Quintana in pink as Landa claims 19th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2017

Mikel Landa (Sky) finally won a stage in this 100th Giro d’Italia, after two second places in the 16th and 18th stages. The Spanish rider won in solo, 1’49” in front of Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) and 1’54” ahead of Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac).

Behind, in the peloton, the pink jersey Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) was struggling since the first slopes of the Piancavallo (a 15km long, 1st category climb), and he lost contact with the favourites at 10km of the finish line. Pinot attacked later in the ascension, Pozzovivo and Zakarin escaped from the pack as well, a few minutes after the Frenchman. These three riders gained some precious seconds on the three men composing the podium: Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Quintana (Movistar), and obviously the Maglia Rosa, Dumoulin.

Quintana and Nibali also gained time on Dumoulin, but probably not as much as they wanted to. Indeed, they were not able to create a big gap on the Dutchman on this gruelling last climb.

LIVE UPDATES

Dumoulin crosses the line more than one minute after Pinot, Quintan will be in pink tonight.

Pinot crosses the line. The Frenchman is going to gain time on his rivals! Pozzovivo and Zakarin arrive a few seconds after the FDJ rider and the favourites group 5 seconds after.

1km for the favourites Nibali attacks! He cannot create the gap though.

Zakarin and Pozzovivo escape from the favourites group! Nobody can follow behind the two climbers. Dumoulin is 40″ behind the peloton.

3km for the peloton In the peloton, Visconti is working for Nibali, but it seems like the favourites do not have the resources to attack and create a big gap with the pink jersey!

Mikel Landa (Sky) wins the stage! What a well-deserved victory for the Spaniard of Team Sky. Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) comes in second and Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) in third, 148′” behind the Basque rider.

1km Only 31″ between the Quintana group and Dumoulin. The pink jersey did an amazing job at limiting his losses.

2km Pinot is still in front of the favourites group. The FDJ rider may climb on the podium of the Giro tonight…

2.5km Nibali attacks! But the favourites come back. Quintana was in difficulty on the Shark attack.

2.8km Dumoulin is 40″ behind the Quintana/Nibali group.

3km Landa has 1’31” on Rolland and Rui Costa. The Spaniard has his stage win.

3.8km Nobody follows the Frenchman, who is taking a few seconds on the peloton. Pellizotti still working behind.

4km Attack from Pinot (FDJ) !

5km The pink jersey is suffering but he did not give up. He is alone chasing the peloton, 18″ back behind the favourites.

6km Landa has 1’04” of advance on Rui Costa and Rolland.

6.5km Dumoulin has one teammate with him. He is limiting the losses right now, but no attacks have been launched yet in the peloton. Pellizotti still setting a high pace for Nibali.

7.5km Dumoulin completely exploded! The Dutchman is losing a lot of time at the moment! His pace is significantly slower than the favourites’ one. Dumoulin is 30″ behind the peloton. He is losing his pink jersey.

8km All the favourites are in the peloton, which is led by Pellizotti, Nibali’s teammate.

8.5km Dumoulin has dropped from the peloton once again! But the Butterfly works his way back in the pack, at a steady pace. Every time there is an acceleration, Dumoulin is losing touch with the peloton.

9km Landa has 15″ on Rui Costa. The peloton is at 9’18”. It smells good for the Basque.

9.5km Dumoulin is still at the back of the peloton, as the Dutchman and the favourites are approaching the steepest slopes of the climb.

9.8km Rui Costa just popped! Landa is escaping alone now!

10km In front of the race, Rui Costa dropped Sanchez, Landa joined him and Rolland is coming back.

11km Dumoulin is being dropped from the peloton! Th pink jersey is at the back of the peloton. He was dropped but he came back, hardly. He does not seem as strong as yesterday.

11.5km Rui Costa joined Sanchez in front.

12km

12.5km Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) tries to escape from the breakaway. 13km Sanchez is looking good in front. He has 39″ of advance on the chase and 9’39” on the pink jersey group. 13.5km The peloton’s tempo is way higher now, as the favourites are trying to be in front of the bunch before attacking the first slopes of Piancavallo. 14km The chasing group is 43″ behind Sanchez. Henao is still setting the pace. 14.5km Sanchez dropped Molard! The Spanish rider is alone in front of the race. He wants this victory really bad, in honour of his teammate Michele Scarponi, who passed away last month while he was training. 15km Sanchez and Molard are now in the Piancavallo, the last climb of the day.

17km The two riders have an advantage of 23″ on the breakaway! Henao (Sky) is assuming the chase behind. The Colombian is working for Landa, his leader. 19km Sanchez and Molard created a small gap. Both FDJ and Astana are seeking a first win in this Giro 2017. 21km attack from Sanchez in the breakaway! The Spaniard is anticipating the climb. Molard (FDJ) followed the Astana rider. 22km As a reminder, the 12 riders present in front of the race and who will try to claim the win are Luis Leon Sanchez and Peio Bilbao (Astana), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Mikel Landa and Sebastian Henao (Sky), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Mérida), José Joaquin Rojas and José Herrada (Movistar), Nicola Boem, Matteo Busato and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani), Clément Chevrier (AG2R La Mondiale), Eros Capecchi (Quick-Step Floors), Ruben Plaza (Orica-Scott), Rudy Molard (FDJ), Ilya Koshevoy (Wilier Triestina) 25km The configuration is still the same in this 19th stage and there are going to be two races within one. The breakaway of 12 riders will fight for the win, while the peloton, 11’10” behind, will battle for the GC. 30km The riders are approaching the final climb of the day, that they will start in 15km.

33km Bram Tankink abandoned earlier in the stage. The Dutch rider withdrew of the Giro 2017 just two days before the end of the race. 34km Eros Capecchi (Quick-Step Floors) won the intermediate sprint, in front of Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac). 38km The gap keeps going up, 10’42” of advance for the breakaway. 43km The Maglia Rosa group is letting the breakaway go, 9’10” of advantage for the front group. It seems like we are going to see another breakaway winner. Rui Costa for his first win in this Giro? Rolland for a second stage? Or Landa in first after two second places in the last three stages?

49km The chase group bridged to the six leaders. The breakaway is composed now of 18 riders, who are: Luis Leon Sanchez and Peio Bilbao (Astana), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-RusVelo), Mikel Landa and Sebastian Henao (Sky), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Mérida), José Joaquin Rojas and José Herrada (Movistar), Nicola Boem, Matteo Busato and Lorenzo Rota (Bardiani), Clément Chevrier (AG2R La Mondiale), Eros Capecchi (Quick-Step Floors), Ruben Plaza (Orica-Scott), Rudy Molard (FDJ), Ilya Koshevoy (Wilier Triestina). 53.5km Mechanichal issue for Dumoulin! Are the favourites going to attack him after this incident? Probably not. 54km The first group is waiting for the chasing group as only 18″ is separating these groups. 58km Dumoulin just saw four of his teammates coming back in the peloton. The Team Sunweb is going to be able to set a tempo in the valley leading to the last difficulty of the day. 63km The chasing group is coming back, slowly but surely. They are 39″ behind the front group. 66km The gap between the first group and the peloton keeps increasing, 4’35” is separating the two groups. 68km The 12 riders composing the chasing group are Visconti, Boem, Molard, Chevrier, Rota, Herrada, Rojas, Capecchi, Busato, Plaza, Landa, Koshevoy . 70km To be more accurate, 12 riders, are chasing the front group. The chase is 1’01” behind the six men in front. The peloton is 3’27” the leaders of the race. 73km The Maglia Rosa completely stopped the chase. A few riders took advantage of this break to escape of the peloton and form a chasing group. Landa and about 10 riders compose this second group. 76km What did really happen?!

78km The breakaway is at the bottom of the downhill, with a gap of 1’09” on the favourites peloton. 84km The riders are currently in the Chiantuzan’s downhill. They will have to ride a long portion of flat before climbing the last ascent of the day, the Piancavallo. 86km Henao (Sky) comes first on top of the Sella Chiantuzan, probably to defend the jersey of Landa, his teammate (Landa is the leader of the mountain classification). The peloton crests the summit 38″ after the breakaway.

87km The six riders forming the new breakaway created a gap with the peloton. They have an advantage of 23″ as they are on the last slopes of the Sella Chianzutan. 88km It has been full on since the start of this stage, and the peloton of the favourites only counts 15 riders! What a stage so far. 89km Bilbao (Astana), Rolland (Cannondale Drapac), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Henao (Sky) and Shalunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo) have joined Sanchez in front. 90km As the two pelotons joined, it is an opportunity to attack for the riders not dangerous no the GC, such as Lui Leon Sanchez (Astana) who just sparked an attack. The peloton needed to breathe. 91km The pink jersey group joined the front group! All the favourites are back together. There are about 20 riders in this peloton. 92.5km Mollema is doing the job as well! Incredible. The Trek-Segafredo leader is chasing the front group. Yates is helping Mollema and take some relays. 93km Van den Broeck, who was in the early breakaway, waited for his leader Kruijswijk and he is now leading the pink jersey group. 95km The breakaway has been swept up by the Quintana peloton. Dumoulin is 22″ behind. The Dutchman is close… 96.5km 23″ of advantage for the breakaway on the Quintana group, and 52″ on the pink jersey group. 97km The riders are approaching the second climb of the day, the Sella Chianzutan a 2nd category one

98.5km The GPS is indicating a gap of only 20″ between the Quintana peloton and the Dumoulin peloton. In the Quintana group, Bahrain Merida and Movistar are extending the peloton. 99km Yates’ team is one of the most active in the Maglia Rosa group.

100km We are going to assist to a thrilling end of stage

105km Because of this scenario, the breakaway’s advantage is melting a the moment. The 14 men in front have 1′ only on the Quintana group and about 2′ on the pink jersey group. 110km Yates, Mollema and Kruijswijk are apparently with Dumoulin in the second peloton. 115km We did not expect such a scenario today!

116km Because of the sudden acceleration of the Quintana and Nibali group, the gap between the breakaway and the peloton of the favourites is 3′ and the Dumoulin group is 3’56” behind, so nearly one minute behind the Quintana group. The gaps are changing a lot, the GPS doesn’t seem precise. 118km Apparently, Tom Dumoulin (Team Sunweb) stopped for a natural break and the peloton accelerated before the Dutchman came back in the bunch. Is there an alliance going on against Dumoulin? 120km The Dumoulin peloton is now 30″ behind the Quintana, Pinot, Zakarin, Nibali peloton. The gap of 2′ was not accurate. 125km Dumoulin is 2 minutes behind the rest of the favourites! After the long downhill following the first difficulty of the day, the pink jersey was far in the peloton and the peloton broke into two groups. 130km 14 riders are in front of the race, with 4’34” of advance on the peloton. Clement Chevrier (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Pello Bilbao (Astana), Nicola Boem (Bardiani-CSF), Gregor Mühlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac), Maciej Paterski (CCC Sprandi Polkowice), Tobias Ludvigsson (FDJ), Evgeny Shalunov (Gazprom-Rusvelo), Jose Herrada (Movistar), Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Daniel Teklehaimanot (Dimension Data), Jurgen van den Broeck (LottoNL-Jumbo), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates) and Ilia Koshevoy (Wilier-Selle Italia).

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the 19th stage of the Giro 2017 between San Candido and Piancavallo (191km). On the next day of the Dolomites’ Queen stage, the riders will be tired and we can expect some action today. The main difficulty of this stage will be the brutal final climb leading to Piancavallo, a first category ascension.