Refresh
The riders are close to crossing the halfway point on the stage.
Roughly about two hours of racing left of racing today considering the pace they’re going at.
It is a very special moment for Vingegaard to wear pink. He is very likely to now wear it all the way to Rome from now…
100km to go
Just over an hour down, average speed at just over 49kph and the breakaway holding 2’30” on the peloton.
Points classification after intermediate sprint
1. Narváez (UAD) 131pts
2. Magnier (SOQ) 131pts
3. Milan (LTK) 76pts
4. Stuyven (SOQ) 71pts
5. Silva (XAT) 70pts
Intermediate sprint (Pavia)
1. Marcellusi (BCF) 12pts
2. M. Bais (PTM) 8pts
3. Dversnes (UXM) 5pts
4. Maestri (PTM) 3pts
5. Magnier (SOQ) 1pt
Magnier takes that one point and levels up the scores in the points classification.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG are going for the one remaining point for Narváez but Magnier is on his wheel.
Marcellusi takes the intermediate sprint in Pavia.
The break of Dversnes, Maestri, Bais and Marcellusi have 3km to go until the intermediate sprint in Pavia. You may recognise the name Pavia as it has been hosting the start of Milan-San Remo for the last few years.
The average speed is over 50kph so far. They are riding along at a very good pace.
Ghebreigzabhier isn’t riding on the front all alone, though. Unibet Rose Rockets and Soudal-Quickstep also joining in the chase.
Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Lidl-Trek) is the man leading the way in the peloton.
Movistar boss, Eusebio Unzué, is not best pleased with the form of Enric Mas at this race…
>>> ‘Far off the level we hoped for’ – Movistar boss Eusebio Unzué pulls no punches over Enric Mas’ Giro d’Italia team leader struggles but hopeful for final week breaks
Vingegaard may be out of reach, but the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe duo of Hindley and Pellizzari are fighting to challenge for the poiums…
130km to go
It is a very steady pace in the peloton now as the four riders out front look to increase the gap.
Jerseys:
Pink – Vingegaard (TVL)
Purple – Narváez (UAD)
Blue – Vingegaard (TVL)*
White – Eulálio (TBV)
*Worn by – Van der Lee (EFE)
140km
The sprinters teams start to work with Soudal-Quickstep, Lidl-Trek and Unibet Rose Rockets all coming to the front after 20 minutes of racing to start setting the pace for their main men with 2’04” up to the four rider break.
Alpecin-Premier Tech no longer have their big name sprinter in Kaden Groves after he abandoned suffering from his injuries from the crash on stage 2. However, they do have a sprinter, Jenson Plowright. The Australian criterium champion will be very familiar with the style of racing at the finish in Milan today.
Alpecin-Premier Tech are being blocked in by the sprinters teams. They really want to get into the breakaway with Danish time trialist Johan Price-Pejtersen to make this breakaway have some slim chance, but they can’t get close to going on the attack.
More attacks in the peloton with Alpecin-Premier Tech trying. However, he has three Soudal-Quickstep riders and an NSN rider on his wheel as Enric Mas (Movistar) closes it down.
Bardiani CSF-7 Sabre and Alpecin-Premier Tech tried to counter in the peloton but they had the door firmly shut in front of them to stop them moving.
Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF-7 Sabre), Mattia Bais (Polti-Visit Malta), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti-Visit Malta) and Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) are clear with 18″ on the peloton.
The same teams try to make another break but nothing is doing. The sprinters teams don’t want more than four riders who now get away.
Soudal-Quickstep, Lidl-Trek and NSN immediately go to work to bring that back. Too many riders in that one.
157km to go
Racing begins with attacks coming immediately from Bardiani CSF-7 Sabre, Uno-X Mobility, Alpecin-Premier Tech and Polti-Visit Malta.
Just 1km of neutral left.
The race is actually late starting at the moment. They are 3km away from the flag being waved.
The riders have rolled out and are on their way to the race start proper.
Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is fully decked out in pink today for his very first day in the leaders jersey…
The riders are due to start the neutralised zone any minute now.
Will today’s finish in Milan be perfect for Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) to take his first win of the race?
Here is the above view of what the stage looks like today with four laps of the finishing circuit in Milan.
Rider presentation is well underway in Voghera with this man, Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) will be desperate to go for the win today, he has already gone so close but only has two real chances left in this race…
It is going to be another hot day for the riders with the temperatures set to reach over 30°c. Staying cool will be vital today.
Onto today and you couldn’t find a more different stage profile to yesterday’s stage than today’s. It is completely pancake flat with a few laps around the city of Milan after the halfway point.
Before looking at the final stage of week two, let’s take a look back at what happened yesterday in the first really major mountain test of the race…
>>> Giro d’Italia: Jonas Vingegaard outclimbs rivals to solo to stage 14 victory and seize race lead
Bongiorno and welcome to live updates of the 15th stage at this year’s Giro d’Italia.
Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took over the points classification yesterday thanks to him taking maximum points at the intermediate sprint. He leads Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) by one point heading into today’s sprint stage, so the Frenchman will likely take it back today, but it is all to play for in the final week…
