Buongiorno and welcome to live coverage of stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia - the longest of the race, a huge 244km schlep from Penne to Gualdo Tadino.

Big news: we have a time split on Chaves and he's riding in a group that's 2'10" down on the peloton and 3'30" down on the 12 leaders.

Confirmation that Giulio Ciccone took the points over the summit of the Cat.3 climb to Bruzzolana ahead of Montaguti, Mohoric and Martin. That's two from two for the 23-year-old Italian.

The climb is over but no news on who went over the summit in pole position. Here's the first photo of the break, though, from the Astana team car, who are following their man Luis Leon Sanchez - one of the 12 leaders.

That said, we're hearing that Chaves has his good friend and team-mate Sam Bewley with him - we just don't know what the gap is to the peloton. This often happens on tough days right after the rest day - riders don't react well to getting back in race mode and there can be shock changes in GC. The biggest example being the time Joaquim Rodriguez surrendered the red jersey to Alberto Contador in Fuente De in the Vuelta five or six years ago...

Both Chaves and Louis Meintjes have been distanced from the pack, apparently. If true, it will be tough for the Colombian because Mitchelton-Scott won't be able to send riders back to help him because team-mate Simon Yates will need support himself and he's the pink jersey. A reminder that the British rider leads his Colombian team-mate by 32 seconds on GC with Tom Dumoulin third at 38 seconds, Thibaut Pinot fourth at 45 seconds and Domenico Pozzovivo fifth at 57 seconds.

It's not looking good for Pello Bilbao and Remi Cavagna, who will be restored into the peloton sooner rather than later. As the race hits the short Cat. 3 climb to Bruzzolana, the chasing duo's gap is down to just 20 seconds over the peloton - and they trail the leaders by a minute.

There it is - confirmation by Mitchelton-Scott, but it looks like they're as much in the dark as we are.

As the road flattens ahead of the next climb, Mohoric has been pegged back by the break so we have 12 riders with 1'30" over the pack and both Cavagna and Bilbao stuck right in between. No official confirmation of the Chaves distancing so that remains a mystery. We'll keep probing around.

We're hearing reports of Esteban Chaves being in trouble and Team Sky setting a ferocious pace in response... We'll keep you posted on this development. TV images have yet to kick in from the race. Apparently the Colombian is 1'30" down - we're not sure if he crashed, had a mechanical or is struggling.

Matej Mohoric - renowned for his frame-hugging descending skills - has manages to open up a gap on the other 11 escapees. The Slovenian has 35 seconds to play with, while Cavagna and Bilbao trail the break by 25 seconds, with the pack a further 15 seconds back.

That climb did not make any difference at the top of the maglia azzurra KOM standings, which Simon Yates leads on 55pts ahead of his Mitchelton-Scott team-mate Esteban Chaves on 47pts. Thibaut Pinot is third on 36pts and Richard Carapaz fourth on 23pts. Because Yates is in pink, Chaves continues to wear the blue jersey he first wore after his victory on Mount Etna in the opening week.

Remi Cavagna (Quick-Step Floors) and Pello Bilbao (Astana) have counter attacked from the peloton on the descent.

Ciccone passed over the summit ahead of Montaguti, Bouwman, Mohoric and Sanchez, with the peloton 1'10" in arrears. The break was down to 12 riders as it crested the summit.

That's a nice touch: it's Giulio Ciccone who takes the KOM points over the top of the climb in honour of the victims of the Rigopiano tragedy. Ciccone was very active in the finish at Gran Sasso d'Italia, attacking at least three times near the summit before eventually finishing 10th place. He won a stage in his maiden Giro back in 2016 when just 21 years old and is one to watch over the next fortnight.

Some of the break have been distanced as they approach the summit. We're hearing that Fernandez, Mosca, Pedersen, Schmidt and Scully have slipped back a little as the gap back to the peloton comes down to less than two minutes.

The riders are approaching the remains of the Hotel Rigopiano which was destroyed by an avalanche in January 2017 killing 29 people. Local rider Giulio Ciccone - who is in the break - attended a memorial service yesterday at the site of the tragedy. You can see him in the picture below.

This climb is a tough start to a brutal stage. Sure, there may be no monster climbs or summit finish, but the road goes constantly up and down, and at 244km it's the longest in the race. Elia Viviani, who leads the maglia ciclamino points classification, is one of many to be out the back door early on. It's going to be a long day for the Quick-Step rider, who has 178pts to Sam Bennett's (Bora-Hanshrohe) 100pts. Sacha Modolo (EF-Drapac) is third on 73pts while that man Ballerini, who is in the break, is on 68pts.

The 17 breakaway riders are: Davide Ballerini (Androni-Giocattoli), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Merida), Ben Hermans and Krists Neilands (Israel Cycling Academy), Ben King (Dimension Data), Tom Scully (EF Education First-Drapac), Tony Martin and Mads Wurtz Schmidt (Katusha-Alpecin), Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Jarlinson Pantano and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates), Matteo Montaguti (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Ruben Fernandez (Movistar), Giulio Ciccone (Bardiani-CSF) and Jacopo Mosca (Wilier Triestina).

So, all the escapees have come together so we have 17 riders out ahead now. It wasn't Quintana but his team-mate Ruben Fernandez. We are also hearing - and this is important - from Cyclingnews that today's start town of Penne has nothing to do with pasta. Despite its name, it's a former Roman town famous for its goats cheese and cured meats, according to their Italy-based correspondent Stephen Farrand.

We're hearing that Jacopo Mosca, Mads Pedersen and Valerio Conti may also be in the leading group as well. They have two minutes over the peloton on this first climb.

The riders are onto the first climb the Cat.2 Fonte della Creta (16km at 6%) which is actually one of the flanks of the Gran Sasso d'Italia that they tackled on Sunday. Matteo Montaguti, Dayer Quintana and Mads Wurtz Schmidt are in pursuit of the leaders, with local boy Giulio Ciccone having also just attacked from the peloton.