 2'20 with 15.5km to go.

Ciccone is coming back through the cars and he can see the maglia rosa group but what will he have left for the final climb. Up front and Moscon has stopped working and the leaders have 2'08 with 14.3km to go. 

Moscon comes through but does so just to slow the break down. 1'55 with 12.5km to go.

The climb is less than 700m away and the six leaders will start the ascent with a gap of 1'45.

The six leaders start the climb and you'd have to think that Martin has to go early if he wants the stage win. Behind, it's still QuickStep leading the chase. 

Astana take it up, for Vlasov, as the maglia rosa group hit the climb. 

LL Sanchez sets the pace and the gap is down to 1'19 with 10.8km to go.

Bernal has just two riders left but there's still a lot of action still to come. Up ahead and the break are fighting for every second. 

10.5km to go and Martin goes. He drops everyone but Pedrero. Even Moscon. 

And now Pedrero is going backwards as Martin grits his teeth and gets out of the saddle. 10.3km to go for the Irishman. If he pulls this off it would arguably be his best stage win in a Grand Tour. And it would of course complete his set having won in the Tour and the Vuelta. 

1'13 for Martin who is taking a few seconds at the moment but we've not seen any attacks from the GC group. 

Ineos now take over on the front of the maglia rosa group. They will want to keep things together but to do that they'll need a high pace. Yates is far back at the moment. 

1'21 for Martin with 9.5km to go. He's more than matching the Ineos pace at the moment. 

Vlasov is in trouble. Again Astana work and again he starts to suffer. He's hanging on for now.

Vlasov is in big trouble here. He started the day in fourth but he'll slip down at the finish for sure.

1'27 for Dan Martin with 8.9km to go.

I think that's Ciccone losing ground. He's gone, even Vlasov goes by him with 8.6km to go.

Ciccone and Vlasov are together about 10 bike lengths off the maglia rosa group. Foss and Bennett are still in the mix for Jumbo.

Dan Martin has 1'25 with 8.2km to go.

Ciccone has been distanced by Vlasov, who is coming back slowly. 

Carthy, Caruso, Yates, and Bardet are the winners so far but they'll look to attack each other later on the climb. 

7.7km to go and Dan Martin is on the radio with his gap at 1'28. It's touch and go and it really depends on when the GC riders attack each other.

Vlasov made contact but now he's losing group again. He's lost his last teammate too. 7.4km to go.

Castroviejo has been on the front most of the climb and Martinez is on his wheel for Bernal. Ineos remain in complete control as they line the group out, while Dan Martin has 1'21 with 6.8km go.

It's 12 per cent for Martin put he still has a really strong pace. The maglia rosa group is down to about 15 riders with Ciccone, Evenepoel and Vlasov all out the back.

Time checks are all over the place, 49 seconds, then 1'04 and now up to 1'20 again. It's in Martin's favour that Castroviejo continues to lead the pink jersey as it just keeps the chase at bay. The Irishman will not want any violent accelerations from the likes of Yates or Bardet. 

Bennett is at the back now...

Bennett makes a big effort to come around a rider but we're down to maybe 12 riders in the maglia rosa group.

Ineos up the pace and the gap is at 1'17 with 5.5km to go.

Yates is moving up...

Bardet and Foss are dropped. 5.3km to go.

Bernal looks back. Down to just 8 riders. Almeida, Yates, Carthy and Caruso are all the opposition left. 

Carthy is losing ground. He's been dropped. 

5km to go and Dan Martin has 1'08. This could be really, really close. 

Bardet and Carthy are riding together with Bettiol setting the pace for them. Yates is going to move up today. 

Moscon is about to be caught by the maglia rosa group. And he moves to the front. And the pace goes right up immediately. 

Foss has made it back with Bennett but Bardet and Carthy have blown. 4.3km to go for Martin.

Martin is on the 18 percent stretch with the gap at 1'20 with 4km to go.

Almeida attacks with 4km to go. 

He will move up GC today no matter what but there's a stage win up for grabs too. There's no reaction from Bernal with Moscon still on the front. It was a good attack from Almeida. 

Almeida has taken 10 seconds but now Yates attacks with 3.8km to go.

Only Bernal and Martinez can follow. 

Yates, Bernal, Martinez catch Almeida and Caruso is forced to ride at his own pace. He's not out of it yet. 

Martin has 1'01 with 3.6km to go with Yates, Almeida, Bernal and Martinez the next group. Caruso is about 10 seconds back on the maglia rosa group. Then Almeida goes again with the gap now at 52 seconds with 3.4km to go. 

3.4km to go and Yates attacks and they catch Almeida. 50 seconds for Martin. 

Bernal has been dropped with 3km to go.

Almeida and Yates have gone off the front and Bernal can't respond with Martinez waiting for him.

Bernal is on the radio and asking Martinez to wait. And Yates knows it and he raises the pace. Incredible. 

Bernal has lost 15 seconds with 2.8km to go.

And Bernal can't even hold Martinez as Yates gets out of the saddle and drops Almeida. Martin is at 28 seconds. 

Martinez is forced to wait again and Caruso has made contact with him. Martin still has 29 seconds but the Bernal has lost over 35 seconds now. He's in big trouble. 

Yates and Almeida are together again and they are 28 seconds. Bernal, Caruso and Martinez are at 1'08.

Bernal has lost 40 seconds, the gap is only getting bigger. 

Yates goes again on a steep section but the gap to Martin is 27 seconds. Now 22 seconds with 1.6km to go.

Yates is going to end today on the podium or very close to it. Martin has 25 seconds and the gradient does ease a bit. 

Almeida shakes his head, he won't come through. He cant!

29 seconds now for Martin. He can do it.

1km to go for Dan Martin. He has 30 seconds. 

But Almeida attacks Yates. Bernal has lost a minute already. 

Almeida has 21 seconds to close on Martin. 

Almeida is looking really good but Martin only has 300m to go. It will be close. He looks back.

Dan Martin wins stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia. 

Almeida takes second at 13 seconds. Yates third at 30 seconds. 

Caruso is going to lead home Bernal. Bernal loses about 52 seconds to Yates.

Caruso gained a few seconds on Bernal too. 

Vlasov has come over the line but still no Carthy who will be off the podium for sure. He's lost over three minutes to Yates. 

Here are the results as they stand:

1 Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-up Nation 4:54:38
2 João Almeida (Por) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:0:13
3 Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange 0:0:30
4 Diego Ulissi (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 0:01:20
5 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
6 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:23
7 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers
8 Antonio Pedrero (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:38
9 Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:43
10 George Bennett (NZl) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:21

General classification after stage 17

1 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 71:32:05
2 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Bahrain Victorious 0:02:21
3 Simon Yates (GBr) Team BikeExchange 0:03:23
4 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech 0:06:03
5 Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Education-Nippo 0:06:09
6 Romain Bardet (Fra) Team DSM 0:06:31
7 Daniel Martinez Poveda (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:07:17

Dan Martin was shaking his head before he crossed the line but that was arguably his best ever win in a Grand Tour. He survived the early break and held off a chase from the GC rivals to complete his set of Grand Tour stage wins.

Here's the full GC top-10.

Let's hear from Bernal:

“I’m satisfied. It wasn’t my best day but I hardly lost any time, just a few seconds to Caruso, who is the one I've got to watch the most. It’s one day done, so now onto the next one. Yates was really strong and impressed on the climb. I tried to go after him but I made a mistake. I’m hopeful for the future but as I always said, this Giro ends in Milan. Just one bad day can mean you lose time. Yates has pulled back a minute and so we’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and stay focused on reaching Milan.

A bit more from the maglia rosa:

Today was tough day for me, for sure. The last kms were really steep and I tried to follow Yates but today he was stronger than me and I just tried to ride with Caruso who is closest in the GC. I don't want to take any risk. For sure Yates was impressive and I just wanted to do my best.

I'm happy because I didn't lose too much time with Yates in today's stage. Today was perfect for him. I just lost s few metres to Caruso, who is second in GC. I have some advantage with Yates, so I need to just arrive with some time to Milan and then if I win the Giro with one second or two minutes it will be the same.

Let's hear from Yates:

I don't know the situation. I was already going full gas and I didn't even realize he was dropped until a bit later. Like I said, I was going full gas, it's not like I was accelerating trying to increase the gap. That's about it, I hope the weather stays like this. I think it's quite obvious - every day there's rain I'm not having a good day, so hopefully the forecast stays the same.

We actually missed the breakaway and I wanted to have a go for the stage. By the time the breakaway had already gone there was only 60 or so kilometers before the first climb of the day. It wasn't a huge job, it wasn't like we had to ride 200km on the front and burn all the team, they did a great job. Chapeau to them.

You can find our stage report, results and photos, right here.

Let's hear from the stage winner, Dan Martin:

I had information from Niki the whole climb and I knew what was going on. I knew from recon I did of this climb that it's easier with 2km to go, so I rode my pace on the steeper section, just rode a good tempo and then I really went full gas with 2.5km to go because I knew they were coming close and I could kill their morale. It wasn't until then I went really all in. I think the shake of the head at the end says I couldn't believe it's happening - I still can't believe it's happening. It's been a rollercoaster us as a team - we lost Chris on the first day, we some really good stages, we had a lot of podiums and then we lost Dema (Alessandro De Marchi) - he was in the pink and we had Dema crash out and Alex got sick. Our spirit has always been amazing. We've had a great team atmosphere. That showed this morning. We had a plan to put me in the breakaway and everybody worked for that, everybody played a part in this. I didn't think it was going to happen for a bit with the strong headwind, it killed the speed in the breakaway and killed our legs. But somehow I managed to hang on.
(On all three GT stages) that's what I came here for. I knew that today was one of my last opportunities - and with the extra time I lost the day before the rest day it was possible to go in the breakaway. To do it is incredible.

That was a truly epic day of racing, arguably the best of the Giro so far. Our full report, results, and photos are here. 

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