Well, wasn't yesterday's stage exciting? More of the same today, please.
Here's your stage result and general classification after yesterday.
The riders are setting off from San Michele all’Adige as we speak, on their way to Bormio.
154km to go: An early attack for Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek). The man in the purple points jersey clearly keen to build his lead, with the first intermediate sprint coming in 20km time at Cles.
151km to go: The group that has split off the front is huge, with varying aims in there. There will be people going for points, and people trying to get in what could be a decisive breakaway.
The first official climb doesn't begin for about 40km, but there's a lot of general uphill before then, if I'm looking at the profile right. A lot of time to fight to escape the peloton.
There's already a real battle to get in the breakaway. Surprise surprise, Wout van Aert is on the attack again and trying to force a split.
It's Richard Carapaz's birthday tomorrow, the Ecuadorian turns 32. Could he be wearing the Maglia Rosa on his birthday? He might well be if today goes to plan.
The road is already starting to rise, although the classified climbing doesn't start for a few KM yet. An FDJ rider is now at the head of the peloton and trying to animate the race.
Here's a nice video from The Col Collective to whet the appetite for what's coming shortly.
The riders aren't riding the Mortirolo in the same direction as Mike Cotty, but the climb really is one of the most famous ascents in professional cycling. You get the idea from this video. It really is brutal.
140km to go: Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike) is on the offensive now and trying to make something happen. The former Paris-Roubaix winner is really stretching out the peloton.
Adam Blythe is on a motorbike for TNT Sports within the race convoy again today. He says that Juan Ayuso is already off the back of the peloton and has his jersey unzipped. The Spaniard had a horrific stage 16 and completely dropped out of contention. Not good news for UAE Emirates at all if he's on a bad day again today.
It is worth noting that Ayuso has been carrying an injury for several days. He came into this Giro with so much expectation and it's always sad to see a major rider start to suffer after a difficult few stages.
The peloton is approaching the first intermediate sprint of the day.
Lidl-Trek are all over this as they look to tee up Pedersen for more points.
130km to go:
Pedersen takes the points with ease, beating Dries de Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) to the line. Barring a major disaster, the Dane has got the points jersey wrapped up.
Lidl-Trek have got what they came for, it's over to the GC teams now as we gradually approach the first climb of the day, the Passo di Tonale.
125km to go: Adam Blythe says Ayuso is in a group that is already dropping away.
Sounds like Ayuso's gap is already around a minute to the peloton.
Here's Isaac del Toro at the start this morning.
116km to go: There's a group of about 40 riders breaking clear at the moment. It seems everyone is trying to get on the front foot before anything serious kicks off.
Del Toro himself tried to get across to the front just now but his acceleration was covered by Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech).
As we all expected, this has been a really high octane start to the stage. We're still a little way off the foot of the Tonale.
113km to go: Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have been extremely active so far.
The German team lost Primož Roglič to injury yesterday, so it's no wonder they've started the way they have this afternoon. Giulio Pellizzari had a heck of a day for the team on the road to San Valentino. It's all in for the young Italian now.
106km to go: We're almost onto the Tonale now and a massive breakaway has finally formed. Visma are well represented in there, as are Red Bull.
We've got at least 37 riders in the break today. The key names to be aware of are: Wilco Kelderman, Steven Kruiswijk, Bart Lemmen and Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), Nico Denz, Dani Martinez and Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Mathias Vacek and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).
102km to go: The breakaway has 3:21 on the peloton at the moment.
Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) are also both present, two potential satellite riders for Richard Carapaz and Derek Gee later today.
99km to go: And it's Kelderman taking it up as the Tonale begins.
Kaden Groves was in the break for Alpecin but he is already dropping away. The Australian is a pure sprinter, he's already won a stage at this Giro, so it's not a shock to see him going backwards.
Here's a nice shot of the breakaway just now, courtesy of Tim de Waele for Getty Images.
95km to go: Fortunato is trying to split up the break as they progress up the climb. Kruijswijk is going with him for Visma at the moment.
ABANDON:
Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) has pulled out of the race. The Australian won stage eight last week.
93km to go: Fortunato's acceleration has caused a few riders to drop away, including Mads Pedersen. The Italian has faded himself now, but Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) is the next rider to try and jump with Kruijswijk.
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) and Steinhauser (EF) are on the duo's wheel.
89km to go: The Tonale is really starting to bite now. It's not as difficult as the Mortirolo, but it's already starting to cause some damage.
The gap to the leaders is now 3:12
There are 23 riders left at the front.
88km to go: Van Baarle has dropped away for Visma, but the Dutch team still has Kelderman, Kruijswijk and Lemmen in the lead group.
The break are almost at the summit now. Lorenzo Fortunato is looming ominously and getting ready to launch a jump for more mountain points.
Fortunato takes the points.
83km to go: The peloton are over the summit now too and onto the descent back down the valley. The race will go up almost instantly again and onto the Mortirolo.
The peloton are controlling the gap to the breakaway much more effectively than yesterday. This could well materialise into a GC stage - for both the stage win and overall victory - later on this afternoon.
73km to go: as the riders descend towards Vezza d'Oglio, it's time for Tom to take a break and for me, Adam Becket, to jump into the reigns for the next hour - it's almost Mortirolo time.
Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) has just abandoned the race for unknown reasons. We did see him drop back earlier, but that's a blow for UAE and Isaac del Toro's chances of winning overall.
69km to go: there are still 25 riders in that front group, but the peloton are just 3:34 behind right now, so the elastic has very much not snapped.
65km to go: with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) no longer in the front group, no one really bothered with the intermediate sprint in Vezza d'Oglio. Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) took the win, but all that really means is a bit of cash - €500 to be exact.
61km to go: the Mortirolo is very almost here. The break's gap has actually gone out to almost four minutes now - is that enough?
59.6km to go: the Mortirolo is 12.6km at 7.6%, with a max fradient of 16%. Easy! This is the 'easier' side as well, so should all be fine. Visma-Lease a Bike are pushin on in the break through Wilco Kelderman, Steven Kruijswijk, and Bart Lemmen.
59km to go: in the peloton behind, EF Education-EasyPost, Ineos Grenadiers, Bahrain-Victorious, Movistar, and Tudor Pro Cycling are all on the front. Isaac del Toro is still there in pink.
Polti VisitMalta are the team now on the front of the bunch, probably in aid of Davide Piganzoli, who currently sits 12th overall.
57km to go: UAE Team Emirates-XRG are now close to the front of what's left of the peloton - which we should probably start calling the group of favourites as it has slimmed down. They will be trying to deter anyone attacking Isaac del Toro. There's still over 9km of this climb to go for them.
55km to go: the breakaway is shrinking, with Stefano Oldani (Cofidis), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar) all dropped.
54km to go: there are now 18 riders left in the front group. Every 500m it appears that someone else is dropping back. They have 2:54 on what's left of the peloton, which is being led by Ineos Grenadiers now. Will anyone attack?
53km to go: we're halfway up the Motirolo, and both the break and the peloton are slimming down. There's a bit of movement in the peloton, maybe someone will make a move soon...
53km to go: action at the front as Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) pushed on, led by Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla). It appears they're coping, with Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike) the big casualty.
52km to go: on the television they've just said it's raining over the top of the Mortirolo. Not the news the riders wanted to hear. There's 5km to the top of the climb, and 2:46 between Dani Martínez and the peloton.
52km to go: Chris Harper has joined Dani Martínez up front. There isn't a huge gap between the pair and the rest of the breakaway, however, which is led by Bart Lemmen. Kruijswijk is back in, so there are 15-ish in that group.
51km to go: Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) have jumped from the break too. There's basically a break from the break, with Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) joining too.
50km to go: the breakaway is all back together, with 2.5km to the top. In the peloton, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are leading through Igor Arrieta.
50km to go: This is the steep bit of the Mortirolo. I don't think I would enjoy this right now, especially as I have a broken ankle... The break has 3:34 on the peloton.
49km to go: Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) has pushed on at the front, followed by Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious). This group is very slimmed down now.
48km to go: at the front, Afonso Eulálio is leading Romain Bardet. Richard Carapaz attacks from the peloton. Isaac del Toro and Simon Yates are very much not responding to this.
47km to go: Simon Yates is attempting to claw back time on Richard Carapaz now. The Ecuadorian is close to the top of the Mortirolo, so it probably isn't race-winning, but it is yet more evidence of Isaac del Toro not having the momentum. Carapaz has a 15 second gap.
46km to go: to fill in the gaps, Afonso Eulálio was first over the top, followed by Lorenzo Fortunato in the blue jersey. Behind, there is 10 seconds between Richard Carapaz and the pink jersey group. That would be enough for him to leapfrog Simon Yates in the GC as it stands.
44km to go: even this descent looks like a lot. There's about 10km of this to go before the race starts climbing again. Richard Carapaz now has 20 seconds, but there isn't a lot of tough climbing still to come.
40km to go: I think Richard Carapaz is close to being swallowed up by the group of leaders now, so that threat has been extinguished, for now...
33km to go: Thanks to Adam for his updates in the last hour, it's Tom Thewlis back here and ready to take you to the finish.
Carapaz is still attacking this descent but he isn't really able to pull out a huge gap at the moment.
The Ecuadorian is coming to the bottom of the climb now and has picked up Steinhauser.
32km to go: This is far from over yet. Isaac del Toro is driving the pace in the group behind Carapaz and looking to shut him down himself.
Giulio Pellizzari is present with Carapaz for Red Bull-Bora. The EF riders have found themselves some good allies here, although Pellizzari has his teammate, Dani Martinez, up the road too.
Carapaz, Steinhauser and Pellizzari have been caught by the GC group in the valley roads. We've got a stalemate for now, but there's still a category three climb to Bormio still to come.
23km to go: The eight-rider strong breakaway has just gone through the Red Bull kilometre as Q36.5 look to take it up at the head of the next group on the road.
21km to go: Tom Pidcock has attacked from the GC group as they head towards the final ramp of the day.
Damien Howson (Q36.5) is absolutely emptying the tank in this GC group in a final effort to pull the break back in. Tom Pidcock must be feeling really good.
Worth noting that this isn't technically a summit finish today. Once the race tops Le Motte, there's then a quick descent into Bormio.
14 km to go: Around two kilometres to Le Motte.
A brief reminder of the men in the breakaway: Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal Quick-Step), Romain bardet (Picnic-PostNL), Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Florian Stork (Tudor)
13km to go: It's just 35 seconds for the break now. Damien Howson has almost single-handedly brought the eight men back. If this comes off for Pidcock today then he owes his teammate a beer this evening.
They're onto Le Motte now. The climb has a 13% slope at one point!
11km to go: Pidcock has slipped back now in the GC group.
Bardet has jumped over Stork now.... can he hold on?! We've still got 10km to race here.
Here's Stork making his attack for Tudor
Bardet has pushed the gap out to 31 seconds with not much left to climb until the summit now.
700 metres to the top for the Frenchman.
This is turning into a storming day for Picnic PostNL.
Bardet is digging deep but the pressure is mounting now.
Isaac del Toro attacks now.
Carapaz has gone with him, there's no sign of Yates
8 seconds between these two and Bardet.
That really was a Pogacar-esque attack from the Mexican there. He's still in this race
Yates is sprinting down the descent as he looks to regain contact.
Carapaz will jump to second in the GC here if this continues. Yates was completely caught out at the top of that climb.
Del Toro and Carapaz fly straight past Bardet... he's trying to hold Del Toro's wheel.
This trio have put 11 seconds into the Yates group now.
4km to go: Can Bardet recover slightly and then beat the GC duo in the sprint for the stage win? I'm not sure he can. Del Toro and Carapaz are far more explosive than the Frenchman.
7 seconds to the Yates and Derek Gee group now, this could all come back together.
There's bonus seconds up for grabs at the finish.
Del Toro has attacked and gapped Bardet and Carapaz.
Del Toro has opened up a massive gap. He's flying
The Mexican has really bounced back here, what a performance.
Del Toro takes the stage.
He bowed as he crossed the finish line - quite the celebration.
He's been absolutely mobbed at the finish. What an incredible turn of events on the road to Bormio
That was spectacular.
Bardet took second as Carapaz came home in third.
Carapaz has leapfrogged Yates in the overall classification.
Bormio has absolutely delivered as a finishing town today once again.
Yates came across the line in fourth, Derek Gee took 6th
Who have we seen celebrate like this before? What a stage.
Thanks for joining myself and Adam again today.
We'll have a full report on the site shortly.
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