Cycling Live

Giro d'Italia - Lienz (Austria) - Monte Zoncolan

Live Comments

  1. 0**** - Paolo Savoldelli coming over the top alongside Bazzaev, almost four minutes down on the leaders.

  2. 0**** - Simoni is thrilled with his stage win. He knows the pink jersey is beyond him now, but he's still happy.

  3. 0**** - Eddy Mazzoleni comes in now, 2'25" down on Simoni, and 1'55" down on Di Luca.

  4. 0**** - Danilo Di Luca crosses the line now! A superb effort - he finishes just 30 seconds behind the leaders. He has saved his pink jersey, and is now hot, hot favourite to keep it all the way to Milan.

  5. 0**** - Simoni takes it! Gilberto Simoni wins for the second time atop the Zoncolan, Piepoli is second, Andy Schleck third.

  6. 0.2km - Simoni attacks!!! Piepoli follows, Schleck is being dropped!!

  7. 0.5km - They're inside the final 500 metres. A stage win and the resultant time bonus would mean so much for Schleck!

  8. 1km** - Andy Schleck is looking like the main threat to Danilo di Luca now. What has he got left?

  9. 1km** - Di Luca has managed to limit the others to a lead of just 16 seconds.

  10. 1km** - Piepoli puts his foot down, but the other two are looking comfortable and are right in his wheel!

  11. 2km** - Cunego's new-found energy is benefitting Di Luca - the pink jersey is ebeing led up the hill. Meanwhile, out in front, Codol is desperately trying to hang onto the Simoni, Schleck and Piepoli.

  12. 2km** - One idiot has got in the way of Codol, as he is passed by Simoni, Schleck and Piepoli.

  13. 2km** - Codol is about to be caught!

  14. 2km** - Cunego seems to have got a second wind. He puts his foot down and Di Luca is struggling to stay with him!

  15. 2km** - The Simoni, Piepoli, Schleck trio have just caught and passed Dario Cioni, who is almost at a standstill.

  16. 2km** - Simoni and Schleck are less than half a minute behind Codol now! It looks like the Italian may be caught.

  17. 3km** - Massimo Codol passes Cioni and takes the lead in the stage. He has been helping Garzelli all throughout the Giro, but he's free to blaze his own trail today.

  18. 3km** - It's Acqua e Sapone's Massimo Codol who has caught Cioni.

  19. 3km** - Cunego and Di Luca are coming past Baliani and Di Luca.

  20. 4km** - Cioni is beginning to blow. He has one rider in his wheel. As soon as I can work out ho it is I'll let you know.

  21. 4km** - Well, we didn't expect Britain to have much to cheer in today's stage, but believe it or not, Dario Cioni is born in Reading!!

  22. 4km** - Baliani has been caught by Schleck, Simoni and Piepoli. It's Schleck who's looking the most comfortable right now.

  23. 4km** - Dario Cioni still out in front. Simoni is 1'39" back.

  24. 5km** - Di Luca is riding at a constant rhythm, he may have been dropped, but he's not cracking. He is now within sight of Cunego, that will give him confidence.

  25. 5km** - Simoni looks round three times round a hairpin corner and sees Schleck on his wheel. He doesn't see Di Luca though. He has an advantage of about 30 seconds.

  26. 5km** - Simoni goes under the 5km banner.

  27. 5km** - Schleck has bridged the gap up to Simoni! Superb stuff from the big Luxemburger.

  28. 6km** - Di Luca is giving all he's got, though he is losing sight of his rivals. Now Cunego has been dropped by Piepoli and Schleck!

  29. 6km** - Schleck responds, along with Piepoli and Cunego. They are moving away from Di Luca. Simoni is struggling to make any significant inroads. He's only a few metres ahead.

  30. 6km** - 2'35" is the gap from the maglia rose group up to Cioni.

  31. 6km** - Gilberto Simoni is gradually riding away from Danilo Di Luca! What can the man in pink do?

  32. 6km** - Simoni attacks!!!

  33. 7km** - Ricco has been dropped. Down to five men. Schleck is suffering.

  34. 7km** - Simoni, Di Luca, Ricco, Schleck, Piepoli, and Cunego are alone now in their little group behind the leaders. Mazzoleni is being dropped.

  35. 8km** - Cunego is still there, hanging in.

  36. 8km** - Simoni is off. Danilo Di Luca is with him. as is Riccardo Ricco, Schleck is trying to cling on, Perez Cuapio being dropped.

  37. 9km** - Savoldelli is being dropped. He will be of no use to Mazzoleni today. Even Bruseghin is coming past Savoldelli.

  38. 9km** - Cioni attacks. He had always looked the most comfortable from the beginning of the climb.

  39. 9km** - 3'20" the latest split - the peloton are closing. Unless any of the lead boys have something up their sleeves, it's not looking good for them.

  40. 10km* - Irizar has already been caught.

  41. 11km* - Mayo is looking to set a similarly quick pace at the front of the peloton. His presence should prove of great help to Simoni.

  42. 13km* - Cioni is setting a fairly fierce pace at the front of the escapees.

  43. 15km* - 4'00" is the latest gap back to the peloton.

  44. 18km* - Iban Mayo moves to the front of the pack.

  45. 18km* - The leaders are starting the climb the bottom of the Zoncolan.

  46. 18km* - Monte Zoncolan is ranked as the toughest climb in Europe. 10.1km at 11.9% average. Second is the Mortirolo, also in Italy, 12.4km long at 10.5%

  47. 19km* - Baliani, Bettini and Codol have been caught by the other seven riders.

  48. 19km* - The leaders are on the final descent ahead of the Zoncolan.

  49. 21km* - Naibo and Irizar have been dropped, and are now 1'25" behind the leaders.

  50. 22km* - They have been riding for exactly 3 hours now.

  51. 22km* - The pace set by the Liquigas boys has had its effect on the peloton, which has split in two. Only around 40 riders have been able to live with the pace.

  52. 23km* - Cioni, Baliani and Codol have attacked from the breakaway! The breakw as at one stage 5'32", it closed to 4'32" thanks to the efforts of the Liquigas team, so the trio have decided that if they are to win this stage, they need to get moving.

  53. 26km* - Baliani takes the five points over the top of Tualis.

  54. 27km* - Ivan Parra (Cofidis) and Lloyd Mondory (AG2R) are suffering from some minor technical problems.

  55. 27km* - One Saunier Duval rider is doing the work at the front of the pack, followed by two Liquigas men.

  56. 30km* - The leaders are coming up to the top of Tualis (890m, 2nd category), a mere taster, with a short average climb of 9.5%.

  57. 35km* - Reminder of the lead group: Bettini, Engels and Facci (Quick Step), Codol (Acqua e Sapone), Naibo (AG2R), Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom), Baliani (Panaria), Irizar Araburu (Euskaltel), Veikkanen (FDJeux), Cioni and Aerts (Predictor), Ardila Cano (Rabobank).

  58. 37km* - 5'15" is the gap at the moment. Whether or not any of these front runners will be able to maintain that up the Zoncolan is highly doubtful.

  59. 41km* - Some sensors hooked up to Fortunato Baliani have informed us that his heart rate if 151 beats per minute at the moment - which is 79% of his maximum heart rate. He's going along at 30 km/h.

  60. 47km* - Though absent in the mountain stages, the Liquigas boys are all at the front today to help their leader Danilo Di Luca, on what he considers the most important stage of the entire race.

  61. 52km* - The riders are putting on an extra layer. There's a good chance of inclement weather as they ascend the Zoncolan.

  62. 53km* - Bettini takes the five points for the intermedita sprint, ahead of Le Boulanger (4 points) and Codol (3 points).

  63. 55km* - Among the leaders, Mario Aerts is the best-placed man in the general classement. The Predictor-Lotto man is lying 20th, 27'58" behind Di Luca.

  64. 57km* - The leaders have gone over the short ascent to Valico Cima Sappada (1290m), They will now head towards the intermediate sprint at Sappada (53klm before finish.

  65. 59km* - The team cars aren't allowed to follow their riders up the Zoncolan today due to the narrow roads. Only official race cars will be there to attend to riders.

  66. 63km* - Average speed in the second hour of racing: 42.5km/h

  67. 64km* - Huge crowds have already formed at the top of the Zoncolan! A measure of how so many people have been eagerly awaiting today's stage!

  68. 65km* - The efforts of the Liquigas and Saunier Duval teams are being felt, as the gap to the escapees falls to 4'20". Du Luca is sitting happily in the wheels of his team-mates.

  69. 72km* - Gilberto Simoni has fond memories of tackling the Zoncolan. When teh giro came here in 2003, the Saunier Duval man won the stage with the pink jersey on his shoulders. This time though, the mountain is being tackled via its most difficult route, from Ovaro. "This middle part has no bends, and that's what makes it even more demanding," explained the Italian, who rode the route last winter with his team-mate Riccardo Ricco.

  70. 75km* - Saunier Duval take over at the front of the field now.

  71. 80km* - Liquigas are ensuring the gap between the main field and the lead group stays around the five minute mark.

  72. 86km* - Points at the summit of Monte Croce: 1. Baliani (Panaria) 5 pts, 2. Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom) 3 pts, 3. Bettini (Quick Step) 1 pt.

  73. 88km* - The breakaway group have extended their lead to 5'08" over the peloton

  74. 104km - Euskaltel's Aketza Peña has not started today's stage of the Giro after it was revealed he tested potitive for nandrolone at the Tour du Trentin, at the end of April. His team have decided to suspend him "until the matter has been dealt with officially." The Basque was 51st in the race, 1h09'46" behind leader Danilo Di Luca.

  75. 107km - The escapees have built up an advantage of 2'30" on the peloton.

  76. 108km - Liquigas and Saunier Duval are doing the work at the front of the peloton at the moment.

  77. 110km - The peloton is now on the long ascent towards Monte Croce di Comelico (1636m, 2nd catefory, km55). The race is about to leave Austria and cross the border back into Italy.

  78. 112km - Composition of lead group: Bettini, Engels and Facci (QuickStep), Codol (Acqua e Sapone), Naibo (AG2R), Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom), Baliani (Panaria), Irizar Araburu (Euskaltel), Veikkanen (FDJeux), Cioni and Aerts (Predictor), Ardila Cano (Rabobank).

  79. 115km - Among those riders are Baliani (Panaria) and Bettini (Quick Step), who have been in a number of breakaways over the past few days. The Frenchman Yoann Le Boulanger is there too.

  80. 117km - A dozen or so riders have now broken away from the main field.

  81. 119km - The trio can gain no more than 10 seconds on the peloton, and are slowly reeled back in.

  82. 128km - An early attack has come from Eric Berthou, Jurgen van den Broeck, and Elio Aggiano.

  83. 13:10 - 142 riders begin stage 17 of the Giro!

  84. 13:00 - The start of today's stage has been delayed by a few minutes.

  85. 11:40 - Danilo Di Luca: "On the Zoncolan, I hope above all that my legs are still feeling good. Until now I have done well on the big climbs. I hope to get a good result and keep hold of my [pink] jersey."

  86. 11:30 - Alessandro Petacchi still leads the sprinter's standings, ahead of Di Luca and Paolo Bettini.

  87. 11:30 - The battle is wide open for the white jersey awarded to the best young rider. Andy Schleck is currently wearing white, though has only a 43 second advantage over Riccardo Ricco.

  88. 11:30 - Leonardo Piepoli is still in the green jersey awarded by the best climber. Second and third in that category are Di Luca and Riccardo Ricco.Riccardo Ricco.

  89. 11:30 - The pink jersey is currently on the shoulders of Liquigas' Danilo Di Luca. He has a lead of 1'51" over Eddy Mazzoleni and 2'56" over CSC's Andy Schleck.

  90. 11:30 - Although a short stage (142 kilometres), the today's trek finishes atop the mythical Monte Zoncolan - a first category climb, one of Europe's toughest. There are 10 kilometres uphill at an average gradient of 11.9%, though some sections are at a ferocious 22%.

  91. 11:30 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text commentary of stage 17 of the Giro d'Italia.