Buongiorno and welcome to live coverage of stage 2 - sorry, stage 5 (boom boom!) - of the Giro d'Italia. It's a second successive lumpy day in Sardinia as the riders tackle three categorised climbs and numerous hills in the 153km stage from Agrigento to Santa Ninfa.

Lotto-Fix All on the front as the riders continue making their way up the south coast of Sicily. It's worth adding that Adam Hansen is riding his 20th consecutive Grand Tour in a sequence which he admits will soon come to an end: he's decided to sit out this year's Tour de France.

The gap, which was up to 5'30", is now down to 4'25" as the Lotto-Fix All team-mates of yesterday's winner, Tim Wellens, come to the front of the peloton to help with the tempo-setting.

It's worth mentioning that this is the fourth stage in a row that Androni-Sidermec have had a rider involved in the break. Gianni Savio's wildcard team making up for their non-invitation from the past two years. But can they turn this breakaway dominance into a stage win at some point during the race?

No place in the break for Enrico Barbin and Marco Frapporti, who were both on the offensive in stages 3 and 4. Barbin leads the maglia azzurra KOM competition on 11pts with his compatriot in second place on 7pts. With a maximum 9pts up for grabs over today's three Cat.4 climbs, Barbin's lead will not be overturned until the race hits Mount Etna tomorrow.

Interesting to see two Trek-Segafredo riders here in the break in Mullen and Didier. Read into it what you will. Perhaps Gianluca Brambilla is not feeling good or perhaps, on the contrary, the team want to use these riders as a launch pad for an attack by Brambilla or Jarlinson Pantano later on. Perhaps they're not even thinking about their GC man and climber, and have someone like Mads Pedersen in mind. Or perhaps this is simply a chance for Mullen and Didier to enjoy their time in the spotlight.

The gap is up to five minutes now for the four leaders.

All the action comes in the second half of the stage where we have the three Cat.4 climbs and the two intermediate sprints ahead of the finish which, like yesterday, is an uphill sprint, but not as steep as what we saw in Caltagirone, so could well see some of the sprinters contest for the win. A reminder that Elia Viviani is head and shoulders about all others in the maglia ciclamino competition - the Italian double stage winner is on 130pts with compatriot Sacha Modolo on 55pts, two ahead of a third Italian, Jakub Mareczko.

The gap for the four escapees quickly moves above the three-minute mark. The best placed rider in the break is Andrea Vendrama, who is 6'02" down on Dennis on GC and so there's no cause for concern back in the pack.

A reminder that Rohan Dennis (BMC) is still in pink thanks to a one-second lead over Friday's opening time trial winner Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb). Britain's Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) is up to third place at 17 seconds and yesterday's winner Tim Wellens is fourth at 19 seconds. Spain's Pello Bilbao (Astana) completes the top five at 25 seconds. Other riders of interest include Thibaut Pinot +34, Esteban Chaves +47, Michael Woods +53, Chris Froome +55, Fabio Aru +57 and Miguel Angel Lopez +1'14".

Here's a photo which sums up just why the Giro d'Italia is so special when on home soil. Amazing fans yesterday at the start in Catania...

The four escapees are: Ryan Mullen (Trek-Segafredo), Laurent Didier (Trek-Segafredo), Eugert Zhupa (Wilier Triestina-Selle Italia) and Andrea Vendrame (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec). With no response from the peloton, a significant gap has opened up pretty quickly as the race heads towards the coast.

ATTACK: From the outset four riders zip clear and open up a gap. Sometimes it takes over an hour of ferocious racing for the day's break to establish itself; on other occasions it happens in the blink of an eye.

They're off! In the shadow of the Valley of the Temples, Mauro Vegni, the race director, waves the flat to get this stage under way.

A reminder that yesterday Belgium’s Tim Wellens timed his attack to perfection to win a lumpy Stage 4 of the Giro d’Italia in the Sicilian hilltop town of Caltagirone ahead of Canada’s Michael Woods and the Italian Enrico Battaglin. Britain’s Chris Froome was caught out in a late split and conceded 21 seconds alongside Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez, while Australian Rohan Dennis (BMC) retained the pink jersey after the first of three demanding days in Sicily.

Here's what's in store for the riders, who are currently rolling through the neutralised zone ahead of the official start.