Giro d' Italia 2014

['Dale]

Here's some of those GC contenders and where they lie in the overall classification.

 

8. Rigoberto Urán (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) +0:19

14. Cadel Evans (BMC) +0:21

27. Nicolas Roche (Tinkoff-Saxo) +0:37

32. Michele Scarponi (Astana) +0:41

59. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +1:09

69. Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) +1:12

109. Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) +1:34

116. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +1:47

['Dale]

The riders must have been looking forward to some warm and dry weather after leaving Northern Ireland, but is wet and raining once again over in Italy.

['Dale]

!!!!

 

The big news is of course that Marcel Kittel will not start today's stage. The German sprinter has fallen ill with a fever. We will bring you all the information as soon as we have it.

['Dale]

Race leader Michael Matthews will be looking for a good result if he wants to keep onto his maglia rosa. Alessandro Petacchi is only 8 seconds behind him and with 10 seconds available for a victory, Petacchi could potentially take the jersey from him. However, the Italian has not contested a sprint yet, choosing to protect his leader Rigoberto Uran.

['Dale]

The riders have rolled out now, with the jersey wearers leading the peloton. There was no red jersey, with Kittel abandoning this morning.

['Dale]

Today's race finishes with circuits, but Italian media have reported that the final 8 laps will be neutralised if it is still raining at the finish.

Edited May 13, 2014 by ' Dale

['Dale]

 

The organisers have decided to run the race as normal, but they have been spoken to by a number of experienced riders including Paolini and Scarponi.

['Dale]

The peloton is currently being lead by Orica-GreenEdge, with race leader Michael Matthews sitting just behind. They are joined by Ivan Basso and Luca Paolini. The pace is very easy at the moment.

['Dale]

Former maglia rosa Svein Tuft is on the front of the peloton, as a couple of Lotto-Belisol riders drop back to the cars. The riders will need plenty of layers today.

['Dale]

 

According to Italian television, the peloton will ride together until Bari to see the finishing circuit and understand how slippy the roads are. It is expected that the final lap will be neutralised after further talks between the riders, lead by Luca Paolini (Katusha), and in-race director Marco Velo, who rides on a motorbike.

['Dale]

Laurent Pichon (FDJ.fr) has a mechanical. It is a fairly long wheel change, but there is no rush with the peloton not going at any great speed.

['Dale]

 

Still no action from the peloton. Reports coming through that they could cut down the number of circuits at the finish, to fit to TV schedules.

['Dale]

88 kms to go

 

Brrrrrr

['Dale]

 

A lot of talking in the peloton, perhaps some discussions on how they're going to proceed. Some rain capes coming off, as the pace picks up a little bit.

['Dale]

 

Thomas De Gendt (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) has joined the GreenEdge riders on the front of the peloton. He's working for Rigoberto Urán, who is currently the top GC contender after the grande partenza in Belfast.

['Dale]

Rodríguez was arguably the biggest loser in Northern Ireland. Katusha had a nightmare in the team time trial, leaving the Spaniard with a lot of work to put himself back in contention. Rodríguez will be looking to make the most of the bonus seconds awarded at the stage finishes