Good morning, and welcome to live coverage of stage seven of the Giro d'Italia, which is probably the first proper general classification day of the race so far. This live blog is part of our efforts to make the racing easier to follow now live coverage is now harder (see: more expensive) to watch in the UK. I'm Adam Becket, do email - adam.becket@futurenet.com - if you have anything to add.
Anyway, that's it from me today! Have a good weekend everyone.
It'll be interesting to see how the dust settles, but Juan Ayuso gained some time back on Primož Roglič, but the latter is now in pink.
The decisive attack came from Juan Ayuso, and there will be time put into his rivals here. The Spaniard wins his first Grand Tour stage in the process. Isaac del Toro finished second, to make it a 1-2 for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
Juan Ayuso has attacked, followed by Egan Bernal. Primož Roglič is left behind.
600m to go: Egan Bernal attacks, followed by Isaac del Toro and Giulio Ciccone. This has surely seen some people dropped.
700m to go: There hasn't been a break-shattering acceleration yet, everything is watching each other.
1km to go: I think there are exactly 20 riders in this group, things have slimmed down.
1.2km to go: Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) is straight on his wheel, with the attack not blowing things apart. Ciccone goes again.
1.3km to go: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) attacks!
1.7km to go: They're still doing 19km/h on a 10% climb, somehow. Tom Pidcock is there, as are most of the GC names. But they really are there mostly on their own.
2km to go: It will be fascinating to see who has lost buckets of time at the end of the day. The virtual pink jersey is currently Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), but nothing has blown apart yet...
2.3km to go: Ok, this really is a group of favourites now. It is very steep. UAE Team Emirates-XRG are now at the front through Rafał Majka.
2.8km to go: There's a lot of interested riders close to the front now. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) is working his way to the front.
3km to go: Ineos Grenadiers take over now through Jonathan Castroviejo. The steep bit is coming!
It's Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious) on the front in his first Grand Tour. He's putting everything into this. Oh! He's just gone, Edoardo Zambanini takes over.
When does the peloton become the 'group of favourites'? This and other philosophical questions are open for debate. I think it probably needs to be less than 20 riders? But the majority of riders at the race are already not in this front group.
5km to go: Ah, that's it for the break. They have been swept up by a charging peloton. There's not many people left in there. We might need to start calling this the 'group of favourites'.
Bahrain-Victorious are on the front of the bunch now, in service of Antonio Tiberi. It's been a long while without big Italian success at the Giro.
Paul Double (Jayco AlUla) and Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL) have been swallowed up by the bunch.
The reduced bunch is about a third of the way up the climb, but it does get a lot harder in about 5km time. Bahrain-Victorious are now on the front.
8.7km to go: The break are still hanging out there, but the peloton are going at 35km/h on a 8% climb. Woof.
It should be said that Mads Pedersen did an almighty turn for his Lidl-Trek teammates, so he is very much allowed to decide to drop back.
We might just have seen the last of Mads Pedersen in the pink jersey in the action as he slips off the back of the peloton. Farewell, Mads. He'll be in purple tomorrow.
11.5km to go: The break is just 41 seconds ahead of the peloton as the climb approaches. Ineos Grenadiers are on the front with Josh Tarling, then Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
I feel sorry for David Gaudu, but it's also reassuring to know that he's very much taken on the Thibaut Pinot mantle of 'heartbreaking GC performance' at Groupama-FDJ.
We still have the small matter of the Red Bull KM to come before the climb begins, with six, four and two bonus seconds on offer, but these will surely be swept up by the breakaway.
David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) is still chasing on at the back, he's 1:22 behind the peloton. Ouch.
Here is the climb that is approaching. It's 11.9km at 5.5%, but it gets steeper as it goes. Close to the top, there are more than 2km at 10.1%, so it's not 5.5% all the way.
30km to go: The gap is down to 1:25. Romain Bardet is about 20 seconds behind the peloton, so should make it back in. Nice bit of panic for the Frenchman there. Who's your tip? EF Education-EasyPost are now close to the front as well. Is it a day for Richard Carapaz?
Loose dog! Loose dog! It didn't seem to affect anything, but terrifying to see. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), meanwhile, has lost his chain somehow. The break is now six, then.
39km to go: Another team has joined the party on the front of the peloton, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG leading things through Jay Vine. The gap to the break is now at 1:41, so it's not a lot. This will come back together!
Ah, David Gaudu might have crashed as well. The Groupama-FDJ rider had a bloodied hand, so is now at the medical car.
Crash in the peloton - Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL) might have hit the floor, and his teammates are now pacing him back to the group. It seems there is a split in the peloton, with Bardet almost a minute behind Roglič, Pedersen and co.
I should tidy something up - Tonelli won the intermediate sprint in Ovindoli, taking 12 points for the points competition. He's now second overall behind Mads Pedersen, astonishingly. He's a good bet for the breakaway prize.
The peloton are going at 68km an hour uphill. That's Hoole and Pedersen power for you. The break are just 2:30 ahead now. It's closing!
42km to go: The pink jersey is on the front of the peloton! It's not an attack from Mads Pedersen, he's probably working for Mathias Vacek or Giulio Ciccone, his Lidl-Trek teammates, but it is a very fun thing to see.
48km to go: Uh oh, the gap to the break is below three minutes for the first time in quite a while. Visma-Lease a Bike have also joined the fun at the front of the peloton, so the chase is very much on. There is a little climb to come, then the final big climb to Tagliacozzo. It's looking bad for the men out front.
That breakaway again, if you were wondering: Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step), Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta), Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè)
55km to go: In what feels like the first time in ages, it's not Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on the front, it's Lidl-Trek! Welcome, Daan Hoole. Daan's a faantaastic maan.
The peloton are bringing the break back a bit now - 3:30 is the gap between the two groups on the road.
18 points to Jayco AlUla's Paul Double, and the man from Winchester has collected another nice bump in the king of the mountains standings.
300m to the top of the Vado della Forcella for the break, will Paul Double attack for points again?
65km to go: Gianni Moscon has now come to the front for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in the peloton, replacing his teammate Nico Denz. Will we see the gap reduce now?
At the Giro, the breakaway's advantage has grown over four minutes for the first time, with 66km to go. It's all still to play for, with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe still on the front, controlling things.
Away from the Giro d'Italia, Dr Sarah Ruggins is close to finishing her record attempt for JOGLEJOG - riding the length of Britain and back again - and she is currently smashing it. She's got less than 90km to go, and is over 100km ahead of the record pace. You can follow here.
72km to go: whisper it, but everything has got a little bit sleepy.... 3:34 is the gap between the break and the peloton, with still 9km to go to the top of the Forcella
They're showing stuff about the Giro-E on the television. They do it every year, the promotional material gets shown, but I still have absolutely no interest or knowledge in the event. It all seems a bit weird.
The last 5.7km of the Vado della Forcella is at 5.1%, with some ramps, so that will be where action happens, if it does.
The gap between the break and the peloton is 3:11, but there is still a lot of climbing to come. We've all seen that kind of time disappear on a very steep climb quite quickly.
Hello! Adam back here with the reins of the live blog. What have I missed? The break seem to have been let go to an extent.
84km to go:
The television pictures are showing Mads Pedersen sitting pretty in the peloton in the maglia rosa.
Pedersen had a difficult day yesterday and was caught up in the big crash mid-stage. I daresay the Dane will be pleased to see the back of the jersey for a while after the toll yesterday's run into Naples took on him.
As Jens Voight has just said, Paul Double could take the stage win today, as well as the mountains jersey and overall lead. What a day that'll be for the 28-year-old from Winchester if so.
Oh! They've just clarified that now and Groves did indeed run off the road for a moment. He's all ok though and back on the road.
Rob Hatch and Matt Stephens just panicked for a second there after Kaden Groves was seen off the road on that descent.
It was just a nature break for the Australian though - nothing to see here.
Paul Double has just put in a vicious sprint at the top of this climb to take maximum points over the top for the maglia azzurra.
That was a really violent acceleration and hugely impressive from the Briton. Double is the race leader on the road and clearly the strongest rider in the group.
Having said that, the tempo in the peloton suggests to me that they're happy to let this move get away and contest the win. Paul Double taking pink suits Red Bull at the moment, particularly with the staggeringly hard stages still to come in this Giro.
Not at all surprised to see Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on the front foot after losing Jai Hindley yesterday, the team are still present at the head of the peloton, keeping Primož Roglič out of trouble.
Hello!
Tom Thewlis here.
I'll be taking you through the next few kilometres while Adam takes a break.
Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), the only Brit in this break, is 1:23 behind race leader Mads Pedersen overall, so is the virtual pink jersey on the road. The break's lead is approaching two minutes, but Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are controlling on the front of the peloton.
That intermediate sprint, just in case you were writing things down, was on by Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta). I'm sure he'll be delighted.
The break are in Sulmona, with 117km to go. Excitingly, it's where the Roman poet Ovid was from, one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature, don't you know. His most famous work is the Metamorphoses.
I've been learning about Arrosticini, which are the lamb kebabs popular in Abruzzo - will we see any being offered to riders by fans on the final climb of Tagliacozzo later?
Interestingly, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are still riding on the front of the peloton. They're not going hard, but they're the ones in charge - a potential day for Primož Roglič, then? Ineos Grenadiers are also hovering behind.
132km to go: The break now has over a minute as the peloton has very much allowed them to go. Their advantage suddenly went boom. There's an intermediate sprint in about 15km, but there will be little interest in the break for those points.
137km to go: The time gap is now at 30 seconds, as the rain continues to fall on this long descent. 30km to the next significant climb, so this is a bit of a lull.
The seven men out front have 20 seconds now, as it starts to rain.
Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL) is the latest to try and join the group out front. If this stuck now, a seven-man group is not a bad collection. The peloton behind is spread across the ride so that might be it. Might be it, obviously, because this day has been busy so far.
Whoever that Cofidis rider was, his time out front was very short-lived. He's replaced by Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), possibly the most active rider so far today.
Two more riders, from Cofidis and VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, are seeking to join the four out front. They only have 13 seconds, though. It's still unclear whether they'll be allowed away.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) is at the back of the peloton after changing his bike.
Vine has sat up, that's the fun over for him. However, Garofoli, Tonelli, Scaroni and Prodhomme are still out front.
The five out front, by the way, are Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step), Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) and Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta).
There are five riders out front, with a small gap. No sign of the peloton slowing down, though.
Vine has been joined up front by Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), a rider from Polti VisitMalta and one from Soudal Quick-Step. Another from XDS Astana is trying to join the party.
Pedersen's move didn't really last, but now Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) is giving it a go. With no breakaway yet, things won't settle in the bunch, with a constant churn.
159km to go of the stage, by the way, so Vine's attack is even crazier than a Tadej Pogačar move. It probably isn't a stage-winning attempt, mind.
An easy sprint to the KOM point for Fortunato, with help from his XDS Astana teammate Diego Ulissi. Max points for him.
500m to the top of Roaccaraso and the attacks are ongoing. It seems unlikely that a move will stick before the top. Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana), the man in the blue mountains jersey, is on second wheel, aiming for maximum points at the top.
A wheel change for Nairo Quintana (Movistar), but there's little panic.
Still 2.7km to the top of the climb, and there are other riders trying to get across. Among them is Rafał Majka (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), which will be causing a bit of panic in the bunch behind. Majka will cause this break to be caught by the peloton, mark my words.
The sprinters, including Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike) are dropping out of the back. It might be a long day in the grupetto for these guys. A Cofidis rider is now trying his luck in getting up to the front.
Hmm. This time, there's a group of three which have been let go - there's Paul Double (Jayco AlUla), Wout Poels (XDS Astana), and a Soudal Quick-Step rider up there. As Sean Kelly has pointed out on TV, if it's only three of them, then the breakaway attempt seems fairly hopeless. Another VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè rider attacks and joins them. Is four enough?
Riders are already dropping off the back, meanwhile. Not a surprise, with the pace high up a reasonably steep climb. I think I'd have climbed off already.
Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty) is next on the front, with Paul Double (Jayco AlUla) active again. Something could stick now, maybe...
Ah, that didn't last long. It's being pegged back by the peloton, with a lot of riders wanting to escape. Still 5.4km to the top of Roccaraso.
Six riders have some kind of gap - one from VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, one from Picnic PostNL, Paul Double of Jacyo AlUla, a Polti VisitMalta rider, and a rider from Arkéa-B&B Hotels. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) is also attempting to get away.
Immediately, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) tries his luck, but he's shadowed by a rider from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe straight away. Nothing doing. Meanwhile, race leader Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) is at the very back of the bunch.
Lights out and away we go, and it's not a surprise for who the first attacker is - it's someone from VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè , with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Picnic PostNL and others trying to follow.
There's quite a few rain jackets and gilets on, by the way, so it might not be particularly warm in central Italy right now. In south west England, meanwhile, it's another glorious day.
There's a lot of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale riders close to the front, and Bahrain-Victorious, and Ineos Grenadiers. Watch out...
Who do you think will win today? Is it a pure GC day, so should we looking out for Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) or Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)?
Right, the riders are rolling through the neutralised zone as we speak, 2km to the start.
Here's a map of today's stage, with all the key points marked out. Let's hope for better weather in the centre of Italy...
There was also chaos in Naples itself, as a small protest briefly disrupted the race - Taco van der Hoorn (Intermarché-Wanty) saw any hope he had of lasting in the break go up in smoke as a result. This morning, Italian local news reported that a 67-year-old man had been arrested in connection to the incident.
A lot happened yesterday. Kaden Groves might have won the sprint, but there was a massive crash in the rain with about 72km to go, with multiple riders pulling out of the race as a result. Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was the biggest name, but Dion Smith (Intermarché-Wanty) left, as did Juri Hollman (Alpecin-Deceuninck). This morning, we have learned that Jan Hirt (Israel-Premier Tech) and Michel Ries (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) are not taking to the start line.
After yesterday's stage in Naples, there was quite a long transfer last night or this morning to today's start in Castel di Sangro, which is in L'Aquila, to the south east of Rome. If Italy is a leg, we are now approaching the knee, the top of the calf. I hope that is perfectly clear and useful.
We have answers to many of your questions, but please do email me - adam.becket@futurenet - if we can answer any others.
Today's stage will roll out 12:55 local time - that's 11:55 for me in the UK. The first categorised climb comes after 7.5km, so expect action from the gun.
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