Hello, and welcome to our live blog of stage eight of the Giro d'Italia.
Some stage yesterday, huh? If you missed it, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) tightened his grip on the race, and leads the general classification with an advantage of two minutes and 36 seconds heading into day eight.
In store today is the first real mountains day, and the race's second summit finish, this time on the Prati di Tivo. Join me, Tom Davidson, for updates throughout the stage. If you'd like to get in touch, reach out to me on X - @t_davidson.
Let's start by unpacking today's route.
There's some serious climbing on the menu – the stage is 152km long, with a total elevation gain of 3,850m.
The peloton will start climbing from the gun, before facing a category-two climb after 20km. The next real test will be a punchy category-three, ahead of a summit finish – the category-one Prati di Tivo. It's not the steepest ascent, so expect fast climbing times in today's finale.
The Prati di Tivo hasn't featured at the Giro d'Italia since 1975. In recent years, though, we have seen it hosting finales in other Italian stage races.
The last rider to win on the climb's slopes was Alexey Lutsenko, doing so on stage three of the Giro d'Abruzzo last month.
Perhaps more significantly, though, is that Tadej Pogačar is very familiar with the climb. He took victory on it at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021, a race he went on to win overall.
Here are some of the key times for today's stage, all in BST:
Roll out: 11:30
Race start: 11:45
Expected finish: 16:00
If they're on a decent pace, the riders should hit the foot of the final climb around 15:20.
Since nobody asked, here's my prediction for the stage.
I think it's going to be a day for the breakaway. Whenever there's a climbing day after an ITT, I always like to look at the previous day's results to see who, by my reckoning, 'was saving the legs'.
I'm looking at riders like Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), two seasoned climbers, who won't trouble the GC contenders.
My pick for victory, though, is 20-year-old Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè).
It's no surprise to learn that Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) is a non-starter today. The Frenchman was mummified in bandages during yesterday's time trial, after he crashed on stage five.
🇮🇹 #GirodItaliaUnfortunately we have to report that Christophe Laporte will not start today. He never fully recovered after his crash in stage 5. Together with the team, it was decided to take the necessary rest. Get well soon, champ 🫶🏼 pic.twitter.com/GNLEPWcHfkMay 11, 2024
The riders have just rolled out of Spoleto. We'll have 15 minutes of neutralised riding before the stage officially starts.
Stage eight begins
152km to go: We're underway for another day's racing at the Giro d'Italia. I'm expecting a fierce battle for the breakaway here.
151km to go: There's an EF Education-EasyPost rider off the front, and one off the back. Stefan De Bod attacked, while Mikkel Honoré crashed almost immediately after the flag drop.
150km to go: A group is trying to go clear, led by Mattia Bais (Polti-Kometa), but the peloton is patrolling the moves.
148km to go: There's a mega group trying to break away now, probably more than 30 riders. There's no chance UAE Team Emirates will let this loose.
147km to go: Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) is being very active. Sensing the mega group is doomed, the Frenchman is trying to break away from the breakaway.
145km to go: The race today started immediately onto an uncategorised climb, and it is laying waste to the peloton. A gruppetto has already formed, less than 7km into the day.
144km to go: The peloton is back together. There are two riders with a small gap: Ewen Costiou (Arkéa B&B Hôtels) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost).
139km to go: The gap to the leading duo is now 40 seconds to the breakaway. Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) is trying to bridge across, as is Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè).
134km to go: Marcellusi has joined the leading duo, making, you guessed it, a trio.
132km to go: Riders keep shooting out of the peloton to try and get to the breakaway. There's a long categorised climb coming up – 16.3km in length – so things might calm down then.
130km to go: If you're just tuning in, it's been a very busy start to today's Giro d'Italia stage. There's a group up the road, but there's a feeling that the breakaway hasn't yet been formally established. UAE Team Emirates are still reeling it in.
129km to go: The leading trio is no more. We're back to having a mega group off the front. There's about 30 of them. Some of the key names include: Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL).
It's a beautiful day in Italy. Let's hope, for Luke Plapp's sake, it doesn't rain.
🇮🇹 #GirodItalia Was it ever in doubt? 😆White shorts Plappy! 🤍 pic.twitter.com/eeVLLsTv58May 11, 2024
127km to go: Of the 30-odd riders in the breakaway, Bardet is the best placed on the GC. He trails Pogačar by five minutes and 23 seconds.
The peloton is climbing for the next 12km.
125km to go: Julian Alaphilippe is trying to drive a move off the front of the breakaway, again. He's got Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on his wheel.
120km to go: Here's a look at some of the riders currently in the breakaway.
🏁 120 KM Here's the lead group: 🇦🇺 @mjstorer_au (TUD)🇨🇴 @nairoquinco (MOV)🇩🇪 Georg Steinhauser (EFE)🇩🇪 @simongeschke (COF)🇪🇨 @NarvaezJho (IGD)🇪🇷 @henokmulubrhan (AST)🇫🇷 @alafpolak1 (SOQ)🇫🇷 @romainbardet (DSM)🇫🇷 @costiouewen (ARK)🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret (DAT)… pic.twitter.com/DXdlKIcRr7May 11, 2024
119km to go: Three riders have gone clear: Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Simon Geschke (Cofidis) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost). Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) is about to join them.
They have almost 40 seconds on the rest of the breakaway, and over a minute on the peloton.
115km to go: The front quartet are over the climb. They begin the descent with a 1-37 advantage over the peloton.
110km to go: The race is split up. Between the front quartet and the peloton, there are three other groups. Alaphilippe and Quintana are among them.
107km to go: The front group has received reinforcements on the descent. There's now eight of them:
- Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL)
- Simon Geschke (Cofidis)
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
- Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers)
- Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
99km to go: Six more riders join the front group. After 53km, our breakaway looks to be finally established. They have just under two minutes on the peloton.
There are 14 in total. Here's who just joined:
- Henok Mulubrhan (Astana Qazaqstan)
- Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
- Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar)
- Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla)
- Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling)
- Martin Marcellusi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)
Here's some non-Giro news. Andrey Amador (EF Education-EasyPost) was involved in a training incident yesterday that ended in his foot getting run over by a driver.
Andrey Amador was involved in a training accident while riding outside of Barcelona Thursday, May 9. Amador slipped on a gravel climb, his bike went under a truck, and his foot was run over. He suffered fractures to his ankle and foot but no other injuries. Join us in wishing him…May 11, 2024
91km to go: The 14-rider breakaway has a gap of 1-45 on the peloton. I get the feeling that the bunch won't let then stray too far as long as Bardet is there, only 5-23 down on GC.
81km to go: After a frenetic start, the riders are cruising now towards the second categorised climb. The gap to the peloton has remained steady, at around 1-40.
73km to go: The gap has nudged out a little bit, now at 2-30. The breakaway will need a few more minutes if they want to last to the end.
For those of you keeping track, Tadej Pogačar is back in all pink today. He wore maroon shorts yesterday in the time trial – a fashion choice that had previously rattled the UCI, who threatened to disqualify the race leader.
64km to go: There's a bit of a lull in the racing ahead of the next climb – a category-three ascent, which starts in around 15km.
57km to go: The gap's tumbling. It now stands at 1-20.
48km to go: The average speed today is 39km/h. We're ahead of the race organiser's fastest planned schedule.
45km to go: The breakaway's days look numbered. The 14 riders have an advantage of just over one minute now. Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) is trying to keep the dream alive, but it's fizzling out.
39km to go: The front of the race crests the penultimate climb, with a gap of 1-29.
They now face a 20km descent before the foot of the Prati di Tivo.
As they descend, let's take a look at the final climb. The Prati di Tivo is 14.6km long at an average pitch of 7%. It should take the best riders around 36-38 minutes to climb to the top, where the finish line awaits.
31km to go: There's very little to report on this descent. The gap is staying steady at 1-15, which will be swallowed up easily as soon as the peloton hits the final climb.
20km to go: Just over 5km until the final climb, and the breakaway's advantage is under one minute.
UAE Team Emirates are driving hard at the front of the peloton behind.
15km to go: The breakaway hits the foot of the Prati di Tivo with a lead of 36 seconds.
14km to go: The breakaway is falling away. Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers) takes up the front, while Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco AlUla) drop out the back. 26 seconds now.
12.5km to go: Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) attacks out of the breakaway. A real kamikaze move.
11.5km to go: Five riders are reeling Verre back in. Bardet is leading the charge.
11km to go: The gap to the leading six riders is now 23 seconds. Domen Novak (UAE Team Emirates), the bulldozer on the front of the peloton, has them in his sights.
10.5km to go: A surprising shift on the front of the peloton as Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) takes over from UAE.
10km to go: Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) tries his luck now. Having spent the day up the road, he's gone on a flyer.
8km to go: Paret-Peintre is alone now, the last survivor of the breakaway, with a 20-second advantage.
The peloton group behind is thin – probably around 30 riders – made up of the main GC contenders, a few of their team-mates, and the hangers-on from the breakaway.
7.5km to go: UAE Team Emirates reclaim their role pulling in the bunch.
7km to go: Tadej Pogačar has two team-mates in the chasing group: Rafał Majka and Felix Großschartner.
6km to go: Chapeau to Paret-Peintre. The Frenchman's really resisting being caught. His advantage is still 20 seconds, but there's a feeling the race behind will explode at any moment.
5km to go: The gap now is 10 seconds. Bardet has been shelled out the back.
4.8km to go: Majka takes over for UAE Team Emirates, which is usually a sign that Pogačar will soon be launched.
4km to go: Paret-Peintre is caught. He swings to the right-hand side of the road to make way for UAE to come through.
Here's a photo of him a moment ago.
🏁 6 KM1️⃣ 🚴♂️ < 20" < 🚴♂️🚴♂️💗🚗🇫🇷 @Valent1_Paret (DAT)#GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/BHBTeEJByaMay 11, 2024
3.5km to go: Still no attacks. The tension is building.
3km to go: Pogačar is glued to Majka's wheel. Behind, the other GC contenders bide their time.
2.5km to go: Majka is still pulling on the front. Surely this can't last any longer?
2km to go: A reminder that all the GC contenders are here, behind Majka and Pogačar. There's a stage win up for grabs for anyone who dares.
1.8km to go: Antonio Tiberi attacks. A brave move from the youngster.
1.6km to go: Pogačar latches immediately onto Tiberi's wheel. It's all back together.
1.4km to go: Thymen Arensman counters, but Pogačar, again, closes the move down.
1km to go: Tiberi goes again under the flamme rouge. You'll never guess who's on his wheel...
Pogačar.
700m to go: Arensman ups the pace, but this looks like it's heading for a bunch sprint.
500m to go: Majka's back on the front, and towing Pogačar.
TADEJ POGAČAR WINS AGAIN
The Slovenian takes a third stage win, launching his sprint with 200m to go and holding off Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) at the line.
Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) comes home in third. It looks like there's a small time gap plus bonus seconds for the first three.
Hold tight, I'll have a full report up shortly.
Here's the victory photo. Quite the display from Pogačar, who is winning at will at the moment.
You can now read the full report from today's stage on our website. We'll be back again tomorrow with more live coverage.
