CYCLING Live

Giro d'Italia - *Rivisondoli - Tivoli

Live Comments

  1. 0km - That brings our coverage of today's stage of the Giro to an end. Join us tomorrow for coverage of tomorrow's 218km trek from Civitavecchia to San Vincenzo. IT could be one for the sprinters, so let's keep our fingers crossed for Cav!

  2. 0km - Giovanni Visconti keeps his leader's pink jersey.

  3. 0km - Ricco the stage winner, Bettini was second, Rebellin third.

  4. 0KM - Rebellin is on his tail like a shot, followed by Ricco and Bettini...Ricco comes flying round the final corner and takes the lead....Bettini's trying to get round him but hasn't got the raw speed...RICCO TAKES IT!!!!

  5. 0.2k - A massive attack from Danilo Di Luca!!!! He's come from nowhere on the outside and is trying to catch them all napping!

  6. 0.5km - Di Luca has worked himself abck into contention!!

  7. 1km - High Road's Frantisek Rabon attacks at the 1km mark, but can't get clear.

  8. 1.5km - It's Piepoli, followed by Pfannberger, Rebellin and Bennati!

  9. 2km - Dall'Antonia is caught as the pace quickens. Bennati is still right in there!!! That's great form from the sprinter. NOW PIEPOLI ATTAKCS!! Pfannberger goes with him!

  10. 2.5km - Hansen is caught, and immediately a counter-attack comes from Dall'Antonia.

  11. 3km - Danilo Di Luca is right at the back of the pack! He seems to be suffering!

  12. 3km - Hansen's main problem will be the uphill finish. With heavy legs he will have trouble fending off the smaller guys such as Ricco, Contador, Rebellin and others.

  13. 3.5km - Astana are gathering at the front of the peloton as Hansen's lead is now down to 24 seconds.

  14. 4km - Juan Manuel Garate now comes to the front for Quickstep.

  15. 5km - Hansen has gone under the 5km banner.

  16. 8km - Hansen is making a decent fist of this, but his lead has slipped to 33 seconds.

  17. 11km - Eurosport expert Sean Kelly has plumped for Spanish road race champion Joaquin Rodriguez to win today's race, while commentator David Harmon has gone for Davide Rebellin. Personally, I would look no further than Paolo Bettini.

  18. 12km - The rest of the breakaway is swept up! Hansen is on his own now.

  19. 13km - Hansen now has 15 seconds on the other four in the breakaway and 40 seconds on the peloton.

  20. 15km - Adam Hansen has attacked from the breakaway!!! He bolted clear of the other four and is off on his own in one last attempt to stay away from the closing pack!

  21. 17km - Another man to watch today could also be Davide Rebellin. He won't have a chance in the GC, but stage wins will definitely be his goal for the Giro. The finish will suit him.

  22. 20km - We're into the final 20 kilometres now, and the quintet's lead continues to tumble. 1'14" is the latest split. Quickstep and Saunier Duval are setting a ferocious pace in the pack.

  23. 27km - Our leaders are rolling along at 37.4 km/h, whereas the peloton are charging along at an impressive 41.4km/h. Saunier Duval still with a heavy presence at the front of the peloton.

  24. 30km - 1'59" now the gap with 30km remaining.

  25. 35km - The peloton has taken 50 seconds in the last 5 kilometres. It won't be too much longer and the five out front will be reeled in.

  26. 40km - 3'15" now with 40km to go. It looks like Paolo Bettini will get his shot at the stage win. Riccardo Ricco is another who could look for the win.

  27. 50km - THe escapees are slowly being reeled in. It's the Quickstep and Saunier Duval teams who are doing most of the work in the peloton. 4'53 now the gap.

  28. 57km - Baliani wins the sprint at Anagni ahead of Nardello and Spezialetti.

  29. 62km - Mathieu Perget is one of the real hopes of French cycling. He won two stages of the Ronde de l'Isard in 2005 before signing professional terms with the powerful Caisse d'Epargne squad the following year.

  30. 63km - Fortunato Baliani has yet to make it onto the podium of his home tour. He won the Grand Prix Città' di Camaiore last year, as well as the Subida al Naranco in 2006. NOw plying his trade for Csf Group-Navigare.

  31. 65km - Adam Hansen joined High Road last year. He's the Australian national time-trial champion, and a rider who loves to attack. He participated in the Vuelta last year, so has a big tour still in his legs.

  32. 67km - Daniele Nardello (Diquigiovanni-Androni) has possibly the best palmares of the five. He has three top ten finishes in the Tour de France - in 1998 he was 8th in 1999 he was 7th, and in 2000 he was 10th. He has also recorded some impressive finishes at Paris-Roubaix. The man from Varese has won stages of the Tour de France and the Vuelta, but never of the Giro.

  33. 68km - Alessandro Spezialetti is one of Danilo di Luca's loyal henchmen at LPR. He moved to the Irish-Italian team along with Di Luca from Liquigas last year. e has three top ten finishes in the Giro in total.

  34. 70km - With nothing too much happening out on the road, we can take the time to have a closer look at our five escapees.

  35. 75km - Quickstep have pulled the gap back to 5'50" now.

  36. 80km - Quickstep are at the front of the peloton, looking to ensure Paolo Bettini gets a shot at the stage win.

  37. 82km - 6'13" is the latest split now. Maybe the breakaway will fancy their chances of a stage win.

  38. 93km - The unlucky Steve Morabito has had to abandon. His leader at Astana, Alberto Contador, is still in the race.

  39. 100km - 5'38" is the latest split back to the peloton for our quintet out front at the halfway point of the stage.

  40. 115km - Contador has fallen!!! He was one of four that hit the deck there. Steve Morabito went down too as well as Nicolas Hartmann and Lander Aperribay!

  41. 151km - 2'38" is there lead on the peloton. It's growing, but only gradually.

  42. 165km - Alessandro Spezialetti (LPR Brakes), Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne), Fortunato Baliani (CSF Group) and Adam Hansen (High Road) now attack, and they have built a sizeable lead on the peloton in a short space of time.

  43. 170km - THey have been reeled back in by the peloton now, who seem keen to keep a high tempo early on.

  44. 198km - Geraint Thomas (Barloworld), Marlon Perez Arango (Caisse d'Epargne), Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) and Alessandro Bertoli (Diquigiovanni) try to go clear in the first breakaway of the day.

  45. 12:20 - The slightly uphill finish would certainly suit world champion Paolo Bettini. Speculation in Italy suggests he is certainly targeting a stage win.

  46. 12:10 - Today's stage takes us 200 km from Rivisondoli to Tivoli. No real climbs on the agenda today - it could be one for a breakaway.

  47. 12:00 - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's live text comments of stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia.