Welcome to live coverage of stage seven of the 2012 Giro d'Italia from Recanati to Rocca Di Cambio.

The leaders are now on the category 3 Colle Galluccio climb, the only classified climb before the end at Rocca di Cambio. The lead is now down to 7'10".

We have a retirement - Gianni Meersman (Lotto Belisol) is the fifth man to quit the Giro, after Lastras, Farrar, Hushovd and Feillu were eliminated yesterday.

As things stand, there is a breakaway comprising Fumiyuki Beppu (Orica-Greenedge), Matteo Rabottini (Farnese-Vini), Reto Hollenstein (Netapp) and Mirko Selvaggi (Vancasoleil). The race goes live on British Eurosport at 13:30 UK time.

The gap is back up to 8'45" - nobody showing much appetite for making inroads into the lead as things stand. In the meantime, why not have a look at our race gallery?

Lampre have come to the front of the peloton and are pushing the pace a little to keep the escapees in range. But the gap is reducing very slowly at the moment.

The gap is pretty much constant as the break ploughs on towards the day's first majot climb, a category three hike up to Colle Galluccio, which stands 1190m above sea level. They are expected there in about 45 minutes' time.

The escapees lead by 8'20" now, and are on a climb up to the town of Rustici in the Fermo province. It is a short, sharp climb of a couple of hundred metres, but it is a gradient of up to 11%, so not much fun while it lasts.

Ivan Basso remains the bookies' favourite to win the race outright, with Michele Scarponi, Roman Keuziger and Joaquin Rodriguez also much-fancied.

A recap of how they stand after stage six - Adriano Malori (Lampre) is the man in pink, holding a 15-second lead over Michal Golas (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

We have a breakaway: Fumiyuki Beppu (Orica-Greenedge), Matteo Rabottini (Farnese-Vini), Reto Hollenstein (Netapp) and Mirko Selvaggi (Vancasoleil) have already put nine minutes on the peloton!

The sun was shining at the start of the stage, and the weather is expected to be good for the rest of the day. It was a scorching 26C in Recanati, while the temperature was a cooler 19C at the hilltop finish at Rocca di Cambio.

British Eurosport's live TV coverage starts at 13:30 UK time, which should cover the final 100km. You can also watch on the Eurosport Player.

Here's a look at the final few kilometres of the race - there is a peak at Valcio, 3.5km from the end, followed by a short downhill section and another climb up to Rocca di Cambio, including a short spell at 10% gradient.

Here is today's time schedule. You'll see the finish is due around 17:00 local time or shortly after - that's 4pm UK time.

Today's stage is a 205km trip south into the Abruzzo region of Eastern Italy. It is an interesting stage profile, gradually climbing throughout the day. There is a catregory three climb at the halfway point, and a category two finish at Rocca di Cambio, which is at 1392m above sea level.