Hello and welcome to the live coverage of stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia. It’s set to be a seriously important day for the GC riders in some dauntingly tough climbs in the Italian Alps.

Current reports on the ground are that the weather is dry and very warm for today’s major stage.

For the first time since the very end of the second week, when Jonas Vingegaard climbed to victory at Corno alle Scale, the Giro is in the mountains. The riders must take on no less than five climbs, two of them ranked category one, including a huge 16km slog up to the finish at Pila.

All this climbing means that at the GC which, which has been on a hold this week aside from the one time trial, will reignite, with all the riders up there in and around the top ten jostling for position.

That means that this could be the day that Jonas Vingegaard at last seizes control of the Maglia Rosa. Indeed, he sounded very confident in yesterday’s post-stage interview.

‘It’s the right time to take the pink jersey’ – Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike finally ready to take control of the Giro d’Italia

Vingegaard has been candid about his intentions of taking the pink jersey today, but they can be sure that Afonso Eulálio will fight to the very end to keep it. The young Portuguese rider has defied expectations to keep it for this long, but 33 seconds feels like a very slender margin on a stage as tough as this up against the climber as good as Vingegaard.

The riders are on the move in the neutralised start – one of the few parts of today’s parcours that is flat.

Afonso Eulálio at the start wearing pink – for one last time?

One factor that will come into play today is the heat. Like yesterday, it’s a bit of a scorcher out there, but this time any GC rider who struggles to find their best legs in the hot temperatures is in danger of losing time.

OFFICIAL START

And they’re off!

There will only be two kilometres until the start of the day’s first climb, the category one Saint-Barthélémy.

A Bardiani rider tried attacking at the flag, but was brought back as Visma-Lease a Bike take control of the peloton and set the tempo.

As the road goes uphill already towards the official start of the climb, Bais attacks.

A Picnic and Bardiani rider are trying to join Bais.

Marcellusi is the Bardiani rider, and Hamilton the Picnic rider.

Those two join Bais as they reach the official start of the climb. They will spend the next 16km climbing at an average gradient of 6%.

Now more attacks come out the peloton as they start the climb. A group of about 12 are chasing the 3 leaders.

That chase group has swollen to about 20 riders.

Visma continue to ride tempo at the front of the peloton a these moves go clear.

The chasers have joined the three out front, to form one huge new lead group.

Some of the most eye-catching names in this group – Ciccone, Vlasov and Narváez.

Mas, Poels, Arrieta, Cepeda are also all the break.

At the other end of the break, the Grupetto is forming, full of all the suspected sprinters, plus, Scaroni, now a long way down from the GC top ten.

The break is being stretched out as the EF riders in it up the pace.

Visma look content enough. They have all 7 of their riders together at the front of the peloton, and keeping the break at just 10 seconds.

The pace has been knocked off in the peloton, no one team wants to control it.

It’s back up again now in the break as Leknessund takes over.

Movistar appear to be the best represented team in the break, with at least 20 riders.

Flat tyre for Storer, the man who’s seventh on GC. He’s going to have to use up some precious energry to return to the peloton.

A glimpse of the breakaway that’s managed to get up the road for now.

Christen has clipped off the front of the breakaway, and gone clear with Van der Lee.

Ciccone is trying to chase after them. If he’s after KOM points, he’ll want to catch them before the top.

Back in the peloton, Storer has just made it back to the back of the group.

Ciccone has four riders with him as he pursues the two leaders.

Seven more riders have joined the Ciccone group from behind.

Van der Lee and Christen are 20 seconds ahead of the chase group

120K TO GO

With 5km left to climb, Christen and Van der Lee are 20 seconds ahead of the chasers, and 1:20 ahead of the peloton, which is still being paced by Visma-Lease a Bike.

There are over 20 riders back in the chase group, featuring many strong climbers – Mas, Poels, Vlasov, Rubio, Ciccone, Cepeda. Plus Hirt and De La Cruz, who are the highest ranked riders on GC at 7:53 and 6:43 respectively.

With so many summit to be crested and therefore points to be won, this is a huge day in the KOM classification. Even riders yet to score a point can come into contention for the blue jersey, and some of those who have gotten into the break will have that in mind. We’ll know who come the top of this first climb, when we’ll see who sprints for the points.

Visma still have their full contingent of seven riders (minus Kelderman, who abandoned earlier in the race) at the front of the peloton.

Christen and Van der Lee, leading the race.

Rubio’s upped the pace in the chase group, with lots of his Movistar teammates, including as, in toe.

Christen and Van der Lee are just 500m from the summit.

Rubio, Ciccone and Cepeda have gone clear from the rest of the chasers.

KOM – SAINT BARTHELEMY

Van der Lee comes past Christen to take the maximum points at the top of the climb, despite having sat on his wheel for most of it.

There’s not exactly a sprint in the chase group behind for the remaining point, but Ciccone came through to ensure he was third.

Behind Ciccone, Rubio, Arrieta, Cepeda, Donovan and Jensen were the next riders to the top of the climb, all claiming KOM points.

Van der Lee and Christen have been caught by the rest of the breakaway again.

DNF – SCARONI

Scaroni has DNFed the race, having been dropped out of the Grupetto. He might he suffering from the crash endured a few days ago.

Having managed to keep all their roster together on the climb, Visma are now going quickly down the descent. Vingegaard has already been vocal about his desire to win this stage, and they’re giving this breakaway no leeway, bringing their lead down to about 1:30.

Visma-Lease a Bike controlling the peloton on the climb.

Here are the updated KOM rankings after the first climb. Van der Lee and Rubio could be making moves on the blue jersey, though still have lots of ground to make up on Vingegaard

1 Vingegaard 111 points

2 Sevilla 60

3 Van der Lee 55

4 Gall 48

5 Rubio 36

100KM TO GO

The break have managed to increase their lead a little as they continue down this descent, but Visma are still keeping them on a leash, at 1:40.

The breakaway struggling up the climb earlier, which they are now descending back down.

It’s a hot day, as evidenced by the number of rides dropping back from the break to grab bidons.

Back in the peloton Ganna is off the back, needing a bike change.

The riders have finished descending and are on a valley road, the longest section of flat of the day. They will be climbing again soon, first up an uncategorised rise, then up the category three Doues summit.

90KM TO GO

The break are increasing their lead on this flat section, up to 1:50.

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The riders are enjoying a rare reed moment on the mountain-filled day. Afonso Eulálio is mailing and enjoying a chat with his Bahrain teammate Damiano Caruso.

Jonas Vingegaard, who means business today.

There’s an intermediate sprint coming up imminently. This is interesting as there’s an opportunity for Jhonatan Narváez to put Paul Magnier under pressure in the Maglia Cicalomo classification.

80KM TO GO

The break have managed to build a much better lead these past few kilometres, and are now 2:50 up on the peloton. While Visma are still clearly eager to bring this back for a Vingegaard stage win, the break at least now have a chance.

UAE are indeed trying to set up Narváez for the intermediate sprint, with Arrieta setting a pace.

Soudal’s Garolfoli is trying to defend the points for teammate Magnier, staying glued to Narváez’s wheel.

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

Narváez comfortably outsprints Garofoli at the line though, meaning he now takes over Magnier to lead the virtual points classification!

Here are the updated Maglia Ciclamino rankings. It’s looking very close!

1 Narváez 131

2 Magnier 130

3 Milan 76

4 Stuyven 71

5 Silva 70

The riders are about to start climbing again, up the 5.8km, 6.2% Doues category three hill.

Leknessund ups the pace on the climb, and has the break stretched out.

Narváez’s day is done as he’s dropped from the break, his job done having claimed the Maglia Ciclamino points, but more surprisingly his UAE teammate Christen is also sentenced.

And now Mas is dropped! That is a surprise, as on paper, and current form, he’s one of the best climbers in this break.

Cepeda is also dropped, another rider who you’d anticipate being one of the better climbers in the break.

Fatigue from two weeks of racing, plus perhaps the heat, is producing some surprising contrasts in this break.

Van der Lee has attacked again, as he did on the last climb. And again he has a UAE rider with him, though this time Arrieta rather than Christen.

Arrieta wants the KOM points, and is attacking Van der Lee for them.

KOM – DOUES

And Arrieta takes the points, ahead of Van der Lee.

70KM TO GO

The break’s grown their lead more, and now have 3:30 on the peloton.

Van der Lee has sat up and is back in the breakaway group, clearly only attacking to take some KOM points. But Arrieta is pressing on, and leads the group by 17 seconds.

The new KOM rankings:

1 Vingegaard 111

2 Sevilla 63

3 Van der Lee 59

4 Gall 48

5 Rubio 36

6 Arrieta 33

Bahrain now have put a man in the train leading the peloton, to contribute to the pace setting that had up until now all been done by Visma-Lease a Bike.

Mas has managed to get back into the main chase group on the descent.

They’re only 4km away from the third official climb of the day, and it’s another big one. Lin Noir is a category one, lasting 7.5km at 7.8%.

Arrieta still leads the race, but is looking over his shoulder now and seems to be waiting for the rest of the break to catch him.

60KM TO GO

Still the break’s lead goes up, now up to 3:45. Visma may see this hard climb as the moment to start the proccess of winding them back in.

As they near the start of the climb, here are the riders from the break still together, in the group behind Arrieta:

Van der Lee, Mas, Rubio, Lopez, Leknessund, Kulset, Ciccone, Hirt, De la Cruz, Donovan, Vlasov, Poels, Bouwman, Garofoli,

Those 14 riders have now caught Arriets .

Donovan leads the group as they take on the lower slopes of the climb.

Vlasov and Cresciolli are also in the lead breakaway group.

Despite having been dropped earlier, Mas means business again. He’s moved to the front of the lead group, with his teammates Rubio and Lopez.

Back in the peloton, Giulio Pellizzari is lingering worryingly close to the back of the peloton on the climb. If he’s on another bad day, his hopes of a high GC finish could be ended for good today.

Pellizzari doesn’t want to give the impression he’s suffering – he’s just offered a thumbs up to the TV camera.

Visma still have their long line of riders at the front, but it’s actually Eulálio’s teammate Fran Miholjević who is leading the peloton.

Riders dropped from the break are being caught by the peloton, including Christen and Narváez.

Pellizzari is looking better now, and have moved up through the peloton.

Donovan is leading the front group as they come to within 1500m of the climb’s summit.

Leknessund is the latest to be caught by the peloton after being dropped out of the break earlier.

Tim Rex is leading the peloton for Visma, going visibly deep to bring them gap to the leaders down to 3:20.

Tim Rex looks in agony! He’s pulling all kinds of faces as he continues to pace the peloton.

The breakaway riders are watching each other as they near the top. Who’s going to sprint for the KOM points? Van der Lee, Ciccone and Arrieta have looked most interested on the earlier summits.

KOM – LIN NOIR

Indeed, it’s those three riders who sprint for the points. Ciccone wins it, from Van der Lee and Arrieta, with Rubio in fourth.

50KM TO GO

Still Visma lead the peloton as they near the top, and are 3:20 behind the lead group.

Tim Rex drags the peloton over the top of the climb.

They won’t have much respite though – they descend for a few kilometres before climbing again, this time up the Verrogne, which is 5.6km at 6.9%.

The new vitual KOM rankings:

1 Vingegaard 111

2 Van der Lee 77

3 Sevilla 63

4 Ciccone 57

5 Gall 48

6 Arrieta 45

7 Rubio 45

They’re climbing again, and Ciccone is setting a fast pace. And he has KOM rival Van de Lee in trouble, who’s being dropped out of the back.

After one last pull at the foot of the climb, Tim Rex swings off, his job done. Chapeau!

Unsurprisingly given how much he was suffering, Rex has ground almost to a halt.

That still leaves Vingegaard with four teammates to pace him.

Lemmen leads the peloton, for Visma, with Piganzoli, Kuss and Campanaerts the others with Vingegaard.

Attack by Ciccone!

Rubio has bridged up to his wheel and is bringing most of the rest of the break with him.

There’s a split though, between Ciccone, Rubio, Vlasov and Mas, and the rest.

Poels has just about undone that splitby dragging the others to them.

400m from the top. Arrieta is trying to move to the front ahead of the summit and the available KOM points.

Arrieta makes a move, but Ciccone follows.

KOM – VERROGNE

Ciccone storms past Arrieta to take the max points, with Ruibo also pipping Arrieta for second.

Is Afonso Eulálio is beginning to show some signs of weakness? He’s drifting towards the back of the bunch as they near the sumimit.

They reach the top, with Eulálio one of the last men over the top in a peloton that’s now contains fewer than 30 riders.

They’ve also brought the break down to a very managable 2:30. It’s still looking like advantage peloton in the race for the stage win.

Mas and Ciccone are taking it on on the descent.

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The latest KOM rankings, with just one more climb to come today:

1 Vingegaard 111

2 Van der Lee 77

3 Ciccone 75

4 Sevilla 63

5 Rubio 53

6 Arrieta 51

7 Gall 48

The riders have a long descent and short valley section before the start of the final climb, which is now just 15km away.

30KM TO GO

Leemen is going very hard in the peloton on this descent, but so is the break, who are maintaining their lead of 2:30. You sense that’s unlikely to be enough of an advantage once Vingegaard revs up his engine on the final climb.

All the riders in the top 15 on GC are still in the peloton as they approach the final climb.

Visma are still eating into the break’s gap, which has come down to 2:20.

There are now 13 riders in the lead group, as López, De La Cruz and Donovan have just rejoined Mas, Rubio, Ciccone, Arrieta, Poels, Hirt, Bouwman, Garofoli, Kulset and Vlasov.

20KM TO GO

The gap’s come down some more on the valley road, to 2:10. Visma have done the job they intended to do, and their mountain domestiques are about to inact the next part of the plan.

There was a minor sprint for bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, with De La Cruz taking it, his eye on improving his 16th place on GC.

The final climb to Pila is a long, relentless one. It doesn’t have the kind of ultra-steep ramps we’ve had in previous stages, but will require a very long effort at 16.6km, and is still very steep with an average gradient of 7%.

The break are on the climb now! Lopez takes over at the front for Movistar.

And Visma lead the peloton onto the climb 2:20 after the break. Vingegaard still has four teammates with him.

Eulálio and Pellizzari have drifted to the back of the peloton.

The gap between the break and peloton has come down some more, to 1:50.

Campanaerts has taken over from Leemen at the front of the peloton.

Hirt accelerates at the front of the lead group.

Beloki is dropped from the peloton, his 11th place now under threat.

Pellizzari is the last man in the peloton, and Eulálio the third-to-last man.

Arrieta is dropped from the front group.

There’s a split in the lead group, 7 riders opening a small gap.

Pellizzari has moved up a bit, but Eulálio is right at the back with his teammate Caruso.

The gap’s down to a slender 1:30 now.

Ciccone, Rubio, Vlasov, Hirt, De la Cruz, Poels, and Mas are the only riders left in the front group.

Rubio attacks.

Ciccone is on Rubio’s wheel, Vlasov and Hirt close behind.

10KM TO GO

The gap’s down to just 1:10, and Kuss and Piganzoli haven’t even done their turns at the front of the peloton yet.

Having been brought back, Rubio is trying another move.

Campanaerts is finished, and now it’s Kuss’ turn.

The breakaway riders attacking each other rather than working together. Poels is the latest, and is clear with Ciccone.

Rubio joins that pair.

O’Connor is dropped from the peloton under Kuss’ pace!

And now Eulálio is dropped!

Eulálio is in a group with Dee-West, Harper and Rondel, a few seconds behind the peloton.

Meanwhile Hirt and Mas have joined Rubio, Ciccone at the front, and Poels is dropped. They’re only 50 seconds ahead of the Kuss-led peloton.

Eulálio has been dropped by Gee-West now, and is losing time. His time in pink is set to come to an end.

The peloton is very small now – the only men left with Kuss are Piganzoli, Vingegaard, Bernal, Gall, Hindley, Pellizzari, Arensman, Mühlberger and Storer.

Caruso has bridged up to his teammate Eulálio, and is pacing him up. They’re 45 seconds behind the group of favourites.

Kuss is done, and now it’s Piganzoli’s turn.

Only eight riders left in the peloton – Piganzoli, Vingegaard, Gall, Arensman, Hindley, Bernal, Storer and Pellizzari.

With 6km to go, the leaders only have 25 seconds.

Rubio, Mas, Ciccone and Hirt are the four in the lead, the rest of the break dropped and being caught and passed by the group of favourites.

Ciccone attacks, but surely his and the rest of the break’s days are numbered.

Piganzoli has Vingegaard on his wheel. It can’t be long ’till the big attack comes.

5KM TO GO

That’s it Ciccone and Rubio are caught, and so the group of favourites is now at the front of the race.

Pellizzari is being distenced.

Piganzoli is accelerating…

VINGEGAARD ATTACKS

…and now the move comes

Vingegaard is solo, but Gall has him in his sights.

Piganzoli is on Gall’s wheel, but everyone else is further back.

Vingegaard has a big lead over Gall and Piganzoli already.

15 seconds for Vingegaard, 4km from the top.

Hindley, Arensman and an improving Pellizzari have come together behind Gall and Piganzoli.

Hindley drops Arensman and his teammate Pellizzari, and is now fourth on the road.

With 3km to go, Vingegaard leads Gall and Piganzoli by 27 seconds, Hindley by 38 seconds and Eulálio by 1:50.

Gall has dropped Piganzoli.

And Pellizzari has dropped Arensman, to join his Red Bull teammate Hindley.

Gall is 30 seconds behind Vingegaard, and 12 seconds ahead of Hindley and Pellizzari.

Pellizzari is pacing Hindley, and they’re about to catch Piganzoli.

Just 2km left to ride for Vingegaard.

Gall is looking over his shoulder, and he’ll see Hindley, Piganzoli and Pellizzari, who are just 12 seconds behind.

1KM TO GO

Vingegaard leads Gall by 45 seconds, Pellizzari, Piganzoli and Hindley by 57 seconds, and Arensman by 1:08.

Gall needs 27 seconds to pass Arensman on the GC, and he has most of that advantage.

Meanwhile as things stand, Eulálio will remain second overall, as he’s limited his losses to Gall to under two minutes.

Here comes Vingegaard to the finish, where he will be crowned with both the stage win, and the Maglia Rosa.

JONAS VINGEGAARD WINS

He’s delivered on expectations and lived up to the hype – win number three for Vingegaard!

Gall is second, at a distant 48 seconds.

Hindley takes third at 56 seconds, jumping clear of Piganzoli in fourth and Pellizzari in fifth.

Arensman is 6th, then Storer 7th, both arriving on their own.

Eulálio is nearing the finish, and could yet keep a spot on the GC podium.

Eulálio crosses the line, for his last day in the pink jersey. But he’s finished about 2:50 down, so should remain second overall.

All that means Vingegaard is now in the overall lead, and by a big margin, of 2:26 over Afonso Eulálio.

Behind them, Gall and Arensman remain the best candidates for a podium finish, the former at 2:50 and the latter at 3:03.

Then come the Redd Bull duo of Hindley and Pellizzari, both of whom looked better today and recovered from their illness problems from earlier. They’re in 5th and 6th respectively, at 3:43 and 4:22.

O’Connor is one of the big losers of the day. He was dropped early on the final climb, and drops down to ninth on GC, at 5:22.

Barring some stunning recovery, this will be the last time we see Afonso Eulálio in the Maglia Rosa. But he’s still managed to remain second on the overall rankings, and riding like this he’ll still manage a high final finish. Maybe even a podium? His lead is a slender 37 seconds on Arensman in fourth, but he’ll no doubt keep fighting.

Replacing Eulálio in pink will be Jonas Vingegaard, who was at a different level to everyone else today. Even with the illness that struck him earlier in the race, this Giro has gone almost perfectly according to plan so far.

Once again, Felix Gall was the best of the rest behind Jonas Vingegaard, climbing very well again to place second on the stage. He’s still going great despite losing lots of time in the time trial, and overtakes Arensman to move up to third overall, and has Eulálio in his sights. Putting Vingegaard under pressure will be a tough ask though, now a whole 2:50 separates them.

So at long last, Jonas Vingegaard is in the Maglia Rosa, for the first time in his career. This had been inevitable for a while, but today was the day he made a move on the overall lead, and now has a huge lead on GC that will be difficult for anyone to close. But a lot can happen at a Grand Tour, and there’s still a whole week of racing left for many twists and turns to materialise.

We’re unlikely to see any GC action tomorrow, however, where the sprinters at last get another chance to compete for the stage win with a flat stage in Milan. We’ll be back providing live coverage from start to finish once again, and hope you will too!