Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 14 LIVE - A straightforward day in pink beckons for Geraint Thomas, as the sprinters reckon with a steep mid-stage test

The Intermarche man has a gap of about 100m on a largish group ahead of the peloton, being led by Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco Alula) and Larry Warbasse. Lots of interest in this breakaway.

Through kilometre zero, the director drops the flag and his car pulls away. Into a tunnel and the usual suspects tuck themselves forward, giving each other the eye to see who fancies it and making tentative moves rather than any overtly aggressive ones. Intermarche are up there, with Laurenz Rex. Movistar are following and Ryan Gibbons of UAE Emirates is marking moves as well. Lucky Larry Warbasse is near the front for AG2R Citroen. The American would be a popular stage winner.

Fortunately for him, today shouldn't cause too much trouble. Just two seconds separate him from the maglia rosa.

It looks mercifully sunny in Switzerland and they'll all be hoping the conditions are just as pleasant on the other side of the Alp. The riders have really been put through it in this Giro.

Another rather long neutralised start ahead of another pretty long stage. 194km will, I suppose make up for yesterday's truncated day. Shots of Thomas looking pretty in pink at the front, while his pal, Mark Cavendish, hovers around the back in his British champion's jersey.

BREAKAWAY PREDICTIONS

Who do our expert pundits fancy for today?

Orla Chennaoui - Alessandro De Marchi
Adam Blythe - Jonathan Milan
Dan Lloyd - Magnus Cort
Robbie McEwen - Michael Matthews

Two plumping for the breakaway, one for the bunch sprint, and one, Robbie McEwen, hedging his bets somewhat.

Interviewed at the start, a buoyant Pascal Ackerman (UAE Team Emirates) pretty much flat out said he expects it to go to the breakaway, with not enough teams having an interest in keeping the race together, and many invested in a possible stage win. After how hard the fastmen will have had to work yesterday (as well as everyone else) just to stay in the race, who can blame them for opting to take today off.

THE KOM STANDINGS

Speaking of the mountains classification. Expect a bit of a battle between the top two when the race hits the Passo del Sempione, at about 35km in.

1 Thibaut Pinot (Groupama - FDJ) 114 points
2 Davide Bais (EOLO-Kometa) 104
3 Einer Augusto Rubio (Movistar) 68
4 Karel Vacek (Corratec - Selle Italia) 36
5 Derek Gee (Israel - Premier Tech) 31

The experienced Frenchman was widely viewed as allowing the stage to slip from his grasp yesterday, attacking too much too early and having little left for the finale. The maglia azzurra will have been scant consolation for his efforts. Racers want to win.

Welcome to head to toe live coverage of Stage 14 of this year's Giro d'Italia. As we finished in French-speaking Switzerland yesterday, so we begin there this morning, in the city of Sierre, the city of the sun, located in the canton of Valais.

As you can see from the profile we have an intriguing stage in prospect, as the race returns to Italy. The finish is every bit one for the sprinters, but the 20km of early ascent might prove too much for many. Will there be the will and the firepower in the fast flat teams to get their finisher's back in contention by the time the race reaches Cassano Magnago? We'll find out roughly six hours from now....