Giro d'Italia 2019: Stage 14

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January 1 - June 2, Saint-Vincent, Italy, Road - WorldTour

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Live coverage of another key mountain stage of the Giro d'Italia

 

Who said the Giro was boring? 

Here's what's in store. Like yesterday, the organisers have given this a full five stars in terms of difficulty rating. 

The riders are currently signing on in Saint-Vincent, in the Aosta valley in the very north-western corner of Italy, close to the French and Swiss borders. The stage will finish at Cormayeur, in the shadow of Mont Blanc. 

Here's the scene this morning, with Jan Polanc still wearing the maglia rosa as overall leader of the race. 

The lie of the land has shifted greatly in the past 48 hours, notably in the past 24 hours. Landa is resurgent, Zakarin and Mollema are back up towards the top of GC, Yates is flailing, while Roglic and Nibali are watching - and annoying - one another. 

Just before we get going, here are how things stand overall. It won't look like this come the end of the day. 

We're off

The first climb comes after just 7.3km. It's second-category but tough - 6.7km at 8% - and riders are going to be pinging off the front left right and centre. After a descent comes the only other 15km of flat roads we'll have all day - it's all up or down from then on.

The flag drops and the race is underway.

It's strung out as lightly downhill roads take us to the start of the first climb. 

Stage 12 winner Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Hansgrohe) is on the move with Marco Haller (Katusha-Alpecin).

No one else trying to go clear here, but many of the breakaway hopefuls are likely to wait until the climb.

We're already climbing, and this is what it looks like

And now the attacks come from the climbers. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) wearing the blue jersey as leader of the mountains classification accelerates.

Ivan Sosa (Ineos) follows Ciccone but there's no gap, just a line of riders as the bunch strings out. Sprinters will soon be getting dropped and with so much climbing packed in to such a short distance, many will face a battle to make the time cut today. 

Up front, Benedetti rides away from Haller.

"I expect it to be a stunning stage to watch, but a terrible stage to have to ride," Giro race director Mauro Vegni said of today in Bicisport magazine's Giro d'Italia guide, in which the parcours is described as senza respiro – without a moment to catch your breath.

121km remaining from 131km

A group is now going clear, and it contains representatives from Movistar and Astana, the two teams who have taken the race on in the past couple of days. Yesterday, Landa attacked and linked up with teammates who'd been placed in the break, and we could see that tactic again today. 

Sep Kuss dropped from the main bunch

Yates attacks!

And Roglic jumps straight on to shut it down.

The main group of favourites is already well reduced. Fireworks early here!

Yates goes again!

Carapaz and Roglic go with Yates.

The trio catch that early breakaway group with Ciccone and co.

Vinenzo Nibali's brother, Antonio, leads the rest of the overall favourites a few seconds back.

Nibali jumps across now!

Pavel Sivakov (Ineos) is left to close the rest of the gap.

They're all back in now, and those three groups - breakaway, Yates/Roglic/Carapaz, rest of favourites - have come together to form a lead group of 27 riders. Polanc is still there at the back.

117km remaining from 131km

Just beyond the line, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Merida) clips off the front. 

Caruso leads the way down the descent, and Pello Bilbao (Astana) is chasing, but the gaps are small. 

Jungels is not in the main group, and it appears Mollema too.

Bilbao links up with Caruso and Hugh Carthy is trying to bridge across.

Carthy lost time and the white jersey after a disappointing display yesterday. 

Carthy makes it, so we have three out front as the road flattens out in the valley. 

Ciccone attacks as that group look around at each other.

Sam Oomen abandons

Caruso, Bilbao, and Carthy are brought to heel as attacks come and go from the lead group. It's all over the place at the moment. 

Ciccone goes again, along with two from Androni and Chris Juul-Jensen (Mitchelton-Scott). 

It's Fausto Masnada and Mattia Cattaneo for Gianni Savio's Androni-Giocattoli-Sidermec team. 

There's a lull behind in the main group of favourites. 

Mollema is back in this group. 

Lucas Hamilton (Mitchelton-Scott) and Andrey Amador (Movistar) attack and bridge to Ciccone and co to make it six out front. Behind them, the pace has really been knocked off.

But Carthy still wants to be there, and sets off in pursuit with Sosa.

Carthy and Sosa make it. So that's eight out front.

Nibali and Landa in discussion in the group behind. It appears the main favourites are happy to let this break go, and the rest of the field should come back into the frame soon enough.

And there we go. Groupama-FDJ come roaring through as the peloton swells. Demare is there third wheel. There's an intermediate sprint coming up ahead of the second climb.

98km remaining from 131km

Interesting to see Mitchelton-Scott put two riders in this break. Yates has already attacked today and seems in the mood to try and go for broke here. 

The leaders pass through the intermediate sprint, and FDJ realise that, with eight of them out there, it's too late to think about grabbing any points for the maglia ciclamino. The pace drains from the bunch and the break will increase their lead now. 

UAE take to the front of the peloton, putting two riders in front of Polanc, tapping out a steady tempo for now.

The eight leaders carry a lead of 2:35 onto the second climb of the day.

This is what it looks like

Jumbo-Visma hit the front of the main group on the climb. Kuss is back in, but for how long?

Marco Haller has hit the front now for Katusha as the road hits a plateau. 

The breakaway riders are working well together as the race progresses in a more calm fashion on the second climb of the day. 

Ciccone has been impressive so far in this Giro. He's wearing the blue mountains jersey and played a blinder in helping propel Mollema up the standings yesterday. He's only 24 and in his first season as a WorldTour rider - having joined Trek from Bardiani - but this is his fourth Giro and he looks very strong indeed. 

Haller continues to ride in front of the Jumbo train in the peloton. Not quite sure why. His teammate Zakarin is third overall but there's no immediate threat up the road, with Carthy the best-placed, 16th overall at 13:10.

86km remaining from 131km

Some sprinters have been dropped from the bunch but some are still in there. It's still a large peloton, which, on a first-category climb, tells us the pace is pretty sedate.

But now some movement, and it's AG2R, who've had a slightly disappointing Giro so far, despite Nans Peters' stint in white. It's Tony Gallopin and he's being led away by Hubert Dupont. 

Gallopin is 19th overall at 16:03 so won't be too much of a concern. 

And now Ion Izaguirre (Astana) follows suit and clips away from the bunch. 

And another one... Caruso sets off and joins Izaguirre.

Interesting moves being made here. AG2R clearly want Gallopin in the break for himself, but Izaguirre and Caruso are being fired up as pawns for their leaders - Lopez and Nibali, respectively. In the past couple of days we've seen leaders attack before linking up with teammates from the break and it seems those foundations might be being laid again. Movistar, Mitchelton, and Trek are already represented in the break.

Jumbo have four riders in front of Roglic as they set the pace in the main group, It's Paul Martens on the nose, with Sep Kuss, Antwan Tolhoek and Koen Bouwman all there today, having disappointed in the past couple of days. 

83km remaining from 131km

3km from the summit and the breakaway riders are all still together, their lead over the peloton now 3:13, with four riders in between.

Lucas Hamilton grabs a bidon from the Mitchelton team car. Like Ciccone, he was another young rider who impressed yesterday, helping a struggling Yates up to Lago Serrù. The 23-year-old is having a good Grand Tour debut so far. 

81km remaining from 131km

Sosa puts on a gilet in preparation for the descent. 

Amador chooses the newspaper under the jersey. It's cool out there, and the wet roads tell us there has been some recent rainfall. That could make the upcoming descent a little tricker. 

80km remaining from 131km

Galloping, Dupont, Izaguirre, and Caruso have closed the gap to 1:15 as they go over the top. The peloton are still advancing too, at 2:20 now.

Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton down this long descent. Once they're at the bottom, the road heads back uphill almost immediately.

Some big news today as the Manzana Postobon team have announced their ceasing operations with immediate effect. That's because the Colombian outfit, who have been vocal about their anti-doping stance, have been struck by two positives in the past two months. The team has seen the likes of Nairo Quintana, Sergio Henao, and Esteban Chaves come through over the years, but it's no more, and that's a blow for Colombian cycling. Full story here. 

64km remaining from 131km

On the false flat before the start proper of the third climb, the chasing quartet can see the break and are about to join them.

62km remaining from 131km

This climb is a second-category ascent, and here's a closer look at it. 

A reminder of the composition of the break after these late additions. 

Jumbo-Visma continue to lead the bunch on the lower slopes of this climb. After this we have the fearsome Colle San Carlo, so the big moves may be kept until then. 

The major talking point overnight concerned a growing rivalry between Nibali and Roglic. The Italian was aggrieved at what he saw was defensive riding from the Slovenian, who seemed more concerned with marking him than with chasing down Landa and the other attackers. 

More comments like that, please, Vincenzo. I don't think we hear enough of it these days. Obviously I'm speaking as a journalist, and these things certainly generate headlines, but that's only because they generate interest from fans, who naturally want to see a bit of needle, a bit of personality laid bare, instead of the standard array of platitudes we're used to in this PR-dominated age. Some of the greatest Grand Tour rivalries have been built on those sort of fiery exchanges. 

The breakaway are into the final kilometre of this second-category climb. Puncture for Hamilton but he gets back in. 

At the summit, Ciccone predictably accelerates to take the full haul of mountains points. That's three from three so far for the Italian, who is tightening his grip on that classification. Cattaneo was second, ahead of Sosa.

Acceleration from Lopez in the peloton. That looked like an attack for a second, but it the Colombian was just grabbing a bidon. 

54km remaining from 131km

A fairly short descent takes the riders into Arvier, which is followed by a false flat section and a modest incline to La Salle. Then it's a short drop to the foot of the mighty Colle San Carlo. 

44km remaining from 131km

We're a couple of kilometres away from the intermediate sprint at La Salle. 

Gallopin is back in the break after a puncture.

38km remaining from 131km

The gap has nudged out to 1:45 as the peloton come through the sprint point. 

35km remaining from 131km

After that early action on the first climb of the day, things settled down on the subsequent two ascents but this is where it should come to the boil once more. 

Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton onto the climb. How long can they control proceedings here?

Not long. Tolhoek is dropped. Kuss takes it up.

Polanc is already at the back of the group as it begins to thin out quickly on these gradients. 

34km remaining from 131km

Bahrain-Merida take over from Jumbo and raise the tempo. Here we go.

Polanc is dropped and is slipping back.

Dupont attacks in the break and is away with Cattaneo.

Nibali attacks!

Early fireworks on the Colle San Carlo as the Shark takes his first bite. 

Roglic is straight on the wheel, somewhat predictably Nibali would say.

Carapaz and Landa also respond, and also Lopez. There's a gap to the rest.

The gap is growing as those five go clear of the rest. Zakarin, Majka, Mollema, Sivakov and the rest have missed out.

Formolo leads that chase group for Majka. Yates also has a teammate there. 

Formolo is dragging this dangerous group back, but Zakarin is being dropped from it.

Caruso and Amador drop back from the break to assist their leaders. 

The rest of the break are now just 52 seconds ahead. 

Up front, Ciccone and Cattaneo are alone, Dupont has fallen away.

Sivakov is present and correct in the white jersey. 

Caruso leads the way, Nibali in the wheel. 

Up front, Sosa accelerates and joins up with Ciccone and Cattaneo.

Dupont and Masnada are caught by the advancing GC group.

Mollema and Yates dropped from the GC group under Caruso's pressure. 

Polanc started the day 2:25 behind Roglic. Now two minutes back already, the pink jersey is slipping off his shoulders.

Yates is off the back but not losing too much ground. Mollema is slipping further back now. 

31km remaining from 131km

Hamilton is caught and may help pace Yates back onto the back of this group. 

We're halfway up the climb and Ciccone kicks again, dropping Sosa and Cattaneo.

Lopez attacks!

It's a short dig, and Caruso is quickly on the wheel. 

Majka loses contact, and others now too.

Lopez, Caruso, Nibali, Landa, Carapaz, Roglic...

Yates is not out of this. He hasn't made contact but is not far at all off the back of that elite group.

Nibali goes again!

Roglic is straight on the case, followed by Carapaz.

29km remaining from 131km

Majka starts to drag his way back with Caruso and Carthy with him. There's a bigger gap back to Sivakov, who now has Sosa with him who has been dropped from the front of the race. 

Caruso regains contact and comes straight back to the front for Nibali. Yesterday it was Pozzovivo working for Nibali but Bahrain have rotated their domestiques.

Polanc is now 3:30 down and is losing any hope of keeping the maglia rosa.

Ciccone is in sight as the GC group nears the front of the race.

28km remaining from 131km

Lopez puts in another small dig but now Caruso comes back to the front. 

We have a group nine now at the front of the race

Sivakov is battling with Sosa behind, Yates a tad further back. 

3km to go to the top and Carapaz attacks!

Big move from the Ecuadorian, who looked so good yesterday but flew under the radar as Landa took the headlines. He was 6th overall at the start of the day.

Roglic hits the front but Nibali realises he can't wait and ups the pace.

Majka, Dombrowski, Ciccone, Caruso dropped as it's only Nibali, Roglic, Lopez, and Landa left in the first chase. 

Lopez hits the front. They have Carapaz at 13 seconds.

Carapaz is in full flight. He takes his lead out to 18 seconds. 

The four chasers are riding together, all helping to set the pace with the obvious exception of Landa, whose teammate it is up the road. 

Majka makes his way back on to that elite chase group. Another good day for the Pole. 

Carapaz is finding more time towards the top of this mighty climb. 30 seconds now!

Yates is digging in well. He's 17 seconds behind the chase group.

Dombrowski is coming back to that chase group as well now.

Carapaz takes a bidon from a soigneur as he comes towards teh top of the climb. This is a handy gap he's going to take over the top but there's a long way to go. A tough descent followed by another climb to the line.

Carapaz grabs some newspaper now to shove down his jersey to insulate himself on the way down.

24km remaining from 131km

Big acceleration from Nibali in the group behind in the final 100 metres of the climb. 

Majka loses contact briefly but gets back on terms for the descent. Dombrowski is a little further back and is soon to be caught by Yates, who's still in the mix.

Carapaz takes a couple of the early hairpins nicely. It's a technical descent of around 16km. 

Nibali hits the front in the group behind. We know all about his descending skills and he gaps the rest, with Lopez and Majka looking like the weaker descenders. Roglic nips around them. 

19km remaining from 131km

Polanc is now 6:25 back and he's out of the jersey. Roglic will almost certainly be in pink at the end of the day.

Roglic hits the front of the chase group on the descent. Nibali is second place, followed by Landa, Majka, and Lopez. 

17km remaining from 131km

Dombrowski has linked up with Yates, and they're 20 seconds down on the Roglic/Nibali/Landa/Malka/Lopez group.

Carapaz continues to lose ground on the descent. It's down to 19 seconds now

Carapaz will need to make it onto the climb with a bit of a gap and hope the others look at each other and argue over workload. It's not a steep climb, and no one will want to drag anyone else up to the finish.

Carapaz' advantage starts to rise again as we reach a shallower section of the descent. Nibali lets a gap open to Roglic and Landa but the five of them are back together again now.

Carapaz is in full aero tuck as he heads through a tunnel. 

Kangert, 11th overall at the start of the day, is losing a lot of time. He's back with the Polanc group at 6:30.

Yates and Dombrowski are still chasing, 15 seconds behind the Roglic group. 

11km remaining from 131km

10km remaining from 131km

Quite a few corners on this descent, and it's not all that steep, so there has been plenty of pedalling to do. 

9km remaining from 131km

Majka calling for assistance from the cars. Not clear what the problem is.

8km remaining from 131km

As the road tilts uphill, the urgency drips from the chase group, allowing Yates and Dombrowski back into the equation.

This is how it looks

We talked about this as the danger. The GC riders are indeed looking at each other, and Carapaz is pulling away! 50 seconds now

Carapaz has a minute in hand now with 6km to go. 

They're stalling behind! Really stalling!

Yates attacks now!

Dombrowski goes with him.

And now Sivakov, who got back in due to that lull, tries to follow.

The problem is neither Nibali, nor Roglic, nor Lopez nor Majka want to take responsibility and chase Carapaz. Landa certainly won't. But they're all losing time to him, and the Ecuadorian is going to make himself a real danger man for the overall title.

Carapaz started the day just 13 seconds behind NIbali.

Caruso was with Sivakov and is back in the frame here and, thankfully for Nibali, is back on the front of the group setting the pace.

Carapaz is flying up this gentle climb and now has 1:18.

Carapaz started the day 1:58 down on Roglic. He's moving into second overall as it stands but if he continues to gain time he'll be baring down on the Slovenian.

4km remaining from 131km

Lopez accelerates now.

Sivakov is the next to go. Lopez, second in the young rider classification, leads the chase.

Sivakov is caught and they're back together, in that group with Lopez, Nibali, Roglic, Landa, Majka, Yates, Dombrowski.

They stall again, and that will play into the hands of Carapaz.

3km remaining from 131km

Yates is away

Carapaz has barely sat down as he continues to drive clear, hands in the drops. He has 1:25 now with just over 2km to go.

Scrap that. He has 1:25 on Yates, but that's 1:40 over Roglic Nibali and co. Wow.

Carapaz could be in pink by the end of the day. Reaction needed behind.

And now Caruso comes back to work on the front of that chase group.

1km remaining from 131km

Yates is also pulling away, profiting from that hesitation behind. He's 1:28 behind Carapaz and 20 seconds ahead of the rest.

1km remaining from 131km

1:50 now for Carapaz over Roglic and Nibali and co as he enters the final 500 metres.

Carapaz comes towards the line. Victory is in the bag.

Here he comes, giving it everything all the way to the line, fighting for every second.

Richard Carapaz (Movistar) wins stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia

Carapaz raisees his arms beyond the line. Now we look back down the road to see what the gaps will be.

Here comes Yates. A much better day for him, though he still has much ground to make up.

Yates crosses the line 1:31 down for second place.

Now for the rest of the favourites. Four bonus seconds still on offer.

Nibali takes third place and the final bonus seconds as they cross the line 1:51 down. That means Carapaz is the new overall leader.

What a stage. For a third day in a row, the Giro delivers the drama, and the tedium of the opening week is quickly forgotten.

Mollema crosses the line 4:03 down. He hauled himself back up the standings yesterday but has now dropped down again.

Majka was just behind Nibali in that group of favourites as they crossed the line, followed by Landa, Lopez, Sivakov, Roglic, Dombrowski.,

And here comes yesterday's winner, Zakarin. After propelling himself into third overall, the Russian ships more than seven minutes and plummets out of the top 10.

Top 10

General Classification after stage 14

Here's Addy Engels talking to Eurosport and admitted a mistake may have been made today. 

Here's Yates

Here's our report page, where you can find a write-up, photos, and results.

Let's hear from Carapaz

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