Welcome to live coverage of this, the penultimate stage of this year's Giro d'Italia, a huge 242km largely flat slog... which finishes with two massive climbs, including a summit finish at Sestriere. A brutal way to end what has been a fairly hellish three weeks in the saddle.

But the man of the day was clearly Vasili Kiryienka, winning in memory of his late team-mate Xavier Tondo.

Scarponi, Contador, Kruijswijk and Menchov came home at 5:59. Kreuziger at 6:16 and Nibali at 6:25.

Rujano takes second place, 4:43 off the pace, Rodriguez crosses just six seconds later. Betancourt soon afterwards.

Now Kruijswijk goes on the attack and Kreuziger can't react. Scarponi also attacks, distancing Nibali. Contador reacts and has now passed Menchov behind the other pair.

Rujano and Rodriguez continue their solo rides to the finish as Nibali ups the pace back in the chasing group.

Further back, Gadret has attacked, joining the wheel of Menchov.

Kiryienka points to his sponsor on his chest, then raises both fingers to the sky in memory of the late Xavier Tondo as he crosses the line to take the win.

Not long to go for Kiryienka, who shakes hands with his directeur sportif and then smiles for the first time today.

Kiryienka passes under the one-to-go banner - he's moments away from the best win of his career. This will be even sweeter than his maiden Giro win at Presolana back in 2008.

Rodriguez is really gritting his teeth as he continues on his path. He's being chased by Menchov and then the pink jersey group, where attrition rules supreme.

No emotion whatsoever on Kiryienka's face. Further back, Rodriguez catches Betancourt.

Kreuziger knows that Rodriguez is eating into his advantage on the GC but he can't do anything about it. He also has tomorrow's time trial to play with.

Rujano drops Betancourt in the fight for second place. He has 5km to go, Kiryienka just 3km.

It's quite a subdued finish to today's stage, with everyone seemingly content to end things as they are. Kiryienka, certainly, feels that way.

The Belarussian passes the 5-to-go banner. He has over five minutes to play with. Menchov has attacked from the chasing group, trying to catch Rodriguez.

Kiryienka just puts his head down and gets on with the job - not histrionics or dramatics, he's a simple, no-nonsense rider.

This will be the first victory for Movistar since the sad passing away of Xavier Tondo - expect some poignant dedications later today.

Rodruiguez attacks again as he passes the 10-to-go banner. Now Kreuziger reacts, taking Kriujswijk with him. Only 23 separate 7th place Kreuziger and 8th place Rodriguez - but with both Suitsov and Nieve out of the picture, one of these two riders could end up in fifth place in Milan.

The two chasers, Betancourt and Rujano, cross the 10-to-go banner. With a 3km and 5min advantage, Kiryienka is riding to certain victory today.