Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia, a 177km mountainous slog from Pinzolo to Aprica that features the fearsome Mortirolo pass and four other categorised peaks in the Alps.

Aru, the white jersey, is really struggling now. He's been momentarily dropped by Landa and Kruijswijk - and Astana have a big decision to make here.

Landa looks to be tiring out Aru with his pace - the italian is struggling to keep up with the Spaniard's pace. Contador, meanwhile, has passed Konig and now has Trofimov and Hesjedal in his sights. Fascinating stuff. I reckon the Spaniard will catch them and then win the stage.

Anton paces Contador back to another small group, which includes Anton's Movistar team-mate Andre Amador, who seems to be struggling. After his brief respite, Contador jumps out of the saddle and powers clear. He now has Konig in his sights.

Trofimov is struggling to hold on. Confirmation that Hesjedal was caught in that earlier flurry by Astana. Kruijswijk is going strong - such a shame he lost so much time in the opening week. Just the three leaders now - Landa, Aru and the Dutchman. Contador is 42 seconds down and has joined compatriot Igor Anton (Movistar) soe a bit of pacing.

The gap is still 39 seconds for Aru over Contador. The Italian has Landa with him, plus Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) and one Katusha rider, that man Yuri Trofimov.

In all the drama, everyone seems to have forgotten about the lone leader Ryder Hesjedal - including the cameramen. In fact, it's unclear if the Canadian is still out ahead or not.

Contador, the pink jersey, is picking rides off one by one as he bids to return to the front of the race. Back with the main group, and Mikel Landa is the only Astana rider left for Fabio Aru.

We're onto the Passo del Mortirolo - 13km long with a maximum gradient of 18% and regular sections of 12%. And Contador has dropped both his team-mates Kreuziger and Boaro: the pink jersey is on his own and fighting back. He has a BMC rider and an Etixx rider with him, Uran I think, plus the blue jersey of compatriot Benat Intxausti (Movistar). But they are quickly dropped...

The gap is growing ahead of the climb. It's 50 second now as Luis Leon Sanchez comes to the front for Astana. Fascinating stuff.

It's not Rogers, but Kreuziger, who is pacing Contador back. The Czech is completely burying himself for his team leader, while Astana and Katusha combine to drive the pace on the front of the race. Still 45 seconds separate the groups - and it's quite controversial given Contador dropped back because of a puncture... Another Tinkoff-Saxo rider has dropped back from the first group - could it be Tossato? No, it's Boaro.

The Astana-led chasing group have joined the Katusha-led chase group. They are 35 seconds down on lone leader Hesjedal, whiole the Tinkoff-Saxo-led group is another 30 seconds back. Apparently he punctured on the last descent - according to Oleg Tinkodd on Twitter - and it appears that he has but one team-mate alongside him, Mick Rogers.

Hesjedal has30 seconds on the Katusha-led chasing group, 45 seconds on the Aru group and 1:20 on the maglia rosa group. The Canadian is approaching the start of the Mortirolo.

The likes of Aru (with three team-mates), Konig and Amador are all in the main lead group and have about 40 seconds on the Contador group chasing back on. This won't be the best way for the maglia rosa to start the Mortirolo. Those three Katusha riders have joined the remnants of the breakaway. The only man up ahead is Hesjedal...

Meanwhile, three Katusha riders have opened up a gap on the front and - at the foot of this climb - have almost caught the chasers. And wow, look at that: aerial images show the race split into about six different groups - with Contador, after that issue, in the back group, and Aru in the second group... Interesting.

Slighty issue for Contador, who appears to have dropped back for some reason. Perhap she needed a wheel change or had a mechanical?

One rider who has come down is Diego Rosa of Astana, who loses his grip on fresh tarmac on a bend before landing spread-eagled on his front. It looks like one rider then runs over his fingers just for good measure. The Italian is back up and, after a small chain issue, on his way.

How Hesjedal has not come a cropper on this descent is beyond me: he takes one bend very wide, almost clobbering into the barriers, then hits a pothole while riding with one hand behind his back rummaging around his pockets, then had to unclip on a left-hander over over cooking another turn. He's living life dangerously...

Quite a few potholes in this fast descent. Katusha have taken up the reins on the front of the pack, working for their man Yuri Trofimov.

Hesjedal rides down the finish straight for the first time in Aprica. He's in time trial mode now as he looks to open up his lead ahead of the descent to the foot of the Mortirolo. The break passes through 1:04 down on the lone leader, so it looks like the other escapees are slipping back fast. The pack, which is still quite large, comes over the line 2:08. And it's Ivan Basso, the Italian veteran at Tinkoff-Saxo, who leads them over. The likes of Astana, Movistar and Katusha are all near the front too.

Hesjedal has 30 seconds on the chasing group and 1:55 over the maglia rosa group.

One of the Bardiani-CSF riders off the back of the pelotol has got their rain jacket caught in his spokes. That's always the peril of derobing while riding. The rain, you see, has eased off and it looks to have cleared.