CYCLING Live

Giro d'Italia - *Belvedere Marittimo - Contursi Terme

Live Comments

  1. ----- - Luis Felipe Laverde was third at 10' down, Perez was fourth at 25' off pace, and world champion Paolo Bettini won the mass sprint out of the peloton closing the final gap to 31 seconds. A beautiful stage win for Pavel Brutt, as Franco Pellizotti retains his pink jersey. Thanks for following our LIVE coverage and join us tomorrow!

  2. ----- - It was the chain, as Millar tried to accelerate to keep up with Russia's Brutt the chain snapped, and so did the Scot, tossing his bike over the side of the road as if it were a water bottle! Another great, albeit slightly tragic finish to a stage of this year's Tour of Italy.

  3. 0km - After the dramatics with Millar, Pavel Brutt pulls away and claims a surprise victory at the Tour of Italy!! Brilliant stuff in that final climb from Tinkoff rider, as Johannes Fröhlinger is well behind in second at four seconds off pace!! But what happened to David Millar? We're still waiting to see a replay.

  4. 1km - Amazing! With one kilometre left to ride Scotland's David Millar suffers a failure with his bike of some sort!! Nobody can help him, and the frustrated Slipstream rider lifts up his bike and tosses it over a railing in disgust!!

  5. 2km - Whos is going to make the first move!?!?

  6. 3km - 1'46'' for the leaders with 3 kilometres to go!

  7. 6km - A minor crash in the back: two AG2R riders and one LPR Brakes go down, but nothing serious.

  8. 8km - Luis Felipe Laverde (CSF Group) could be considered the favourite to take this stage as the best climber. With a top gradient of 9%, the final ascent to the finish line is a tricky one.

  9. 10km - The gap is hovering at 2'10'' and this break-away looks like it could very well succeed! One of the frontmen could also claim the pink jersey today.....

  10. 14km - The escapees are nearing the final minor ascent with all still to play for!

  11. 17km - LPR Brakes are doing a lot of work at the front of the peloton. Danilo Di Luca must have his eye on that Maglia Rosa, with only seven seconds separating him and Pellizotti and plenty of bonus seconds up for grabs with a victory today. Former Giro winner Paolo Savoldelli is pushing hard for his compatriot.

  12. 19km - Remember the composition of the escape group : Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems), David Millar (Slipstream Chipotle - H30), Luis Felipe Laverde (CSF Group Navigare), Francisco Pérez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Johannes Fröhlinger (Gerolsteiner).

  13. 21km - The escapees are still working together brilliantly, as the weather starts to improve and the skies clear a bit....

  14. 30km - 30 kilometres and 3'40''... The rain might be helping these five men, and who knows, we could be in for a second consecutive stage win for Great Britain (Fingers crossed for David Millar).

  15. 35km - More than 4'30'' still for the escape group... It's going to be very tricky for the escapees to go the distance, but is still possible.

  16. 40km - Crash by Jurgen Van den Broeck, who makes a sudden right turn and ends up off-road. The Silence-Lotto rider, fortunately, is a-okay and back on course.

  17. 40km - Liquigas and Quickstep are picking up the pace. Bad news for yesterday's sprint winner Mark Cavendish (High Road), who is struggling at the back. Those High Road guys are going to have to help him out.

  18. 45km - Britain's Charlie Wegelius is leading the Liquigas push at the front of the peloton, riding hard for the team's Maglia Rosa Franco Pellizotti.

  19. 49km - Some bad news: The clouds are back, and they've brought some rain as well... The gap continues to shrink (6'25'')

  20. 53km - For the moment Francisco Perez-Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) is the virtual pink jersey. Of course there are still 50 kilometres left to ride.

  21. 55km - The peloton, led mainly by defending champion Danilo Di Luca's LPR Brakes, finally starts to push back. The margin shrinks to 7'20''.

  22. 60km - Today's intermediate sprint points go to our favourite Scot David Millar (Slipstream) in front of Fröhlinger (Gerolsteiner) and Perez-Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne).

  23. 68km - The pace amongst the escape group has dropped, though they still have an eight minute advantage as they cross through the little town of Polla.

  24. 70km - Sunny skies out there today with little chance of rain upsetting stage five.

  25. 88km - Francisco Perez-Sanchez is the best placed of the five break-away men in the general classification : the Spanish Caisse d'Epargne rider is 68th overall at 1'57'' behind Pellizotti.

  26. 90km - Last checkpoint at kilometre 116 : 9'10'' advantage for the break-away.

  27. 95km - A BRITISH RECORD FOR YOU: Yesterday Mark Cavendish became the first man from Great Britain to win a stage at the Tour of Italy since 1987 King of the Mountains Robert Millar of Scotland won the stage from Como to Pila 21 years ago.

  28. 99km - A few Giro records for you: Most stage wins: 42 --- Mario Cipollini (record set in 2003). Alfredo Binda won 41 stages, Learco Guerra 31. Most consecutive stges: 8 --- Alfredo Binda (1929) Most stage wins in a single Giro: 12 --- Alfredo Binda (1927).

  29. 100km - 100 kilometres left to ride for our valiant escapees.....

  30. 107km - The leaders are coming up on the feed zone with an eight minute advantage over the peloton.

  31. 110km - Dave Zabriskie (Slipstream), who suffered a fractured clavicle in stage two, has returned home to the United States to recover.

  32. 120km - Average speed after two hours of racing : 39,400 km/h.

  33. 125km - Italian climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier-Duval) suffered a minor crash in the 43rd kilometre before easily rejoining the peloton.

  34. 130km - The gap grows to 7'10'' over a peloton which is being pushed by the Pink Jersey Franco Pellizotti's Liquigas team.

  35. 135km - Gap up to 6'45''.

  36. 140km - The riders are on the Cat. 3 Fortino climb.

  37. 150km - Remember who makes up that break-away: Laverde (CSF Group), Fröhlinger (Gerolsteiner), Millar (Slipstream), Brutt (Tinkoff), Perez-Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne).

  38. 158km - The advantage for the escapees is still climbing: up to 5'40'' now for the five leaders (Perez did catch the break away).

  39. 160km - Average speed in the first hour of riding: 44,600 km/h. The escape group have a 3'28'' margin now.

  40. 175km - The escape builds an advantage of 1'32'' over the peloton.

  41. 180km - Laverde (CSF Group) and Fröhlinger (Gerolsteiner) go for it again! Scotland's David Millar (Slipstream) and Brutt (Tinkoff) accompany the duo and Perez-Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) tries a counter-attack...

  42. 190km - Laverde (CSF Group), Fröhlinger (Gerolsteiner) and Eltink (Rabobank) are also caught after a short-lived escape.

  43. 202km - Magnus Backstedt (Slipstream) tries an early break attempt, but the big Swede is easily reeled in by the peloton.

  44. 202km - And we're underway in stage five! 190 riders at the start today.

  45. 203km - Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) fractured his right clavicle after that serious crash at the finish line in Catanzaro yesterday. That's another major blow for the Belgian contingent, who had already lost Dominique Cornu (Silence-Lotto), who abandoned the race after three kilometres yesterday following an early crash, and Tom Stubbe (Française des Jeux), another Giro debutant who was forced to quit the race yesterday.

  46. ----- - Welcome to LIVE text comments of today's fourth stage of this year's Giro D'Italia, a 203-km trip from Belvedere Marittimo to Contursi Terme. We're looking at a very flat stage today, with one Cat. 3 climb, and hoping for another sprint finish (can you say Mark Cavendish double?).