Hello and welcome to live coverage of stage 14 of the Giro d'Italia as the race returns to the mountains with this 131km ride from Fausto Coppi's birthtown of Castellania to one of the largest religious shrines in the Alps, Oropa.

Today we should see some action in the battle for the maglia azzurra KOM competition, which is currently being led by Omar Fraile of Dimension Data. The Spaniard has 49 points to Jan Polanc's 46 points, with Quintana on 35 points, Pinot on 27 and Teklehaimanot on 24pts. There are 35pts up for grabs for the winner today, so we could well see the maglia azzurra change shoulders tonight.

The three leaders have entered Vercelli where the second intermediate sprint will take place. Once again it's old man Lagutin who takes the uncontested spoils ahead of Berhane and Martinez. The gap is 1:50. We still have about 35 more flat kilometres before the road starts to head up hill for the final climb from Biella.

The peloton is all strung out in single, double and triple file. It's still FDJ who lead the pace-setting alongside Orica and Movistar. The Sunweb team of Tom Dumoulin are there ahead of Astana, Bahrain Merida, Quick-Step Floors and Sky. In fact, everyone is riding in team format as the pack continues across these flat plains and paddy fields towards the snow-capped mountains on the horizon. The gap is 2:25.

Sergey Lagutin led the three leaders through the intermediate sprint at Caresana ahead of Berhane and Martinez.There won't be any change in the points standings, with Gaviria on 315 and his nearest opponent, Jasper Stuyven, on 192.

The man leading the peloton, in fact, is Caleb Ewan of Orica-Scott. It's nice to see the Australian there doing some work for Yates after all the help he received himself in a the first phase of the race. In a frustrating two weeks, Ewan won a maiden Giro stage but stuttered on numerous occasions in the bunch sprints. He could have packed his bags like Greipel, but he's decided to stick around - at least for a day - and help out his remaining team-mates. A class act.

Talking of Pinot, our pundit Brian Smith reckons the Frenchman is a good bet for the win today - although he also feels that the climb will suit Tom Dumoulin and the Dutchman won't lose any significant time.

The FDJ team of Thibaut Pinot are on the front now alongside a few of Yates's Orica domestiques and ahead of Quintana's entire Movistar team. Expect both Quintana and Pinot men to ride aggressively today in a bid to steal some time back from Dumoulin at Oropa. Meanwhile, the gap comes up to 2:15 for the three leaders.

So, who could win today's stage? One rider who could be a good bet is Adam Yates of Orica-Scott. He's almost seven minutes down on GC and so could be allowed to ride clear if he puts in an attack on the final climb. The Briton was in third place behind Geraint Thomas before that incident with the motorcycle at the foot of Blockhaus threw a spanner in the works last weekend.

The gap is down to 1:30 for the three leaders. And earlier, as the peloton rode through some paddy fields - hence Sean Kelly's comment - we saw this amazing evidence of selfless team-work from one of the CCC Sprandi boys...

We're almost two weeks into this race and we still haven't had an Italian winner... Could that unfavourable run for the host nation end on a stage that has never been won by someone who isn't Italian??

Juan Antonio Flecha, our recon rider, rode up the final climb earlier today and here's the report he put together for us. Should be a cracker.

Lagutin, Martinez and Berthane have 1:50 over the peloton. This trio is a motley crew: Former Uzbec national champion, and now on Russia's books, Sergey Lagutin is 36 and last year won a stage on the Vuelta; this is his forth Giro. Daniel Martinez is only 21 but is riding his second Giro; he's still in the hunt for his first ever pro win. Lastly, 26-year-old Natnael Berhane used to be at Europcar but joined Dimension Data in 2015. This is his maiden Giro and fourth Grand Tour, and he's a former Eritrean national champion on the road and in ITT.

Yes, it looks like that we have the day's break as the three riders join forces and open up a decent gap over the peloton. That was a whole lot of effort for quite little effect: just three riders of no significance having some time out in the sun.

After one rider - Natnael Berhane of Dimension Data, I think - manages to open up a gap, two ride off in pursuit - it's Sergey Lagutin (Gazprom-Rusvelo) and Dani Martinez (Wilier-Selle Italia). And it looks like the peloton is finally happy to let this move go, because the pace behind is slow and they're riding in block formation. Phew, could this be it?

A huge group has now formed - and as more try to bridge over, the peloton (all strung out) is pulled back into contention and yet again, it comes to nothing. How much longer can this go on for?

Six clear now, but five trying to bridge over... if more try and join in then it may well signal doom for this latest attempt. It's still very cagey and nervous. In this group we have Quentin Jauregui of Ag2R-La Mondiale, who has been very active so far today.

After Jan Barta (Bora-Hansgrohe) has a pop, it's the turn of Dylan Theuns of Trek Segafredo. But it comes to nothing. That man Gaviria is still riding near the front - he's clearly concerned about who goes clear, which is like an over-protective boyfriend not even letting his girlfriend out to the newsagents to buy a pack of chewing gum.

Those scenes between Gaviria and Teklehaimanot... clearly an example of the Colombian over-defending the maglia ciclamino. Even if there are two intermediate sprints in the middle of today's stage, Gaviria won't lose enough headway for it to even be a minor concern.

Eugert Zhupa, the Albanian champion, is the latest rider to have a pop - provoking a respose by a whole host of riders, including Valerio Agnoli of Bahrain Merida. Vincenzo Nibali clearly keen to get a man in any break today...

Still no one has managed to make a break stick - one reason is the fast pace, which has been an average of 54.3 km/h so far in these opening 15-odd kilometres.

Three Bora-Hansgrohe riders up the tempo on the front and one of them riders clear - but yet again it comes to nothing. The team thought they had a second stage win of the race - and a first for Sam Bennett - yesterday, but the Irishman was passed by Gaviria at the 11th hour in Tortona.