Welcome to live coverage of stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia - a stage which could decide who rides into Milan wearing the pink jersey. There are five classified climbs on the 198km stage from Treviso, culminating with the summit finish atop the Cat.1 Alpe di Pampeago.

The sun that shone down at the start of the stage has been replaced by rain. Pink jersey Joaquim Rodriguez has put on a black jacket as he rides surrounded by Katusha team-mates. It's a very localised shower, mind, because the leaders are still riding under the sun, seven minutes further up the road.

The lead is 6:35 after the first climb of the day. There's a slight plateau now, then the descent to the feeding zone ahead of the first major task of the day, the Cat.1 Passo Manghen.

The leaders have passed over the summit of the Cat.3 Sella di Roa: 1. Stefano Pirazzi (Colnago) 5pts, 2. Thomas Rohregger (RadioShack) 3pts, 3. Serge Pauwels (QuickStep) 2pts.

Sprinter Andrea Guardini, who won yesterday's stage after a superb surge past world champion Mark Cavendish, is understandably struggling to stay in contact with the leading group on this first climb. They're about 3km from the summit.

The 17 leaders start the Cat.3 Sella di Roa with 7:05 over the pack.

A reminder of the leaders, who are about to start the first climb of the day: Casar (FDJ), Rohregger (RadioShack), Sella (Androni), Pirazzi (Colnago), Flecha (Sky), Santaromita (BMC), Pauwels (QuickStep), Garate (Rabobank), Malori (Lampre), Ventoso (Movistar), Zeits (Astana), Hansen (Lotto Belisol), Benedetti (NetApp), Cazaux (Euskaltel), Ignatiev (Katusha), Guardini (Farnese Vini) and Haedo (Saxo Bank).

I spoke too soon: the 17 leaders increase their lead to 7:40. The final classification to catch up on is the youth standings: Colombian Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky) is in the white jersey and leads his compatriot and team-mate Sergio Henao by 1:46.

The lead has stabilised at 6:20 as the leaders edge closer to the first climb of the day. // "Rodriguez will take some stopping a good result today­ and he could be top of both points and general," says Paul below. Meanwhile, Bizarro picks Movistar's Benat Intxausti for the win - the Spaniard is currently sixth in the GC. Finally, Elisabeth is going for Domenico Pozzovivo, who she thinks was "bluffing on the Giau" two days ago.

One notable absentee from the break is blue jersey Matteo Rabottini (Farnese Vini). The stage 15 winner could have sewn up the mountains classification today, but he won't be too distressed: none of his rivals for the blue jersey are in the break either, and he's looking good for taking the blue all the way to Milan.

Who do you fancy for the win today? Will one of these breakaway riders stay out or will the battle for the GC take over come the second ascent of the Passo Pampeago? Have your say in the comment box below...

The best placed rider in the GC is Frenchman Sandy Casar, who is 12:25 behind Rodriguez in the standings.

The gap increases to 6:15 as the riders continue the opening 70km flat segment of today's stage. The finish at Alpe di Pampeago became famous after Marco Pantani attacked on the climb during the peak of his career. In 1998 the Pirate cracked main rival Pavel Tonkov to win the stage and set up overall victory. The year after Pantani dropped Gilberto Simoni to win again, while Simoni won in Alpe di Pampeago in 2003.

The breakaway now has 5:45 over the peloton. No surprise seeing Emanuele Sella in the group today: the Italian won the stage to Alpe di Pampeago back in 2008. The diminitive climber won three stages that year - although he later tested positive for CERA and was banned for one year.

There were 165 riders at the start today after Italy’s Elia Favilli and Alfredo Balloni (both Farnese Vini) withdrew from the race.

The stand out men in the break are Garate, Sella and Pirazzi, all of whom are strong climbers. It's interesting to see yesterday's stage winner Guardini there too. The young Italian is clearly eager to stay in the limelight.

The leading group now has four minutes over the peloton. The riders are: Casar (FDJ), Rohregger (RadioShack), Sella (Androni), Pirazzi (Colnago), Flecha (Sky), Santaromita (BMC), Pauwels (QuickStep), Garate (Rabobank), Malori (Lampre), Ventoso (Movistar), Zeits (Astana), Hansen (Lotto Belisol), Benedetti (NetApp), Cazaux (Euskaltel), Ignatiev (Katusha), Guardini (Farnese Vini) and Haedo (Saxo Bank).

Today's climbs: Cat.3 Sella di Roa - 7.1% for 4.8km, Cat.1 Passo Manghen - 7.4% for 20.5km (including 10% for last 6km and ramps of 15%), Cat.1 Passo Pampeago - 10.5km at 9.7%, Cat.2 Passo Lavaze - 6.3km at 8.6%, Cat.1 Passo Pampeago (for a second time).

BREAK: A group of 17 riders has ridden off the front, including Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) and Francesco Ventoso (Movistar). More information coming up when it filters through on race radio...

World champion Mark Cavendish picked up maximum points in the intermediate sprint yesterday, but could only take second place at the finish. The Manxman increased his lead over Rodriguez in the red jersey standings to 29 points, which puts him in a precarious position given the itinerary for the next three days. Should the Spaniard finish highly in these next two mountain stages, he could well overturn Cavendish's lead.

There was no change yesterday in the overall standings: Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) leads Canada's Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) by 30 seconds at the top. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) is third at 1:22, while another Italian, the defending champion Michele Scarponi (Lampre), is fourth at 1:36. The top five is completed by Colombian youngster Rigoberto Uran (Team Sky), 2:56 in arrears.

Today's mouth-watering stage is under way - let the battle commence!