Giro d’Italia 2020 Stage 10 - As it happened
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Updated 13/10/2020 at 15:25 GMT
A superb day for Slovakia saw Peter Sagan bounce back with his first win in 15 months as Joao Almeida strengthened his grip on the pink jersey in Stage 10 following a raft of positive Covid-19 tests which saw 14 riders leave the Giro d'Italia.
Filippo Ganna of Italy and Team INEOS Grenadiers / Peter Sagan of Slovakia and Team Bora - Hansgrohe
Image credit: Getty Images
Here's Sagan's moment of glory...
The moment the Slovakian superstar ended his drought with an emphatic statement of intent on the Giro.
Correction: Demare still the maglia ciclamino!
Many apologies for my miscalculation regarding the points classification. As this is not deemed to be a flat stage - quite rightly, to be fair - there were not 50pts at the finish, but just 25pts. That means Sagan has not managed to take back control in the maglia ciclamino classification: Demare still leads by 20pts.
Still, we sure have a battle on our hands!
New GC top 10
Confirmation of Almeida extending his lead and Fuglsang crashing out of the top 10 today.
Stage 10 top 10
The winning gap was 19 seconds for Sagan, with the favourites coming over 23 seconds down.
Fuglsang the big loser
The Danish rider comes home in a chasing group about 45 seconds down on his GC rivals after that puncture. That will be a big disappointment for the Astana leader, who will drop out of the top 10 today.
Almeida extends lead
It's Brandon McNulty who holds on for second place and then the maglia rosa Joao Almeida who goes over for third place to take the four bonus seconds on the line. He's good at doing that, is the Portuguese youngster.
Victory for Peter Sagan!
It's a maiden Giro d'Italia stage win for Peter Sagan, who has pulled off one of the best victories of his career. That was quite brilliant from the Bora rider, who takes back the maglia ciclamino and now has victories in all three Grand Tours.
Final kilometre: Sagan the almighty
He's finished runner-up three times in this Giro and hasn't had a win since July 2019. His form has been so rotten that I wrote him off completely at the start of this stage, claiming he'd be dropped on the steep ramps. How wrong I was.
4km to go: Bilbao back
Pello Bilbao has been caught by the chasers and it looks like there's an attack by McNulty of UAE Team Emirates, who opens a small gap. Sagan still has 22 seconds.
5km to go: Full house for Sagan?
If he holds on the Slovakian will win his first stage in almost 16 months plus take the maglia ciclamino back from Arnaud Demare.
7km to go: Flat to the finish
They have completed this downhill segment and the GC group of a dozen riders have a gap of 40 seconds on Fuglsang. They trail Sagan by 32 seconds and Bilbao by 14 seconds.
10km to go: Fuglsang flats
What a phenomenal ride this would be from Peter Sagan if he goes on to win this stage. He has to hold it together on this wet, slippery, technical descent. But he has the skill set now to go on and win this stage.
Oh no! Puncture for Jakob Fuglsang! The Dane almost slides out on a corner because of a flat tyre. He has to slow and then swap bikes with a teammate - but he will now face a brutal battle to get back on. That happened at the worst possible moment.
11km to go: Pozzovivo attacks!
The piano playing Italian was clearly feeling good ahead of his puncture - and he's still feeling great because he's just ridden clear of the GC group to open up a small gap. On the front, Sagan has gone over the top with 12 seconds on Bilbao and 22 seconds on the others.
12km to go: Sagan soloes clear
What a ride this is from Sagan, who has dropped Swift on the climb just as Bilbao was closing in.
Oh, and behind there's a little dig from Joao Almeida, the pink jersey! He rides clear after Trek had sent a man on the front. But he's been reeled in my Wilco Kelderman, with Pozzovivo and Majka in the mix too.
13km to go: Bilbao almost back
The Basque rider has dropped Villella and is closing in on the two leaders. We just spotted that rainbow, by the way. Coming up is the final Cat.4 climb to of Tortoreto (1.9km at 7.2% with a maximum of 18%). We've just seen that Filippo Ganna, who was in the break, has been tailed off by the main pack.
15km to go: Sunshine through the clouds
Amazingly, the sun is fighting through the clouds despite the rain still tumbling down. There's going to be a rainbow soon - you can sense the helicopter cameraman is hunting that down right now. Still 10 seconds for the leaders over Bilbao and Villella, with the pink jersey group at 37 seconds.
18km to go: Bilbao and Villella chase
The Bahrain-McLaren rider has dropped all the chasers except Villella. The duo is 12 seconds down on the two leaders with the pack another 20 seconds back. Pozzovivo is back in the group of favourites. They're over the peniltimate climb and so just the final categorised climb now ahead of the finish - and we have two fast men out ahead in Sagan and Swift.
19km to go: The Sagan and Swift show
Superb stuff from the two leaders who have about 20 seconds on a chase group of Villella, Cataldo, Ganna, Restrepo and Bilbao, who had managed to catch them. The main pack is about 15 seconds behind. And now Tao Geoghegan Hart puts in an attack from Ineos Grenadiers! Odd move, given Swift and Ganna being up the road. Almeida is on the front with a couple of Deceuninck teammates. Can he keep hold of pink?
20km to go: Penultimate climb
The remnants of the break has 15 seconds on Bilbao and 25 seconds on the pack. Ganna had ridden clear but he's been pegged back and now dropped alongside Villella as Sagan and Swift ride clear. Pozzovivo is almost back on after his puncture.
22km to go: Puncture for Pozzovivo!
Oh no! That's so cruel. Domenico Pozzovivo needs a new wheel after an untimely mechanical. That's harsh - his NTT team were forcing the pace and the Italian veteran was clearly feeling in good nick today.
23km to go: Bilbao attacks!
It's all kicking off on the Giro! Just as Simon Clarke is reeled in by the reduced pack of GC favourites, Pello Bilbao puts in a dig to ride clear. He won two stages here last year, but now he's after the pink jersey. The Bahrain-McLaren rider is 39 seconds down on Almeida on GC.
26km to go: Cats and dogs
It's really pouring down now on the Giro. Simon Clarke has closed the gap to 15 seconds while the pack is now at just 55 seconds. Still three more climbs, including the final categorised ascent of the Tortoreto climb already tackled by the riders earlier today.
31km to go: Ganna attacks!
Just as Peter Sagan looks over his shoulder, the leaders are caught by Filippo Ganna, who simply rides past in the big ring to set a cat among the pigeons. Cataldo and Sagan manage to latch on, before the others eventually close the gap - but that was a brutal, brilliant move by Ganna. Exciting racing, this.
33km to go: Sagan wins 'sprint', Ganna closes in
Peter Sagan leads the leaders through the sprint to pick up the bonus seconds, not that that really matters. Behind, Ganna has dropped a wilting Clarke and is only 20 seconds back - and has a 6km descent now to rejoin his teammate Swift on the front.
The peloton is only 1'05" down and being driven by NTT. Harm Vanhoucke, the Belgian keeping the white jersey warm for the race leader Joao Almeida, has been dropped.
34km to go: Controguerra 'sprint'
The leaders are onto the next climb, which is actually a 'sprint' believe it or not, even though it's uphill for 0.9km at an average gradient of 9.7% and a maximum tilt of 24%. Wowsers...
The gap back to the peloton is now only 1'30" and so it may be curtains for these five riders, who have the chasing duo at 25 seconds.
39km to go: Cataldo takes KOM points
Cataldo and Swift are caught by Sagan, Restrepo and Villella on the climb, and it's the Spaniard who takes the points over the top ahead of the Slovakian and Swift. The Ganna-Clarke chase group are around 25 seconds back. Meanwhile, NTT have come to the front of the main pack to set a fast tempo for their man Domenico Pozzovivo.
42km to go: Cataldo on the Colonnella
The break is onto the next climb, the Cat.3 Colonnella, which is 3.1km long at 9.2% and a maximum of 18%. And there's an early attack from local rider Dario Cataldo of Movistar. The Spaniard edges ahead and takes Ben Swift with him. The British champion keeps on looking over his shoulder - and he will see his Ineos teammate Ganna being dropped out the back, along with Clarke.
45km to go: Three minutes
Some good pacing by UAE has brought the gap down to three minutes for this seven-man break. Have they left it too late? Maybe. But Diego Ulissi hasn't given up just yet.
48km to go: Split in peloton
There's a split in the pack after that climb and it looks like Ilnur Zakarin of CCC is on the wrong side of it. The Russian is still in a good position on GC, sitting in 13th place at 1'56", and so he won't want something stupid like that catch him out. He currently has a number of CCC teammates helping to pace him back.
54km to go: Four minutes still
It's the UAE team of Ulissi who lead the pack over the summit of that climb around four minutes in arrears. It's started to rain here, but just a light drizzle for now.
57km to go: Clarke takes KOM points
It's Simon Clarke who goes over first ahead of Filippo Ganna and Peter Sagan. It was Ganna and Villella who did most of the pacing on that climb, but the former clearly isn't too interested by the blue jersey he held earlier in the race; he wants a third stage win.
59km to go: Cat.4 Tortoreto
The break are onto the Cat.4 ramp of Tortoreto for the first time. It's a 2.3km climb at 8.3% which the riders will tackle again from the other direction near the finish, with the gradient ramping up to 18%.
Here's Matt Stephens at the foot of it ahead of today's stage...
63km to go: No interest from Demare
There's no desire from Demare to take that final point at the sprint as the UAE train roll over to mop up the final digit. The huge effort from Demare and his Groupama team to close the gap earlier must have taken everything out of the Fenchman. So the gap stays at 45 points between him and Sagan.
66km to go: Sagan wins sprint
Peter Sagan cuts his deficit in the maglia ciclamino competition by riding clear to pick up the maximum 12pts at the intermediate sprint in Giulianova. That means he now trails Arnaud Demare by 45 points - although the Frenchman could mop up the final point when the peloton comes through the sprint four and a bit minutes later.
70km to go: Intermediate sprint coming up
You would think Peter Sagan would be given the points by the other riders in this move, but you never know on the Giro... The hap is 4'45" for the seven-man break now. We have two Movistar riders here, two Ineos riders, and one from EF, Bora and Androni.
75km to go: UAE-Team Emirates lead the chase
The UAE team of Diego Ulissi have come to the front to control the gap. They have Diego Ulissi for today's finish - the Italian is really well suited to the punchy climbs before the finish - but it begs the question why they didn't help out with Groupama earlier. Had two teams combined on the front they could have reeled in the break when it came to within 20 seconds. But now, it's four minutes...
80km to go: Gap grows
Following the knocking over of Groupama's king behind, the gap for the break has ballooned to four minutes. This is looking very good for Sagan for the uncoming intermediate sprint, but I don't think the Slovakian can win this stage. That will surely be a rider like Simon Clarke or Swift, both of whom could deliver their respective team a third win on this Giro.
87km to go: Gaviria gone down?
Off the back of the pack, Fernando Gaviria is displaying a nasty bit of road rash to his hip. The Colombian must have hit the deck at some point earlier today. He'll be pleased about that ceasefire...
88km to go: Groupama out of gas!
That's a big moment: the Groupama-FDJ team of Arnaud Demare have decided to knock it off. The gap had grown back to 40 seconds and they clearly decided that they could not sustain this speed without sustinence - and that's it, this break will be allowed to go as the peloton comes to a near standstill.
92km to go: Rossetto reeled in
Just seven out ahead now after Rossetto joins Cofidis teammate Edet and Trek's Ciccone back with the main pack. Rossetto is reeled in just as he's devouring a sandwich. You see, this fierce pace has made it difficult for anyone to pick up a musette - so the riders are operating on empty stomachs at the moment.
95km to go: Splits in break
Peter Sagan and Filippo Ganna have lost the wheel and the break splits in two... That's surprising, given the calibre of the two riders - although you wouldn't blame them given the energy they must have used to initiate the break on that climb earlier today.
Replays actually show that Ganna's back wheel jumped on a roundabout and the resulting correction saw him, Sagan, Rossetto and one other to drop back a little. They fight back on but the gap is still only 25 seconds.
100km to go: Full gas for FDJ
With a flat 30km run to the intermediate sprint, Groupama-FDJ are doing a team time trial on the front of the pack in a bid to bring that breakaway back. Demare is being very gentlemanly by putting in his fair share of pulls - his teammates will think highly of him for that and will be more inclined to giving it their all.
They have managed to reduce the lead to 30 seconds and so it's looking good for the maglia ciclamino and the strung-out peloton in his team's wake.
105km to go: All hands to the FDJ pump
Even Arnaud Demare is putting in a shift for Groupama as they try to reduce their arrears. Matteo Fabbro, a Bora teammate of Sagan, isn't happy with the TV moto getting too close and giving Demare et al a slipstream - the Italian, who was very active on those earlier climbs, gesticulates for the driver to do one.
The gap is up to 45 seconds for the 10 leaders, who are: Jhonathan Restrepo (Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Filippo Ganna and Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers), Simon Clarke (EF Pro Cycling), Dario Cataldo and Davide Villella (Movistar), Stéphane Rossetto and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo).
110km to go: Chasers reeled in
There's been no let-up in today's stage - the pace is ferocious. Groupama's tempo means that five-man De Gendt chase group has been reeled in so it's back to just 10 clear now but the gap is only 30 seconds as they tackle an uncategorised climb which is going to really sting.
It's fair to day that the nine other escapees will be hoping Sagan does the right thing and drops back - but, then again, the former triple world champion was the man who instigated the move with Ganna.
117km to go: Five chasers
De Gendt has managed to ride clear with four others in pursuit of the leaders. Also there is Giovanni Visconti, Kamil Malecki, Simon Pellaud and Jaako Hanninen.
Veteran Visconti may be keen on the KOM points up for grabs today: he's eight points off the blue jersey currently.
Talking of jerseys, the chase behind is being carried out by the Groupama-FDJ team of Arnaud Demare, who don't want the intermediate sprint points to go to Peter Sagan, who is in the break. The Slovakian is currently 57 points down on triple stage winner Demare. And Groupama are serious about this because they have ordered Konovalovas back from the break to help with the chase.
121km to go: Leading group swells
Sagan and Ganna have been joined by nine others: Restrepo, Edet, Rossetto, Clarke, Konovalovas, Cataldo, Villella, Swift and Ciccone. The gap back to the peloton, which is being driven by De Gendt, who missed that latest move, is 40 seconds.
Double digits the order of the day
That short and sharp climb in Chieti was a taste of things to come for today. The stage is peppered with these steep ramps - most notably in the final quarter ahead of the run into the finish at Tortoreto. This tweet gives you an idea of the kind of numbers we're dealing with...
Whereas, if you're more of a visual person, this is what's store...
129km to go: Sagan takes KOM points
It's not something you often hear, but there you go. It's Sagan who leads Ganna over the summit of that Cat.4 climb in Chieti, which was 1.8 km, at an average gradient of 7.8% and a maximum of 19%. They have Lithuanian Ignatas Konovalovas (Groupama-FDJ) in pursuit and just ahead of the fragmented peloton, which is around 20 seconds down.
132km to go: Ganna and Sagan clear
The breakaway was neutralised and another large group went clear - more like the front tranche of the peloton. From that, two riders have ridden clear ahead of the actual categorised climb in Chieti - double stage winner Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Peter Sagan (Bora-Hangrohe).
135km to go: Chaos in Chieti
The race exploded on that first climb in Chieti with all those moves off the front stringing things out and effectively ending the chances of this break. Just four of the original six are left ahead - Ravanelli, Clarke, Brandle and Swift - with the other two and the second six together but almost caught by the pack ahead of the final rise to the Cat.4 sprint.
140km to go: Ulissi attacks!
The two breaks are onto the Chieti climb ahead of the categorised Chieti Scalo climb. Meanwhile, behind there's a big attack from Diego Ulissi of UAE Team Emirates, and that has sparked a reply from riders from Deceuninck, Bora and Ineos. All this flurry of activity means the leaders from those two groups which came together have seen their gap slashed to 40 seconds.
142km to go: Bora control the pack
The Bora-Hansgrohe team of Peter Sagan, Rafal Majka and birthday boy Patrick Konrad are on the front of the pack controlling the tempo through Cesare Benedetti. The five chasers are Bjerg, De Gendt, Andrea Vendrame (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Jhonatan Restrepo (Androni Giocattoli) and Josef Cerny (CCC Team). They're about 15 seconds down on the leaders with the peloton a minute back ahead of the first climb.
145km to go: Five chasers
Denmark's Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) zips clear in pursuit of the leaders - as he did, successfully, on Sunday - and he's joined by four others, including that man De Gendt. They are about 20 seconds down on the break with the peloton another 15 seconds back.
But it's far from settled, with numerous other riders trying to join the party and force splits on the front. Most notably it's from Bardiani-CSF, who are not involved in either of he breaks, but their attempts are thwarted by Bora and Trek.
150km to go: Five go clear
Five riders have finally managed to open up a small gap on the pack. Britain's Ben Swift is there for Ineos Grenadiers, and Matthias Brandle of Israel Start-Up Nation. The others are Simone Ravanelli (Androni Giocattoli), Marco Mathis (Cofidis) and Simon Clarke (EF Pro Cycling).
145 riders left: Craddock out
I said there were 146 riders remaining - but we have just heard that EF Pro Cycling's Lawson Craddock didn't take to the start today. It is not thought to be related to all those Covid-19 positives.
160km to go: Sagan and De Gendt on the attack
Peter Sagan and Thomas De Gendt are trying the best to force a move. You can see why they're doing it - but the trouble is, they won't suit the ultra-steep ramps of the final 30 kilometres today and so they're onto a hiding to nothing. Still, you'd expect nothing less of these two attacking livewires.
Who's in what jersey?
It's a veritable feast for Portugal at the moment. Not only did they win the last stage through Ruben Guerreiro, they have Joao Almeida leading both the pink and white jersey classifications, and that man Guerreiro in blue. The only jersey they don't own is Demare's ciclamino one - the Frenchman has a healthy lead over Peter Sagan in that competition.
I wrote a little piece about the rise of Portugal on this year's Giro on Sunday - here it is if you're interested...
170km to go: No movement
You'd think the impending doom of the race would spark a little movement - you know, to be the last rider to win a stage on the 103rd race, or the last collective to form a breakaway. No can do, though, at the moment. But that descent from the gun probably didn't help things.
177km to go: They're off!
So, despite all the uncertainty following that double team departure this morning, the show has gone on. Stage 10 is under way - make the most of it, for it could be the last...
Riders in the neutral zone
By my reckoning, the peloton is down to 146 riders now following the withdrawal of the remaining five Mitchelton-Scott riders, eight Jumbo-Visma riders, and Matthews of Sunweb. They have left Lanciano and are about to get going with a descent once the flag is waved.
This was the town square of Lanciano this morning ahead of the roll-out...
There's still one team bus parked up in town...
Today's Stage 10
Here's what's on the menu for those riders who are left in the race - and that final third is brutal with a succession of ramps that all peak around the 20% gradient mark. Arnaud Demare has gone well to win three stages so far - but he and the other sprinters will not be in the mix come Tortoreto.
Jumbo-Visma also out
Yes, we have confirmation now that the entire Jumbo-Visma team have pulled out following Steven Kruijswijk's positive test for Covid-19.
That will mount pressure on Team Sunweb following Michael Matthews' positive, which would end the chances of Wilco Kelderman, who is currently second on GC.
So far, for now, it's just Matthews who doesn't start for them...
Ciao regazzi!
Good morning cycling fans - and I hope you coped all right yesterday without your Giro d'Italia fix. The race gets under way following Monday's rest day under a cloud of uncertainty following the latest raft of positive tests for Covid-19. Will we ever make it to Milan? Fingers crossed... but this does not look good.
The latest is that the entire Jumbo-Visma team - not just Kruijswijk - are going to pull out...
Mitchelton-Scott, Kruijswijk and Matthews all withdrawn
Mitchelton-Scott have withdrawn from the Giro d’Italia after the team returned four positive Covid-19 results following the latest round of testing. The news comes after team leader Simon Yates had to withdraw ahead of Stage 8 after testing positive for Covid-19, while Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo–Visma) and Michael Matthews has also withdrawn from the race after returning positive tests.
STAGE 9 RECAP
Portugal's Ruben Guerreiro of EF Pro Cycling denied Ineos Grenadiers a third Giro d'Italia stage win through Jonathan Castroviejo by picking the Spaniard's pocket on the final climb to Roccaraso in a sodden Stage 9 on Sunday.
Guerreiro sandbagged his fellow escapee all the way up the last of four ascents before dancing clear on the steep double-digit ramp near the finish to become only the second Portuguese rider to win a stage on the Giro – and the first in 31 years.
Victory for Guerreiro – a second for his EF Education First team in the opening phase of the race following Jonathan Caicedo's triumph on Mount Etna – was capped by the 26-year-old taking over the blue jersey as the new king of the mountains.
Compatriot Joao Almeida (Deceuninck Quick-Step) did his part for Portugal by digging deep in the rain to retain the maglia rosa for a seventh day to set a new national record.
Almeida finished 1'56" down on his countryman and lost time to many of his GC rivals, including Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), Jakob Fuglsang (Astana), Vincenzo Nibali (Trek-Segafredo) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-McLaren).
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Highlights: Guerreiro punches his way to Stage 9 win, fellow Portuguese Almeida retains pink
How to watch the Giro d'Italia live– TV & live streaming
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