Cycling Live

Giro d'Italia - Treviso - Comano Terme

Live Comments

  1. 0km** - The main group comes over the line now at 3'20". Petrov now moves above David Arroyo in the GC.

  2. 0km** - Giovanni Visconti finishes second, 43 seconds back. Now Lampre's Marzano finishes at 1'04", with Evgeni Petrov four seconds further back.

  3. 0km** - He claps his hands as he comes down the home straight! He now punches his fists in the air as he crosses the line. A superb ride from Iban Mayo.

  4. 1km** - He is even extending his lead! Visconti 38 seconds back now! Saunier Duval will be thrilled with that.

  5. 2km** - The Saunier Duval man looks set for victory. Just 2km to go now as he negotiates his way round a tight hairpin.

  6. 5km** - 33 seconds is the gap now between Mayo and his chief pursuer, Giovanni Visconti.

  7. 5km** - Mayo is throwing caution to the wind on this descent. H knows the gap is gradually coming down.

  8. 9km** - 28 seconds is the gap between Mayo and Visconti and Petrov, who in turn have moved away from Rasmussen and Marzano.

  9. 11km* - Iban Mayo is looking increasingly likely to hold on. He is giving it everything he's got.

  10. 13km* - It is absolutely bucketing down at the finish in Comano Terme. There's always the danger of accidents when there's so much water on the road.

  11. 14km* - Visconti, Marzano and Petrov have caught Rasmussen again! They have gone straight past him.

  12. 14km* - Mayo still enjoys a 40 second advantage over Rasmussen. It will be a big challenge for the Dane to reel him back in.

  13. 15km* - Michael Rasmussen attacks! The Rabobank climber is off in pursuit of Mayo. Maybe he fancies a stage victory.

  14. 15km* - Mayo's advantage over the peloton is falling slightly. 2'53" the gap now.

  15. 16km* - Petacchi, the winner of four stages in the race this year, is around 11 minutes behind the leaders. There will be no stage win for him here today.

  16. 17km* - Iban Mayo has burst clear of Alberto Losada! He looks back in form after a lean couple of years.

  17. 18km* - The peloton, including the pink jersey, are now 3'25 behind the lead duo.

  18. 20km* - Marzio Bruseghin has been shouting his Lampre team-mates along, ensuring Petrov does not come close to Cunego in the GC.

  19. 24km* - Losado and Mayo reach the top of the Col Ballino. Their lead is now around a minute over the chasers.

  20. 25km* - Mayo and Losada have again extended their lead to 43" seconds over Petrov's group as they pass the 25km to go mark.

  21. 28km* - The rain continues to beat down on Northern Italy. Really nasty weather for both the cyclists and spectators today.

  22. 31km* - The two Spaniards out front have are preserving their 20 second lead over Garzelli, Rasmussen, Visconti, Petrov and Manzano.

  23. 34km* - Losada and Mayo are on the short descent before taking on the Col Ballino (KM 165, 3rd category). The climb is 15,6km long at an average gradient of 4,4%.

  24. 35km* - Astana, Lampre and Liquigas finally move to the front of the peloton. They have finally realised that Petrov, 8th in the GC at 10'25" could move up teh standings if the gap continues to grow. Last split: 3'55".....

  25. 37km* - Average speed after 3 hours racing: 39.6km/h.

  26. 43km* - Mayo and Visconti have a 30 second group over Petrov's group, while the Cioni group is 1'50" back, and the peloton 4'10" behind.

  27. 49km* - In the chasing group are: Cioni (Predictor-Lotto), Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne), Vila (Lampre) and Bonnaire (Bouygues Telecom).

  28. 50km* - The group out front have extended their lead to 2'45".

  29. 50km* - Intermediate Sprint: 1. Losada, 2. Mayo, 3. Visconti.

  30. 51km* - The leaders have arrived at Rovereto. Losada took advantage of the last few metres of the descent to break clear of the other escapees.

  31. 53km* - The gap from the leaders back to the peloton is 45".

  32. 56km* - Composition of the lead group: Marzano (Lampre), Rasmussen (Rabobank), Mayo (Saunier Duval), Visconti (Quick Step), Losada (Caisse d'Epargne), Petrov (Tinkoff), Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone).

  33. 61km* - Olivier Bonnaire (Bouygues Telecom) tries to bridge the gap betweent he peloton and the leaders. Cioni, Vila and Lastras follow him.

  34. 62km* - The group have now caught Mayo.

  35. 68km* - A group of riders are now chasing down Mayo. Garzelli (Acqua e Sapone) is there, along with Rasmussen (Rabobank), Losada (Caisse d'Epargne) Marzano (Lampre), Visconti (Quick Step), Pozzovivo (Panaria) and Petrov (Tinkoff).

  36. 70km* - Iban Mayo attacks! He is out front on his own!

  37. 70km* - The rain is getting heavier as they descend towards Rovereto, where the intermediate sprint is.

  38. 59*** - Dernier écart: 45".

  39. 74km* - Simoni and Ricco are out in front coming down the Pian delle Fugazze ahead of Mazzoleni and Savoldelli (Astana). Schleck is behind them. All the big names have decided to attack on this descent. Even if Di Luca's victory seems certain, a spot on the podium is within the reach of a handful of other riders. In fact, there are five men within three minutes of the podium.

  40. 77km* - Here's the top five over the Pian della Fugazze: 1. Simoni, 2. Piepoli, 3. Cunego, 4. Mazzoleni, 5. Pellizotti.

  41. 78km* - Eddy Mazzoleni tries an attack just 1 km from the summit, though he is immediately chased down.

  42. 78km* - As expected, Damiano Cunego, Gilberto Simoni, Riccardo Ricco, Andy Schleck, Eddy Mazzoleni and Paolo Savoldelli are up at the head of the group alongside Danilo Di Luca.

  43. 78km* - Alessandro Petacchi and Paolo Bettini have been dropped on the steeper sections of the climb.....

  44. 81km* - CSC's Andy Schleck at just 21 years-old, has without doubt been the revelation of this Giro. But the Luxemburger is clearly doubtful over whether he can overhaul an admittedly difficult 2'24" on Di Luca. "I have never been this sort of form before. But it's very difficult to make back 2'24". But 43 kilometres [referring to Saturday's time-trial is a long way, and a lot can happen. Di Luca wouls have to have a bad day, and I'd have to ride a superb TT."

  45. 85km* - Danilo Di Luca's Liquigas boys are at the head of the field on the first climb of the day.

  46. 86km* - For all you stattos out there: the average speed over the first two hours is 44.1km/h.

  47. 90km* - The peloton reached the food stop at the bottom of the first climb of the day, the Pian delle Fugazze.

  48. 96km* - Alessandro Petacchi has confirmed he will ride the Tour de France. The Italian says he is not after the sprinter's green jersey, but merely wants a few stage wins.

  49. 97km* - The peloton has been split in two. Bettini has falen back into the second group, while Di Luca and the rest of the big names are all in the first group.

  50. 98km* - Bettini back into the pack

  51. 106km - Schleck and Bettini have punctures and work to repair them

  52. 108km - Visconti and Nocentini move ahead but are soon pegged back again. The pace is high on this stage so far

  53. 116km - The breakaway group are swallowed up by the peloton, like so much pasta in a Breganze restaurant. Yes, that is where they are right now

  54. 120km - The group at the front hold a lead of 13 seconds on the chasing pack

  55. 148km - Bettini and Facci (Quickstep), Muravyev and Bazayev (Astana), Gomez and Mayo Diez (Tinkoff), Garzelli and Samoilau (Acqua e Sapone), Richeze (Panaria), Caucchioli and Dean (Credit Agricole), Merckx and Bernucci (T-Mobile) and Gustov (CSC) are the men in the breakaway

  56. 150km - Now a more convincing attempt at a breakaway, this time with 15 riders.

  57. 160km - The first 90 kilometres of the stage are slightly uphill, and are then followed by the first-category Pian delle Fugazze (1162m). The climb is 11.4 kilometres long at an average gradient of 7.2%.

  58. 164** - CSC's Matti Breschel tries a breakaway...though is swiftly swallowed back up.

  59. 168km - Nasty weather today in Northern Italy. It's raining at the moment, and forecasts suggest the rain could continue right throughout the stage.

  60. 172km - No action to report in the opening few kilometres. The peloton is together.

  61. 12:35 - The start of today's stage has been delayed by a few minutes.

  62. 12:25 - Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) is edging his way to overall victory. He enjoys a 2'24" lead over Andy Schleck (CSC) and 2'28" over Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval).

  63. 11:25 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text coverage of stage 19 of the Giro d'Italia.