Cant see Sunweb getting any help from Sky today, if anything, it'll be the opposite, as sky will be trying to get their entire team in the break to go for the Stage win.

Doesn't look like NQ or VN have the legs to break TD, there will certainly be some action amongst the rest of the top 10 though.

Would be nice gesture from Sky or others to help TomD out today. Personally I think he deserves the title if he can get through today. Given other individuals havent really played nice have they. Ok, they played by the rules, but I wouldnt class them as gents. Been impressed with TomD on this tour having never really had him on radar before.

Cant see Sunweb getting any help from Sky today, if anything, it'll be the opposite, as sky will be trying to get their entire team in the break to go for the Stage win.

Who do we think Landa will gift the stage win to this time?

Doesn't look like NQ or VN have the legs to break TD

My thoughts too.

If Nairo couldn't snap the elastic yesterday I'm not sure he's going to.

Fingers crossed anyway.

Who do we think Landa will gift the stage win to this time?

Don't forget that on both days, Landa had to make extra efforts at the top of each climb for points.

Not that I don't think he made a bit of a hash of it both times, but these efforts add up.

Absoutely, I'm sure he was completely burst.... but then he left a massive gap on the inside of the last turn on both occasions 😐

Let's not forget FDJ trying to haul Pinot on to the podium. They'll take it to Nibbles and Nairo too.

+1 FDJ must hold some of the keys to this

I did wonder whether TomD's comment about wanting to see Pinot on the podium was a reference or invitation to an alliance. Whilst I'm a fan of his and not a fan of Nibz I think Tom's "and he calls me cocky" was pushing it, given Nibz has won Grand Tours... hopefully it's a sign of his confidence and he's playing mind games with Nibz and NQ, as he's matched or bettered their attacks without teammates.

Who do we think Landa will gift the stage win to this time?

😀

is his house always getting burgled because he keeps leaving the bloody door open?

or Lotto Soudal (all of whom have been quite quiet recently

There was a moment yesterday when the favourites group crested one of the climbs and there was a Lotto soigneur stood at the top looking for riders to hand-up bottles too. I thought that was somewhat optimistic. 😆

Gray - you might be thinking about Mollema who was a bit annoyed at Froome/Porte being given time back after the Ventoux crash. I don't recall Dumoulin saying anything about it at the time.

I'm not sure that Nairo or Vincenzo have the legs to do much to Dumoulin to be honest. They've rode tactically well and put in some strong attacks but he looks too strong for them. For all the talk of Dumoulin having a 'weak' team, it's not like the Vuelta in 2015 where the team was built around Degenkolb with no climbers - Ten Dam and Preidler are pretty handy. They do look knackered, but nobody looks fresh in that race now.

TomD gapped by Movistar and Bahrain!
(According to Eurosport)

Doesn't look good for Dumoulin 🙁

Rumours that it might have been another visit to the bushes! (Though doesn't explain why Yates and Kruijswijk are back there.) Only about 20 seconds back now with a long descent to the next climb.

WOW.

Now they're taking the piss.

Very bad form if it's true

"reliable sources" saying Bahrain and Movistar attacked whilst race leader was taking a natural, Quintana now virtual race leader.

Stay classy 🙄

matts - Member

WOW.

Now [s]they're[/s] he's taking [s]the piss[/s] a poo.

fify 😆

Very bad behaivour. Only 40s in it though and a long way to go? Hope he gets back up to them.

The gaps are all over the place. Moto's must be whizzing about like mad

30 seconds at the bottom of the climb if the reported gaps are to be believed.

One good thing, NQ and VN will have no domestiques left for the final climb when this comes back together.

Sunweb DS confirmed TD had stopped for a piss.

Rai are reporting that Rojas stopped with TD to inform them to attack.

All back together. One good thing to come of it is that Nibs and Quintana seem to have burned through most of their teammates (... as already reported by matts!)

Main contenders all back together now

Usual suspects taking the regrouping as an opportunity to get up the road.

Nibali and Quintana can't have won many fans this Giro so far. Wonder if this is setting some sort of prescedent in the peloton. Cyclings unwritten rules being rewritten!

Whats the consensus on the best live text update site? I'm just on the giro d'italia website one, but I'm sure I was using a better one last year

Eurosport one seems okay.

cycling news is ok - http://live.cyclingnews.com/

I find following teams on Twitter like Quickstep and Sky post good updates as the stage is happening.
I hope Froome and Team Sky are paying attention to the lack of sportsmanship and underhand tactics from some of the teams on show this Giro, seems like the unwritten rulebook has been thrown out the window.
Froome? is the sort of character who, like Tom D, will show the sportsman gestures only to get burnt by Movistar etc

Nibali and Quintana can't have won many fans this Giro so far

according to Twitter, the RAI (i.e Italian home feed) commentator said that Rojas stayed with Tom D so that could tell NQ when to attack. FFS.

I'd take the book of unwritten rules, rip the pages out, and get Big Tom to wipe his arse with it.

French commentators saying dumolin was never off the bike and just lingering at the back amongst the cars for too long

I love Tom D - hope he kicks theirs ar$es. Nibali just isn't an honest person and Quintana isn't much better. tha said, if you get beyond the sound bites then Nibali was a bit more nuanced.

Right. While they slow down to my riding pace, I'm going off the grid until I get home later.

I hope Froome and Team Sky are paying attention to the lack of sportsmanship and underhand tactics from some of the teams on show this Giro, seems like the unwritten rulebook has been thrown out the window.

I suspect the book of grudges has a few new entries.
NQ better hope he has no problems at the TDF, as I can see Sky, Orica and Sunweb all being quite happy to put the hammer down.

Tibaut Pinot's defence team saying dumolin was never off the bike and just lingering at the back amongst the cars for too long

FIFY 😀

I hope Froome and Team Sky are paying attention to the lack of sportsmanship

given Nibz threw a bottle at Froome because he just assumed he was responsible for a crash, and attacked on a climb when Froome clearly had a mechanical they don't need reminding about Nibz, and there's always been a bit of needle between Sky and Movistar.

cheers matts, cyclingnews one seems more readable.

hope Froome and Team Sky are paying attention to the lack of sportsmanship

If Froome is watching he won't have seen much from Quintana so far to worry him come July. Froome being a match for Dumoulin in the TT, better on the steep stuff, and with a much stronger team.

Of course, Quintana clearly breached the non compete clause when he descended off the Stelvio in the snow in 2014? 2015? and won the vital time that won the jersey. he was clearly the best rider so everyone seemed to ignore it.

Nooooooooo don't go !

pedal damn it!

edit. too much detial dont wnat to spoil for anyone.

come on!

TBF mate, if anyone opens a Giro thread and doesn't expect spoilers in it i'd be shocked.

Well I'm exhausted

So much want Tom to win this, and peanut to get second.

Anyone but Movistar or Nibs.

So what's going to happen tomorrow? Tom's dumped a big lead through his bowels and a bit of inattention today leading to a long chase and tired legs for the finale. Though most would have pedicted Quintana in pink going into the final TT anyway. Tough final climb tomorrow but it's only 15k (as opposed to today's 25k) and then there's a long flat run to the finish that won't suit Quintana. Can Tom rediscover his legs tomorrow and keep losses to less than a minute? And how will he go in the final TT? He'll start as favourite for the stage but he's clearly knackered. He'll be in his own skin suit which will be an advantage (and more significantly, Nairo won't be in his super slippy Endura one having to wear the sponsors pink one.) A minute down and Dumoulin has it in the bag. Two minutes and it could go either way. Three minutes and it's likely Quintana's Giro.

Who'd have thought this would come down to the wire when Nairo was in pink in the first week and most were writing off the GC competition.

I enjoyed that a lot. It shows class when Tom buried himself to get over the line, utterly shattered and into the van.
Nibz didn't do as I expected, fairly lame breaks followed by no sustained drive.. perhaps he's blown already, every time we've seen him Pellazotti has been blowing bubbles and Nibz just sits there.. I'm slightly confused, this isn't the Nibz of old, he seems a shadow. As for Quinty, I'm even more confused.. Pinot left both in his wake, in years gone by Quinty would have just banged it in the big ring and chased him down, but oddly he too seems flat.. that spark these two once had seems to have diminished greatly.. which given the spirit of both makes no sense. Best ride of the day was clearly Landa, it's a mighty prize to be given the Brailsford Nod to go for it.. for too long Landa has been played up as the jewel in Sky's climbing squad, but he's never been given the go ahead early enough in previous races to make the breaks, this time without Thomas on elastic duty he's just ridden at pace and cleared off, well done Sir.

Back to Tom, giving 30 odd seconds away might not seem a lot, tomorrow however could see him crack badly if he doesn't recover overnight. I'm hoping his sense of humour stays, Geshke gets a Pint, BBQ is run by Ten Dam and they relax around a camp fire somewhere stunning. The flat bit tomorrow at the end is where this will be fought out, getting over the bump will be reasonably easy, but the decent will play into Nibz skills.. we've seen him slyly scuttle away full chat before and if he's feeling flat this will be his only chance to grab a win.. which I think he'll do.. and take a few seconds to boot. Quinty will be in the bunch, Tom will ghost him until the last but third bend on the downhill then power off into the distance. I'm hoping it ends that way and the time gaps are within 15 seconds between the top 3, which then makes me watch a sodding time trial (grrr, I hate em) to see if Tom has anything left... my fingers and toes will be crossed for him.

It's tense for sure, exciting I'm not so sure about.

Has Landa got the KoM stitched up now?

Nibs lack of attack to bring Pinot back was odd, weirdly, Nibs strikes me as the kind of man who would rather help NQ beat TD than be on the podium himself

it's like watching Rossi race Marquez and Lorenzo. There is only one worthy winner.

Yay, go Landa.
If only Sky would allow their riders out to play more often.

Hope TD can hang in tomorrow and smash the TT.

So tight now. Going all the way to the wire.

I've got a feeling Nibbles is going to take it again this year. Hope Tommy D can prove me wrong.

they're all knackered. Nibali was blowing his cheeks at Pellizotti, Quintana could follow but had no power to attack.
it is a very strong lead group, not just three riders attacking each other but a top 6 within 90s of each other which is ridiculous.

I'm not sure that Movistar and Bahrain shouldn't have not pushed as hard throughout all the mountain stages but saved their riders / energy for attacking on the climbs and getting incremental gains each day.

Landa really really deserved the win - showing the class he had at Astana a couple of years ago. Last year was an adjustment year for him, not Sky restricting his freedom - he had to get used to a whole new regime moving from traditional Astana to Sky and their marginal gains. It will be interesting what they do with him for the rest of the season. Presuming Vuelta.

Stage 20 Pordenone > Asiago [b]The Last of the Lumps[/b]

The stage starts from Pordenone which has already hosted 6 stages in the history of the Giro. Then the first 100 km are on relatively flat roads, at the foot of the Prealps in the province of Treviso, with a categorised summit at Muro di Ca’ del Poggio and an intermediate sprint in Feltre. The route then climbs up Monte Grappa (24 km conquered in 2014 by Nairo Quintana and in 2010 by Ivan Basso), on narrowed roadway. The climb is steep and sharp at first, then the gradient declines, with a few changes in slopes before the categorised summit. A very long (26 km) and technical descent follows, with several hairpins and on moderately wide roads. The route then takes in the last climb in Foza (unprecedented KOM at the Giro, rising steadily at a 7% gradient, with a number of hairpins). The final 15 km are rolling and wavy. The route descends slightly over the last 5 km, up to 400 m before the finish. The roads are wide and well paved outside the city centres. When entering Asiago (four times starting stage and four times arrival) , the peloton will encounter roundabouts and traffic dividers. There is a last bend 450 m before the finish line, and the home stretch, on 7-m wide asphalt road, has a mild uphill gradient.

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1. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) 85hrs 02mins 40secs
2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Sunweb) +38secs
3. Vincenzo Nibali (It/Bahrain) +43secs
4. Thibaut Pinot (Fr/FDJ) +53secs
5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus/Katusha) +1min 21secs
6. Domenico Pozzovivo (It/AG2R) +1min 30secs
7. Bauke Mollema (Ned/Trek) +2mins 48secs
8. Adam Yates (GB/Orica) +6mins 35secs
9. Bob Jungels (Lux/Quick-Step) +7mins 03secs
10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned/LottoNL) +7mins 37secs

After all the speculation about them attacking when TD had a natural he said he just made a rookie mistake and was caught napping, whilst having poor legs.

Daniel Friebe of The Cycling Podcast is tipping Pinot as a not-so-dark horse, which isn't a bad shout if NQ and Nibz are as cooked as they appear to be.

which then makes me watch a sodding time trial (grrr, I hate em)

🙂

they can make for thrilling race-endings though. Even ignoring the famous Lemond-Fignon 8 seconds, the 2012 Giro was a nail biter with fans' favourite Purito losing the race in a short TT to hesjedal.

Katusha driving the peloton 5 way fight for pink 😯

TD looks quite good though

It's going off 8)

TD looks like he's struggling

Yeh Katusha blowing it up and nice the battle for white jersey is being played out as well

every team bar katusha are smashed here, who can get back on the descent and flat. Sky have 3 up now. and 1 for pink

here come Yates

TD looks like he's struggling

he often does on varying gradients as he rides like a diesel TTer, so keeps getting gapped and then pulling them back.

woeks ok vs 1, but when they get away and the second, third attacks come he can't respond (like yesterday once he lost 20 seconds and the pace was lifted he lost another 40 secs)

dodgy looking road surface !

So is Dumoulin in the lead group? He's not shown as being in there on cyclingnews feed but no report of him being dropped.

he's 2 back from pink, nibbles is behind him

Argh come on Tom! About 5k till it flattens out.

I dont get Quintana

Spoke to soon!

this is just brilliant watching.....

no one seems to have the knock out punch !!!

Not for lack of Pinot trying

20 seconds.

Come on Tom, reel them in

this is amazing

pissing about at the front 🙂

****ing idiots in the front group 🙄

9 seconds!