Welcome to live coverage of stage nine of the Giro d'Italia - a mountainous 173km ride through the Apennines from Sansepolcro to Florence.

Ryder Hesjedal the big loser of the day - despite all the talk about Wiggins having problems on the descents. The Canadian defending champion drops from 6th to 11th place on GC, 3:11 behind leader Vincenzo Nibali. Sky's Sergio Henao is up to 6th. No change otherwise.

Betancur celebrated as is he had won the stage there - he must not have known about Belkov further up the road...

Top five today: 1. Belkov, 2. Betancur +44, 3. Pantano +46, 4. Ludvigsson +54, 5. Evans +1:03.

Carlos Betancur (Ag2R-La Mondiale) rounds fellow Colombian Jarlinson Pantano to take second place, 45 seconds down. Evans leads the pack over moments later, but Ryder Hesjedal comes home in a small group around one minute seconds back.

Maxim Belkov of Katusha drives right to the end before slapping his thighs and pumping his fists in celebration as he crosses the line to take a superb win.

Under the 'flamme rouge' for Belkov and he still has over a minute on the pack. Hedjedal is 45 seconds down on the pink jersey group.

The crowds roar for Belkov who has this one sewn up now - unless he loses a wheel or comes a cropper on a tight bend.

Euskaltel have moved to the front of the peloton, oddly enough. Belkov still has more than a minute on the chasing duo.

The bunch is still two minutes down and Belkov will win this is he can get up that final ramp to the finish.

There are some big potholes in this road, which would be tricky. One positive is that they're easy to see - being filled with water.

Once again, Wiggins is on the back of the main group for the descent. The rest day couldn't come quicker for the Sky leader.

Carlos Betancur of Ag2R-La Mondiale broke clear of the main pack just ahead of the summit. He's riding solo in pursuit of Pantano and Ludvigsson.

The remnants of the initial break have been caught by the main pack, which crosses the line two minutes down on Belkov, who is now time trialling his way to the finish in Florence.

Pantano crosses the summit in second place with Ludvigsson on his back wheel. The gap is 1:20. No big change for the KOM standings.

Maxim Belkov (Kstusha) crosses the summit of the Fiesole. He should take the win today because the gap is a good one.

We haven't had a time check for a while but Belkov is still out ahead. Italian national champion Franco Pellizzoti has been distanced by the main group.

Pantano is out of the saddle in the dancing position as he tries to close in on Belkov. Back with the main pack, Hesjedal is getting dropped. The defending champion is really feeling the pressure on this climb...

Belkov is onto the final climb of the day, the Cat.4 Fiesole, which has a maximum gradient of 11% but only lasts 2.5km.

On the front of the peloton, it's Estonian national coampion Tanel Kangert setting the pace ahead of his team-mate Vincenzo Nibali, the pink jersey, as they pass under the 15-to-go banner.

Ludvigsson has joined Pantano on the descent as they try and cut the deficit to lone leader Belkov.