Ciao ragazzi! Welcome to live coverage of stage 7 of the Giro d'Italia - another day suited to the breakaway as the riders tackle the rolling 185km between Vasto and L'Aquila. Like yesterday, the stage concludes with a Cat.2 climb preceding some lumps and bumps before the finale, which comes on a steep uphill ramp. Bosh!

The petoton has lost quite a few bodies including the maglia ciclamino Ackermann and the Italian national champion Elia Viviani.

It looks like Ruben Plaza either has a mechanical issue or he's hit the wall because the veteran Spaniard has been dropped. The 39-year-old was in the break yesterday - finishing fourth - and so he could well be feeling the pinch from that effort.

It looks like Thomas De Gendt isn't feeling it today. The Belgian has sat up and will be soon caught by the peloton. De Gendt clearly looked around and decided that the break was either too weak to stay out, or contained riders too strong for him to compete against.

McCarthy and Zeits are on domestique duties on this climb setting a high tempo for their respective teammates Formolo and Bilbao. In betweem there's Cattaneo, a good dark horse for the win. Imagine that: two in a row for Gianni Savio's Androni Giacattoli.

We've hit the start of this climb, the Cat.2 ascent to Le Svolte di Popoli (9km at 5.6%). it's a climb which is better known for its use in motorsport, apparently. The gap is 1'15" for the leaders. Yesterday, the winning move from the break came on the Cat.2 climb - but it was a little bit closer to the finish. Let's see if history repeats itself.

It's a really strong break, this, but they're not making any headway. Some of the stronger riders will need to shuffle the pack on the climb because their advantage is down to 1'07" now. The likes of Gallopin, Cattaneo, Bilbao, Formolo, Plaza and De Gendt have the quality to do something today.

The danger man in this break for Conti, the maglia rosa, is Rojas, who was part of the break yesterday and is 2'12" down on GC. Conti's UAE team-mates are back on the front now riding high tempo as the race zips along towards the foot of the only categorised climb today.

A reminder of this 12-man move: Ruben Plaza (Israel Cycling Academy), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Tony Gallopin (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Jose Joaquin Rojas and Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Pello Bilbao and Andrey Zeits (Astana), Jay McCarthy and Davide Formolo (Bora-Hansgrohe), Mattia Cattaneo (Androni Giacottoli), Sebastian Henao (Team Ineos) and Lucas Hamilton (Mitchelton-Scott). They have 1'40".

The two danger men for the GC in the break are Formolo and Bilbao - with regards to the bigger picture. The Italian is currently in 21st place but is only 1'06" down on Primoz Roglic, while the Spaniard is 1'16". Set against the current leader, Conti, both riders are over six minutes down.

With no Fausto Masnada in the break, Giulio Ciccone's lead in the blue jersey KOM classification is not under threat today. The local rider - who has just passed his home - did not get into the break today, perhaps saving himself for hillier days.

It's been a frenetic start to the stage with no opportunity for the riders to refuel. The peloton now head through the feed zone with the gap up to 1'30".

With the gap up to 1'30" UAE now have four riders on the front of the pack ahead of a cluster of Astana riders, who are sandbagging because they have Bilbao and Zeits up the road.

After all that, Thomas De Gendt is in the breakaway...

UAE Team Emirates not getting any help from other teams in this chase, with Movistar - who have Pedrero and Rojas in the move - happy to sit on. The gap is up to 50 seconds and the next few kilometres will be key for the breakaway...

This new break features Pedrero, Rojas, Gallopin, Cattaneo, Bilbao, Zeits, Formolo, McCarthy, Gradek, Plaza, De Gendt, Hamilton and Henao. It's made up of riders from that initial move and some newcomers from the peloton - and the gap is 30 seconds as they dart down the descent from Chieti.

It comes back together before Davide Formolo pings off the front with his Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Jay McCarthy to provoke a counter-attack as the road rises into the splendid town of Chieti. Interesting stuff - the Italian has twice finished 10th in the Giro.

The large break has almost been pulled in now as the road heads upwards once again. Nibali clearly mindful of the last time the Giro came to L'Aquila - back in 2010 when the break took 13 minutes over the peloton. Evgeni Petrov took the win for Katusha as Richie Porte - remember him? - moved into the pink jersey in his maiden Grand Tour.

Another withdrawal - this time it's Laurens De Plus of Jumbo-Visma. That's a big blow for Primoz Roglic because the Belgian was one of his key lieutenants. But he's been suffering from illness for a few days now.