Hello and welcome to live coverage from stage 15 of the Giro d''Italia. We're in Tolmezzo this morning for the start, which is in around 25 minutes from now. We've another mountain stage coming up today, and although the Zoncolan is behind us, today could be just as telling in terms of the GC battle. Tomorrow is a rest day, so expect riders to throw everything at the race. Five categorized climbs, and another uphill finish, this could be another epic day at the Giro d'Italia.
Here's a quick look at the GC coming into today's stage. Yates holds the maglia rosa but the danger man in Chris Froome, who is back into the top ten and back into contention for the overall win. We spoke to Matt White last night, who said that Froome will finish on the podium in the race. The only question now is which step he occupies come Rome.
So a really good day for Froome yesterday, who looked down and out, well literally down in the prologue and again on stage 8, when he crashed for a second time. His recovery has been miraculous and he was climbing well enough to put the rest of the field to the sword on the Zoncolan. Team Sky are still not firing on all cylinders - it's worth pointing out that only Froome and Poels made the front group yesterday - but when you're riding away from the field strength in numbers isn't a necessity.
A quick 'shout out' for our Tour of California coverage. The race concluded last night (if you're in the UK) with Gaviria taking another sprint win and Egan Bernal sealing the overall. Complete stage report, results, photos, video, and comments, all here.
Back to the Giro and the Zoncolan was a chastising experience for some GC contenders. Pinot, Bennett, and Aru all lost varying chunks of time. Dennis too if you count him as a top-ten contender, and you probably should until at least the final week.
Anyway, the riders are on the start line, and soon they'll be heading through the neutralized zone before taking on the 176km stage. It should be another cracker.
Riders, as you might expect, were warming up on the rollers this morning and that's because this stage has 'ambush' written all over it. It's a stage that Mitchelton would normally embrace if they wanted to make the race hard and go all-out. They have the race lead but that might not change their tactics too much. They need to take time on their rivals at every opportunity, so we could honestly expect fireworks right from the off. Will Chaves feature? He's a shadow of the rider he was in the first week but perhaps he's being saved for a stage like this... time will tell.
Heading through the neutralized zone now. The CN blimp is chugging along nicely overhead, and we're about to start stage 15 of the 2018 Giro d'Italia. So, sit back and enjoy as I talk to myself for the next 6-7 hours.
With the predicted fast and uphill start, it will be interesting to see who responds well after yesterday's effort on the Zoncolan. There will be some heavy legs out there after the brutal final ascent on Saturday but rides like Pozzovivo, Pinot, Lopez need to try and gain time today. For them, being behind Dumoulin before Tuesday's long individual time trial is not an ideal position.
As for Dumoulin, he admitted that winning the Giro is going to be difficult from this position. He was decent on the Zoncolan but lost another chunk of time to Yates. Even if he ends today on the same time and puts two minutes into Yates in the TT, his lead will only be around 35 seconds. From that point Yates will really fancy his chances in the final week. This is really shaping up to be another really tight, and tense Giro d'Italia.
And we're racing. Attacks already but no one has been able to go clear.
Side note, you can pre-order our next film on Vimeo. It's called CRESCENDO, and we're going to focus on the final week of the Giro, with more behind the scenes tales from the race. It's out on June 1 but you can pick it up at our special pre-order price now.
Alessandro Tonelli did not start today. I'm not sure what the problem was but I do remember seeing him drop back to the medical car yesterday in the second half of the stage for some advice/treatment.
It's still tight in the white jersey competition too.
166km remaining from 176km
Stage details
A break with De Marchi did go clear but has been brought back. 156km to go.
And now a break has gone clear and it contains Neive and Henao.
They only have 14 seconds on the bunch, so the gap is coming down.
Well the bunch were not happy with that move because of the Team Sky and Mitchelton riders involved. They've brought the move back but Visconti and De Marchi have now gone clear with 147km to go.
147km remaining from 176km
Conti, who was in the break yesterday, has made it a leading trio after 33km of racing. While we have a chasing group at 15 seconds. The chase group contains Sanchez, Dupont and Cattaneo. The bunch are at 28 seconds. A frantic start to the stage.
There's barely a meter of flat roads too and it's a real rollercoaster of a stage. The GC teams are all looking at each other as they determine whether to chase the latest attack. Elbows bent, one arm on the bars as team captains take up their default position of talking on the radio, as we see Yates calmly moving around the front of the peloton.
137km remaining from 176km
39km covered and finally the two lead groups merge, giving us one group of six riders and then the maglia rosa at 22 seconds. We're close to the lower slopes of the Passo della Mauria. 8,8km in length and with an average gradient of 4 per cent. It's only a third category climb but half the field are going to be dropped if the bunch keep this pace up.
It's all coming back together at the foot of the climb but Visconti is pushing on. He doesn't care who he takes with him, but then he looks around, sees the entire field and finally sits up.
De Marchi, a local, goes again and takes a rider from the Israel team with him. They have a slim lead but it's not more than a few seconds. I think that's Hermans, so an ex BMC Racing rider. That's a powerful duo but they'll want some support, for sure.
Hermans comes through and takes a turn, and there's some really energy as these two press on. Hermans looks back and can see riders trying to come over to him and De Marchi but the leaders can't afford to wait. The gap is perhaps five or six seconds.
It looks like EF are leading the chase at the moment. They had two riders on the attack yesterday but haven't managed to win a stage just yet. Up ahead and Hermans is struggling to hold De March as Dimension Data fire a rider up the road. De Marchi shows Hermans some mercy and waits for him but the BMC rider is riding with real intent.
131km remaining from 176km
Aru, marked by Sanchez, Nieve and a few more, has jumped clear. There's no way the bunch will allow this move to succeed.
Sanchez gives Aru a look as if to say 'what were you thinking?' and the move has been caught. That allows the pace to drop, and that does De Marchi and Hermans a favour, as Quick-Step send a man up the road.
All together again now, with De Marchi brought back as three more riders attack immediately. Quick-Step AG2r and the Israel team have sent a rider each on the attack. It's Montaguti, who was in the break yesterday but his chances are slim because the bunch are lined out.
And Sky have sent a rider up the road to mark the attack.
And even though the bunch has lined out, four riders have gone clear and Ag2r have two riders present. Movistar have Quintana (not that one, the other one) and the Israel team are also present. 127km to go.
The four riders are Denz, Jauregui, Quintana (not that one, the other one), and Neilands. They only have a handful of seconds as they start the descent of the Passo della Mauria.
It's a lightening fast descent as Mitchelton flood the front of the bunch and look to block the road. Bora and Bahrain are not happy though, and look to start the chase again. The four leaders have 45 seconds with 121km to go.
And Trek have joined the party, and started to line out the bunch once more. They had two men in the break yesterday - for the second time in the race - but they've not been able to finish off the job so far. Pantano has been quiet so far, and this is perhaps a real chance for the Colombian.
And the work from Trek has seen the gap reduced to 35 seconds. The break need a miracle at this point, as a few drops of rain land on the CN blimp.
Another few seconds chipped off the lead of the break, and it's Team Sky who lead the peloton as they look to keep Froome out of trouble on the descent. Just 23 seconds for the break at this moment.
And it's Bahrain Merida who then lead a counter-attack, with the gap down to just 19 seconds. 15 seconds now.
Five riders are about to come over to the leaders. That will make it nine leaders, including De Marchi. That should be the break of the day, although the gap is down again to just 11 seconds.
Where are Androni? Well they've just pinged a rider up the road, so we should have ten riders up the road in a second, but again the gap to the main field is just 16 seconds.
Modolo is up there for EF. That's a big surprise to see the sprinter go up the road, although he's not too shabby at getting uphill.
106km remaining from 176km
The bunch, finally, look like they're about to sit up, so we could have a huge group of around 25 riders in the break. No GC riders seem to feature but there's some major firepower in the move. They now have 20 seconds on the maglia rosa group and it's unlikely that this move will be shut down.
Team Sky have De La Cruz in the break and he kicks on because there are so many passengers present in the main move. 104km to go and it finally looks like the bunch are sitting up.
Masnada, Visconti, Denz, Nibali, De Marchi, Bewley, Stybar, Modolo, Ullisi, and Brambilla are some of the main names in the break.
Jumbo appear to have missed the move, so they send a rider up the road as well.
100km remaining from 176km
The gap is around the two minute mark, as we see the bunch roll over the line at the intermediate.
Ag2R have three riders in the move, Bahrain do too, but no Aru, who tried to attack earlier today. This is the break of the day and they could make it to the finish as their lead continues to go out. Cherel is the best on GC in the break but he's around 20 minutes down on Yates. The gap between the break and the peloton is at 2'35.
EF are leading the chase. No massive surprise there to be honest. They have a man in the break but it's not one of their pure climbers. They'll hope to keep the break in check and that the GC teams will lend a hand later in the stage. The gap, however, continues to grow and is almost at three minutes with 94km to go.
Three minutes for the leaders at the moment as De Marchi takes a long turn on the front. Brambilla comes through next, and he's an interesting rider. He came here with talk of a GC challenge - top ten - but hasn't been able to deal with the pace in the mountains. He's close to 30 minutes down at the moment and in 30th place. Of course he won stages in both the Giro and Vuelta in 2016 but since then he's not hit the high notes. Could today be his day?
EF Education First have brought the gap down to 2'40 with 88km to go. Although we have a huge break, not every rider is taking a turn on the front. In the bunch EF lead with four riders, with Mitchleton and Team Sky following closely.
The bunch head through the feedzone and they take another few seconds off the break'a advantage, with the gap down to 2'20. Froome is eating a sandwich.
2'09 for the leaders with 83km to go as EF Education continue to lead the chase. They're bringing the break back slowly but at what price? Carthy and Woods are waiting in the wings at least.
And as the road kicks up we see the break start to splits. Ciccone has attacked and he's being chased by Masnada. Stybar and Brambilla make it across and this is a better group in terms of harmony. We're hearing that Roche didn't start today, as the gap between the break and the finish drops to 2'02.
A few more riders have made it over to the break as we see Froome - sandwich scoffed - is sitting on Chaves' wheel. 81km to go.
Side note, you can pre-order our next film on Vimeo. It's called CRESCENDO, and we're going to focus on the final week of the Giro, with more behind the scenes tales from the race. It's out on June 1 but you can pick it up at our special pre-order price now.
Eurosport have just announced that Anton has quit the race too. That's a blow for Dimension Data, who have struggled throughout this season. At the front of the race, EF have just two men left, and the gap is at 2'07, as Yates heads back to the team car for a moment. The most impressive element to his race so far is that he's shunned pink shorts and matching bike.
Gerry Ryan is in the car and following as Yates asks for some gels and some advice for the stage ahead.
75km remaining from 176km
EF have come back a little and they've posted another rider on the front. That's three riders working well together, and the gap is at 1;48 as we start the Passo Tre Croci.
The rain is now falling as the gap drops down to 1'33 as Dombrowski turns the screw on the front of the bunch. There's real intent from EF at the moment. They've missed the break, and they're trying to bring themselves back into contention as we climb.
Dombrowski is keeping the pressure on and Woods is on his wheel, and waiting. The gap is at 1'24 and that gap is a bit too big to bridge on your own, as we see the leaders split once more. Ciconni, Ullisi are leading a small split with 70km to go. Riders are literally all over the road at the moment, and just like yesterday this stage is proving to be carnage.
And with 69km to go Woods attacks.
And Yates has him chased down right away.
That's cause complete chaos as the Canadian pushes on alone. He's already cutting through dropped riders from the first group, and he has Modolo up the road too. But already Aru is in trouble. Wow Aru is about to be dropped with 69km to go.
At the front of the race Ciccone continues with a group of around five riders with him. Woods is pushing on and riding well but he only has a few seconds on the peloton. The bunch want to keep the pressure on because they know that Aru is in trouble. So many dynamics at play at the moment as Ulissi drops back from the break, perhaps to help his team leader.
67km remaining from 176km
Woods is making a huge effort here as he catches Barbin. The break have just 1'00 on the bunch, and Woods is closing on the leaders. The peloton, meanwhile, is down to less than 35 riders. This is a brutal day as the rain continues to fall.
Ciccone has done all the work on Passo Tre Croci, and he's intent on not letting Woods make contact, while the Canadian is at 51 seconds. 66km to go as Neilands starts to suffer as we close in on the summit of this climb.
Onto the descent and the rain continues. Visconti, De Marchi and two more riders are currently a chase group on the road, with Woods caught between groups at the moment. Team Sky and Mitchelton lead the chase with the gap at 1'57.
It looks as though the AG2R duo have created a gap and are leading the stage, as we see Woods descending with a rider from Bahrain Merida. Woods has one minute on the bunch, but he still 1'24 down on the break.
Denz is powering the leading pair along, with Cherel saving himself for the next climb. Woods has Nibali for company on the descent and it's on the next climb of the Passo di Sant'Antonio, where the Canadian's race tactics will be decided.
Woods has linked up with Barbin too on the descent and that will help with the chase, perhaps, depending on where Ciccone is on the road. Ag2R though, they're the team making the race at the moment.
Barbin and Nibali have chat and neither look keen on working at the moment in order to chase with Woods, who is losing time on the Ag2R leaders.
47km remaining from 176km
And now Quintana has made it to the leaders, so we have three riders in the first group on the road. Strong ride from the Movistar climber.
Woods is 30 seconds up on the bunch, and he's sitting up. Brave move but he was always up against it.
And Woods has sat up and been caught with 44km to go. So it's Denz, Cherel, and Quintana and then a few more riders still on the attack from the break this morning. Yates's team are setting the pace on the front of the peloton. It's just Visconti and Ciccone left between the break and the bunch.
Chaves takes over on the front of the bunch, having found some legs after a difficult few days. The bunch are at 2'18.
Visonti and Ciccone are just 13 seconds off the leading pair, so we should have five riders at the front of the race soon.
Senni is the latest rider to abandon with 38km to go.
This has been an action packed stage so far. Relentless, with attacks throughout. We had a break of 26 riders early but we have just five riders left from that, and the peloton chasing at around two minutes. Michael Woods attacked with just under 70km to go but he never managed to catch the leaders and sat up a few minutes ago. We've still three more climbs to come, including the uphill finish at Sappada.
And on the Passo di Sant'Antonio it's Chaves dropped. His form has really gone downhill over the last week. The two lead groups have merged and we've 35km to go, with Krueziger on the front and setting the pace for the maglia rosa group.
The gap to the leaders is at 1'46 as again Ciccone takes up the pace setting. Team Sky have numbers on the front of the bunch at the moment but they've not really increased the speed just yet.
With the leaders, Quintana is starting to lose ground as we see four riders left with race leader Yates. Froome is just following Puccio at the moment.
Krueziger grinds up the climb, out of the saddle with Juul Jensen on his wheel, as we see just 50 riders left in the main field. Froome has maybe five men with him but there's still a long way to go as we see Ciccone continue to do all the work in the break. He kicks again and Visconti is immediately put in trouble.
Visconti has lost about 10 seconds to the leaders as we continue to climb, with Mitchelton setting the pace for the maglia rosa group and the gap to the break at 1'52.
Quintana has caught and gone right by Visconti, who is really suffering. 33km to go.
AG2R have given Ciccone a rest at the front of the break with the Denz/Cherel tandem taking over. The gap continues to come down and is at 1'45, with a lot of climbing still to come. The pace has settled but now it's just a grind all way to the finish as we see a few more riders slip off the back of the bunch and one of riders in trouble is Aru. He's gone.
I think it's race over.
He's pulling over to the side of the road and slowed down dramatically.
It would not be a surprise if Aru quit the race. He's been off the pace throughout this Giro and never looked in contention. He took a kicking yesterday and was dropped earlier on today as we see Oomen increase the pace, with Dumoulin on his wheel.
They want to get rid of Yates' and Froome's teamates as we see Aru just coasting along.
And the leaders split again, Ciccone speeds up and takes just one AG2R rider with him. I think it's Cherel.
Aru is alone, and not even his teammates are waiting for him. He's in his own little world at the moment as we see Oomen continue to lift the pace on the front of the maglia rosa group. Dumoulin is second wheel and the defending champion is in confident mood, with Yates on his wheel. The car has now reached Aru.
He's 31km from a rest day...
As Oomen rises out of the saddle once more and strings out the maglia rosa group. It's Denz, not Cherel with Ciccone, apologies.
Just Nieve left with Yates at the moment as we continue to climb the Passo di Sant'Antonio. Quintana has been caught, as further down the road Aru is helped on by two UAE teammates.
Oomen finally sits down but continues with the pace setting. I can see most of the GC riders in this group, but I can't see Dennis.
Aru has three men, and a team car with him as he continues to suffer. He's not thinking about time today though, he's just suffering as Oomen reduces the Yates group to around 20 riders with 30km to go. The leading pair only have 40 seconds.
Oomen has distances several riders from Sky and Mitchelton as Cherel is now caught, as we see Pozzovivo and Pinot move up.
Yates still has two men as we crest the climb. Froome moves up and is getting ready for the descent.
So with two climbs remaining, and 28km to go Denz and Ciccone have 26 seconds on the peloton.
You can pre-order our next film on Vimeo. It's called CRESCENDO, and we're going to focus on the final week of the Giro, with more behind the scenes tales from the race. It's out on June 1 but you can pick it up at our special pre-order price now.
Aru has lost 6 minutes to the GC riders. He's carrying on and asks for some privacy from the TV motorbikes.
Onto the descent and the two leaders are just about holding on, with a lead of 23 seconds.
Denz has taken off on the descent. He dropped the Italian on the last downhill and he's gone for it again. 22km to go.
20km to go for Denz and he's taking a few risks and extended the lead to 39 seconds.
Onto the Costalissoio and we're climbing once more. The gap is at 41 seconds and already Lopez attacks from the maglia rosa group with 18km to go.
Lopez has caused a split and that's significant with a number of GC riders under pressure at the foot of the climb.
And Froome has missed the split. Yates and Dumoulin have made it.
Henao is bringing Froome back into the picture as Haig leads the line and now Bennett attacks. 18km to go. Haig is going after him with Yates and Dumoulin following.
Yates takes a look around and he can see that Froome is in trouble. Henao can't bring it back together.
Froome is the only GC rider from the top five to miss the split and with 17.9km to go Yates has attacked.
Only Lopez can go with him as Dumoulin looks to pull the gap back slowly.
And Yates and Lopez link up with 17km to go. Dumoulin is bringing back a group that contains Pinot, Carapaz and Bennett. Froome is in trouble though and it's Formolo who is pacing him at the moment.
Yates, Lopez, Pozzovivo, Pinot, Carapaz and Dumoulin. They are the maglia rosa group with 17km to go.
And Yates goes again. Incredible.
This time there's no response as he leaves the other five riders behind.
There's still another climb to go as Pinot starts to set the pace. Froome is about 20 seconds down on Yates with no teammates left. Where is Poels?
Pozzovivo takes over the GC group and the gap is around 10 seconds as we see Froome having to lead another group further down the climb.
The road flattens and Pinot takes over, with Dumoulin just sitting at the back of the group.
Yates is almost at the top and heading to another stage win. He's put almost a minute into Froome already as he crests this climb and starts the descent.
The Dumoulin group are 18 seconds down on Yates as the descent starts. Froome now has Poels with him but the former Tour champion is struggling to hold his teammates wheel. Froome is 1'06 down down Yates.
14km remaining from 176km
Pinot takes a turn, and he looks good but Yates adds another couple of seconds to his lead. Froome is at 1'12 but at least has a large group with him.
Pinot leads the chase on the descent and the gap is holding at 27 seconds. Froome, meanwhile, has lost more time. He's at 1'21 with 11km to go.
Lopez now comes to the front as Yates looks back but he's well clear of the chase. 10km to and he has 27 seconds.
The road kicks up again and Yates is more than holding his own because the chase behind isn't that organised. Lopez has been on the front for around 800m but he needs help. 28 seconds to Yates.
And now Pinot has accelerated with Dumoulin making contact. 31 seconds.
1'23 to the Froome group as Yates moves his lead to 33 over Dumoulin. Yates is simply on another level to his rivals.
No cohesion in the chase as Pinot attacks again. 35 seconds to the maglia rosa.
This is the flatter section, where the likes of Dumoulin should have pulled time back but the opposite has happened with 6.9km to go.
Dumoulin takes over. He has around a minute on Froome at the moment and that's time he'll need ahead of the final week but the crisis is that Yates has 41 seconds now. That's over two minutes ahead of Tuesday's time trial.
5km remaining from 176km
Froome has closed the gap to Dumoulin down to around 30 seconds.
The Dumoulin group look shot as Dumoulin takes over. He has no choice at this point, his Giro title is slipping away from him.
And now the road kicks up to the finish and Yates is back on his terrain. He's 52 seconds up on Dumoulin now with 4.2km to go.
And Carapaz attacks. Pinot is chasing and Dumouln is cracking.
Dumoulin can't hold the pace at the moment but he is starting to come back. Slowly.
Yates has 43 seconds on Carapaz with 3.5km to go. Pozzovivo, Pinot and Lopez have come back but Dumoulin has cracked and he's losing big time.
Yates has 39 seconds to the Pinot group. Froome is at 1'41.
The road flattens a bit but Yates is on course to take another stage win and extend his lead on GC.
2km remaining from 176km
And Carapaz attacks again from the chase, just as Dumoulin makes contact.
Yates though is powering to the line and takes another stage win in the 2018 Giro d'Italia.
Yates went from so far out. He comes to the line and takes the win.
And in the sprint for second and third... Lopez and then Dumoulin at around 47 seconds down. Where is Froome?
Froome has been dropped by the Dennis/Bennett group.
Froome... 1'33 down on Yates.
Yates isn't just the strongest, he's the most consistent rider in this year's race. He's now as 2'21 over Dumoulin and there's a strong possibility that the British rider will still be in pink after Tuesday's time trial. Pozzovivo remains in third while Froome will once again drop down the GC after losing 1'32 to Yates.
Top 10 from the stage:
Yates' second attack was the strongest move. He did it from the front of the group, looked back after gaining just a few meters and then kept on accelerating.
General classification after stage 15
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 65:57:37
2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Sunweb 00:02:11
3 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 00:02:28
4 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 00:02:37
5 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 00:04:27
6 Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Movistar Team
7 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 00:04:52
8 George Bennett (NZl) LottoNL-Jumbo 00:05:34
9 Pello Bilbao (Spa) Astana Pro Team 00:05:59
10 Patrick Konrad (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 00:06:13
Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)
Pozzovivo at the finish:
And the stage winner and race leader:
Here's Team Sky's Sergio Henao:
You can find our brief report, results and photos, right here.
Side note, you can pre-order our next film on Vimeo. It's called CRESCENDO, and we're going to focus on the final week of the Giro, with more behind the scenes tales from the race. It's out on June 1 but you can pick it up at our special pre-order price now.
You can find our finish line quotes story, right here.
Thanks for joining us today. Tomorrow is a rest day for the riders. We'll be back Tuesday.
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