Ciao ragazzi! Welcome to live coverage of the third rest day - sorry, stage 11 - of the Giro d'Italia: a pizza-flat (with zero toppings) 221km schlep from Carpi to Novi Ligure, and a final chance for the sprinters to do battle ahead of the mountains.

The Groupama, Lotto Soudal and QuickStep teams of Demare, Ewan and Viviani have been sharing out the work load on the front of the peloton, keeping this break in check. Bora-Hansgrohe haven't really got involved - but their man Ackermann is still raw from his crash yesterday.

The pack has passed through the city of Piacenza, which is at the confluence of the Trebbia (draining the northern Apennines) and the Po, draining to the east. The home town of Filippo Inzaghi, the footballer, and Giorgia Bronzini, the 2010 and 2011 world champion cyclist.

I took from all the earlier eating that the riders had already passed through the feed zone. But that was just a mere amuse-bouge area ahead of the main course proper. It's now, as the three leaders cross a tributary of the River Po 3'45" up the road, that the riders in the peloton pick up their lunch musettes.

Awaiting the Italian in his home town was his brother Alessio in a fetching blonde wig...

Guarnieri won the Six Days in 2011 alongside Elia Viviani in the town's velodrome...

Some context for that bit of excitement from Guarnieri, who stopped in his home town of Fiorenzuola d'Arda after 90km of riding...

ATTACK! Only kidding... What actually happened is that Groupama-FDJ's Jacopo Guarnieri was allowed to ride clear of the pack so he could stop to greet his family and friends on the side of the road in Fiorenzuola d'Arda - one of those quirky traditions we occasionally see in Grand Tours.

The peloton is passing through the feed zone with a deficit of 3'45" on our three leaders - Frapporti, Cima and Maestri. The city of Piacenza is on the horizon and will be the next major port of call - not that we're anywhere near the sea, mind.

Tomorrow's stage recalls one of the most famous moments in Giro d'Italia history. I wrote this long-read piece on Fausto Coppi's break between Cuneo and Pineroli in 1949 with a little help from the campionissimo's biographer Herbie Sykes.

The break is down to two riders while Mirco Maestri attends to a mechanical. While he gets a new wheel, Frapporti sits up and chomps on an energy bar while Cima takes the opportunity to stop for a call of nature.

The gap is four minutes with 150km remaining as the break continues its west-ward schlep along the Po valley. It's QuickStep's Mikkel Honoré setting the tempo on the front of the pack.

The Viviani conundrum is an interesting one. So hot in the spring, the Italian has been low on morale here in Italy. Sure, it may have been different had he not been deprived of his win in stage 3 but on the whole Viviani seems to have been following wheels - and often the wrong wheels - rather than dictating the sprints himself. Some people think he's missing a pilot like Max Richeze - but he has Fabio Sabatini with him, but so often has lost the Italian's wheel. Viviani inferred that he's missed Michael Morkov's presence in his train - and the two should be reunited for the Tour. But he really needs a win today to save his race - there's no two ways about it.

The peloton is currently passing through the city of Parma - renowned for its cured ham. Lotto-Soudal have a man on the front regulating things for their sprinter Caleb Ewan, who spoke to Eurosport this morning and said: "Today is a slight uphill finish so that should suit me. It's going to be another easy day before the finish. I can't see too many people go in the break. Timing will be key. There might be a slight head crosswind, too. If you have the power and get the timing right, then you're going to win. I'll rely on my team to get me in the good position and I think I have the right team to do that."

There's also the small matter of the intermediate sprint classification which Cima currently leads with 51 points. His nearest challenger is Frapporti on 38pts while Maestri is in fifth on 22pts.

Five minutes for the three leaders. Marco Frapporti has been out longer than anyone else in the Giro: 620km before today's stage. Damiano Cima has racked up 564km in breakaways while Mirco Maestri has 374km so far. So, this trio are ideal breakaway bedfellows, there's no denying.