Good morning and welcome back to Cycling Weekly's live coverage of the Giro d'Italia. Another big day lays in store for the riders on stage 17, with five classified climbs on the way to a summit finish on the
We're nearing the end of the race, with Tadej Pogačar firmly in control, but there is still time for almost anything to happen.
Before we get going today, let's have a look at yesterday's stage. Thanks to another exhibition from Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) in the rain, the Slovenian won, and put more time into his GC rivals.
All told, Tuesday was a very weird day of racing, with confusion over where the stage would start from, and when it would begin, thanks to a lot of snow and rain.
Today's stage will see 4,087m of climbing across 159km, firmly in Dolomite territory. So, if nothing else, pay attention to the beautiful scenery.
It does not look like it's raining today in north east Italy, so that's a relief for the riders. The neutralised start is supposed to be very soon.
My time up the Sella, according to Strava, by the way, was 41:10. I rather think that the riders of the Giro will smash this out of the water. 12 minutes maybe? We will see.
While we wait, why not read my piece about one of the only exciting competitions left at the Giro, the Intergiro. It's going to the wire!
The riders are about to head off for the neutralised start. There's a moustachioed man with a flag. Here we go.
159km to go: They are away.
158km to go: There are riders already at the back, including Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar).
157km to go: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) has also dropped back. It won't be panic station yet, but they've got to stay in touch with the peloton early on if they're going to make the time cut. It's a brutal day.
157km to go: Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) are among those heading up the road.
155km to go: The group is growing, but the peloton is not too far away. The Alpecin rider is Nicola Conci.
155km to go: The "peloton" is already looking quite thin, as the gradient hits 9%. They're doing 20km/h up here.
154km to go: The break no longer exists, having been caught. At the front is Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla).
153km to go: De Marchi isn't doing too much damage here, and he has now been joined by Conci and Sánchez, who have gone once more.
152km to go: Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek) is one of the latest to attack.
151km to go: It's all back together now, and Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) is on the front. 1.4km to the top of the Sella.
150km to go: There was a battle to the top of the Sella and the Cima Coppi, between Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè). Unclear who won that, actually. They're now on the descent, which looks dry for now.
148km to go: Quintana has pushed on in front, followed by Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) and Pellizzari.
145km to go: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) is also up there.
145km to go: Pellizzari won the Cima Coppi - he's the youngest rider in the race, aged just 20.
141km to go: This is a long descent from the Sella - one I have done too. It's great to see Alaphilippe up there again.
138km to go: Hard to say what the gap is, but what is left of the peloton is also absolutely flying down this descent.
134km to go: With three hours of racing to go, the 'peloton' is really small. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) is there, along with the other riders at the top of the GC, but there are barely 20 riders here.
133km to go: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek),Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè) are up the road. 21 seconds behind them are Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Michael Storer (Tudor) and Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious).
131km to go: The peloton has grown now, it's now got to about 40 riders. However, the attacks have not stopped coming.
130km to go: Romain Bardet and Michael Tudor were having words there, possibly about collaboration in the break.
122km to go: Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) and Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) are also in that front group now, which has 38 seconds on the peloton.
118km to go: Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is in the gap between the peloton and the break.
114km to go: The eight out front are nearing on the first intermediate sprint. There are some exciting roadworks for the break to deal with here.
111km to go: The break has 1:27 now, so it's getting bigger.
109km to go: Nicola Conci (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike) are back in. So there are now ten at the front, with:
108km to go: Steinhauser had a puncture, but the change was smooth, and he's getting back on.
Hello! Tom Thewlis here for the next 45 minutes while Adam takes a break.
News has just trickled through that we've had another rider abandon.
98.5 km to go: We've still got a big breakaway up ahead with that man Alaphilippe leading the charge.
96 km to go: The main field are on the Passo Rolle at the moment. Team dsm–firmenich PostNL are on the front of the peloton now with Chris Hamilton.
The breakaway are further up the same climb.
94 km to go: The break's lead has trickled up to two and a half minutes now.
Crazy to see Ballerini up there again for Astana in the break. The Italian is an out and out sprinter and was signed by Astana to be a lead out man for Mark Cavendish.
91 km to go: Pellizzari is first over the Passo Rolle from the break. Quintana grabs second.
89 km to go: Looks cold, wet and windy on this descent.
Mauro Vegni, the race director, is speaking on TV now. He says the debacle of yesterday was a total failure in communication and that some of the words from the riders were unjustified.
That was quite a confrontational interview there. Seemed like Vegni had nothing to say that suggested he could understand the riders and CPA's point of view yesterday.
79 km to go: Alaphilippe is at the back of the break but whipping his bike around these bends.
Hello hello, Adam Becket back now. I had a burrata, tomato and pesto sandwich and some olives for lunch. Very Italian of me.
67km to go: I was on my lunch, so I missed this, but dsm-firmenich PostNL pulling on the front of the peloton does feel a bit strange. One supposes this is to set Romain Bardet up for something, but what?
63km to go: The Passo Gobbera is "only" 5.7km at 6%, so is unlikely to blow everything apart, but another opportunity for the race to change.
63km to go: The peloton is only hidden from the break now because of the switchbacks. Riders are sitting up - Alaphilippe, Valter and Ballerini have all dropped.
62km to go: Kevin Vermaerke (dsm-firmenich PostNL) is trying to launch Romain Bardet up the road. He has Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) on his wheel. That will have woken the GC guys up.
61km to go: I told you the break wasn't long for this world, and there are just metres in between it and the peloton now. There are less than 20 riders in the peloton.
61km to go: I suppose, talking nomenclature, that this is no longer "the peloton" but "the group of favourites". We have a group of favourites alone with 61km to go. That's still almost two hours of racing!
60km to go: The speed is high in the group of favourites. 1.4km to the top of the climb. What are dsm doing? Their directeur sportif Matt Winston has clearly cooked up something.
59km to go: I just did some quick counting, and there are 24 riders left in this group. The break has been caught, but now they're going again. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) has attacked again, followed by Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar). Bit of deja vu here.
58km to go: Ghebreigzabhier was first over the top of the climb, and he's surged on alone. Quintana and Steinhauser are following.
56km to go: Ghebreigzabhier surges on alone. The Eritrean finished sixth on stage four of this race from the break, his best result at the Giro.
54km to go: In the peloton - has it become a "peloton" again and not a "group of favourites"? - Ineos Grenadiers are now on the front. Ghebreigzabhier has 28 seconds, and has now been joined by Steinhauser.
49km to go: We're 2km away from the Intergiro sprint, and Julian Alpahilippe has surged out the front of the peloton with his Soudal Quick-Step teammate Jan Hirt.
47km to go: Steinhauser is today's Integiro winner. Well done him.
44km to go: There are less than 30 riders in the peloton. Felix Großchartner is on the front.
42km to go: Attacks have begun from the peloton, which is now being led by dsm again.
39km to go: It's not Soudal Quick-Step who have taken up the pulling at the front of the bunch. Ghebreigzabhier and Steinhauser still have about a minute.
38km to go: That's the end of Soudal Quick-Step's push. Now there's a bit of a pause in what I'm going to call the group of favourites again. The break has 1:21.
36km to go: Now Gijs Leemreize is back on the front of the peloton for dsm-firmenich PostNL. As they're saying on TV, it feels like everyone else is doing UAE Team Emirates' work for them.
34km to go: Leonard Burningham has just emailed in from Utah to ask where Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates are in the chase - well, firstly, hello Leonard. Secondly, they're just comfortable in the peloton - they haven't really had to do much all day!
32km to go: If he wasn't in the middle of a race, you'd think Georg Steinhauser would rather appreciate these views. It's beautiful out there. Ghebreigzabhier is 13 seconds behind.
31km to go: Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan) and Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) are the latest to attack.
28km to go: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) just looks like he's having fun. He is safely in the peloton, 2:07 behind Steinhauser who is alone in front.
22km to go: On the descent from the Brocon, Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) has maintained his advantage. He has about 2:05 on the peloton. Somewhere in between is Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) and Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech).
13km to go: We're heading towards the final climb now. Steinhauser has been out in various forms of the break for a long time today. He has 2:23 on the group of favourites. Can he hold onto this to the finish?
12km to go: The group of favourites doesn't look like it's haring after Steinhauser. Meanwhile, Ghebreigzabhier is about 43 seconds behind the German, who has just started the climb.
9.5km to go: Steinhauser almost had three minutes on the pink jersey group now, incredibly. It will require a monumental effort to get that back, surely. Ineos Grenadiers are on the front of the bunch.
8.5km to go: Remember, Steinhauser finished third on stage 15 on Sunday, probably the best result of his career. There's a lot of footage of riders throwing stuff away at the moment. The Ineos riders chucked their rain jackets before Steinhauser got rid of his gloves. Not a bad present!
6km to go: Steinhauser has this, surely? He has 3:15 on what is left of the peloton, and two minutes on his nearest chaser. It's a really impressive ride.
5km to go: Steinhauser still has 2:54 on the peloton. Jhonatan Narváez is putting the pressure on the front for Ineos Grenadiers. It's unlikely Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) will come unstuck, but Geraint Thomas is just 22 seconds behind Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Thymen Arensman is only 24 seconds behind Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious)
4km to go: Narváez has gone now, which means it is Arensman's time to take over. The group of favourites has finally thinned out.
4km to go: Steinhauser has three minutes still. You'd suggest he has got it now.
2.8km to go: Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) has dropped out the back of the group of the favourites. Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) remains on the front, working for both himself and Geraint Thomas.
2.5km to go: Dani Martínez attacks, with Tadej Pogačar and Geraint Thomas immediately following. This has shaken things up.
2.3km to go: Obviously, the pink jersey group have a bit more left of this stage, due to them being over two minutes behind Steinhauser. Tadej Pogačar is pushing on the front now. He goes again!
2.1km to go: That was a definite attack from Pogačar, but it wasn't earth-shattering. I don't think he will catch Steinhauser now, but it's interesting.
1.1km to go: The bad news for Steinhauser is that Pogačar is chasing him. The good news is that he still has 1:38 on the Slovenian.
1km to go: Under the flamme rouge goes Steinhauser, and this feels like his. Pogačar has easily picked up another 30 seconds on Martínez, Thomas and the rest, by the way.
600m to go: Steinhauser has this, but Pogačar is taking serious time on his rivals here. Just to make sure that his gap is enough...
GEORG STEINHAUSER (EF EDUCATION-EASYPOST) WINS STAGE 17 OF THE GIRO D'ITALIA.
Behind, Pogačar has cruised in, taking more time on his GC rivals. He salutes the fans. It's like it's another race.
It doesn't look like there were any gaps in the rest of the podium group, but Ben O'Connor definitely lost time.
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