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Giro d'Italia - Cuneo - Pinerolo

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  1. - - Di Luca's overall lead in the race is now one minute 20 seconds over second placed Dennis Menchov, with Rogers third at 1'33" and Leipheimer fourth at 1'40".

  2. 0km - Di Luca crosses the line to win, and he's around 10 seconds clear of the chasing riders. What a great performance by the overall leader, stamping his dominance on the Giro with that fantastic surge over the final hill.

  3. 1km - Last 1000m and it's Di Luca miles clear!

  4. 2km - Di Luca looks home and dry, and opening up a nice lead over a group with Garzelli, Leipheimer, Soler and Basso.

  5. 3km - There's a mini-climb here, and Di Luca charges ahead past the tiring Pelizotti and into the lead of the stage! He looks as if he'll have it all to himself.

  6. 5km - Garzelli has lead from the front for the majority of this longest stage of the day, but the fresher legs of the chasing riders have seen him slip back a little. Still, he has all those King of the Mountains points in the bacnk already.

  7. 6km - Basso is hovering near the front of what was the peloton, but it's Leipheimer who leads it at the moment.

  8. 7km - The peloton is breaking up now as riders try to pull clear from each other - but up at the front Pelizotti is flying clear.

  9. 8km - Pelizotti makes an attack and pulls clear at the front of the stage, leaving Garzelli behind in second.

  10. 10km - Pelizotti breaks away from the head of the peloton and is quickly catching the front two.

  11. 12km - Lance Armstrong is going along nicely, tucked in just behind pink jersey holder Di Luca.

  12. 15km - There's just a minute gap between what is now a leading two - Garzelli and Visconti - and the peloton. Garzelli looks stronger than a teak log wrapped in steel, though - you fancy his chances of toughing this out.

  13. 18km - One climb left for the riders now, but mercifully it's a short one... and once they're at the top, there will be just 11km left to run.

  14. 20km - We now have a front three as the ISD riders take over from Garzelli.

  15. 25km - They have cut the lead down to 20 seconds now having put the burners on with the others 2:20 back.

  16. 30km - The lead is down to just over a minute with the four who had a dab at a chase behind the ISD pair now gobbled back up by the peleton 1:53 behind them.

  17. 35km - Not a great deal of change in the gaps. Garzelli holding his rivals off. Has he got the legs to last the distance?

  18. 40km - See what stage seven winner Edvald Boasson Hagen has to say about his prospects in the remaining stages of this year's Giro... Watch video

  19. 45km - All the groups pulling together as if held together by elastic. The leader is 2:28 clear with 1:12 and 1:10 between the second and third, and third and fourth bunches.

  20. 50km - Garzelli's lead down to three minutes with Visconti and Grivko over two minutes clear of their pursuers.

  21. 55km - The Giro d'Italia is now LIVE on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521) and also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player. Click here to subscribe

  22. 55km - The 62km remaining after the second major peak could take it out of our more ambitious riders despite descending from the top to the foothills outside Pinerolo. Little change in the distances between the groups - but know that Armstrong is at the head of the peleton.

  23. 60km - As Garzelli coasts downhill, the peleton passes the GPM 6:25 behind him. Liquigas are at its head, 1:28 behind the four newest chasers, who are 1:28 behind the two ISD riders.

  24. 62km - Garzelli however fights back as he reaches the summit of this beast, re-extending his lead to four minutes as he begins the lengthy 44km descent. More King of the Mountains points for the Italian.

  25. 65km - Charles Wegelius (Silence-Lotto), Dario Cioni (ISD), José Serpa (Diquigiovanni) and Felix Cardenas (Barloworld) have broken from the main body.

  26. 70km - Garzelli slowly being reeled in, 2:25 ahead, with an equal time distance between the chasing pair and the peleton after the riders turned left to begin the climb to Sestrière. The climb lasts 11.2km - climbing 701m - and has an average gradient of 6.3 per cent with a maximum of 11 per cent.

  27. 75km - ISD duo Andrey Grivko and Giovanni Visconti emerge from the group - but are only 10 seconds clear of it with Garzelli 4:30 ahead of them.

  28. 80km - At Oulx the main group is four minutes back. Only a few kilometres to go before the steepest part of the climb leading up to the Sestrière - our second major peak today.

  29. 85km - Sean Yates celebrated his 48th birthday during the rest day so best wishes to the man who was the third Briton to wear the maillot jaune at the Tour de France back in 1994.

  30. 90km - Our man is still over five minutes clear halfway up the mountain. Elsewhere, Norway's Thor Hushovd of team Cervelo won the first stage of the Tour of Catalonia, a 3.6km time trial in Lloret de Mar. Stage Report

  31. 95km - The gap is now just over five minutes. The average speed in the last hour was 42.3 km/h.

  32. 100km - Garzelli is the only rider out on his own at the front as Soler drops back. Our breakaway man is 3:15 clear as he begins to work his way up the valley to Cesana Torinese via Ouix. Over the next 30km, the route climbs 600m in elevation.

  33. 105km - Garzelli won a fascinating three-way battle with Gilberto Simoni and Francesco Casagrande for the 2000 overall title in Italy. In the final time trial he took over the lead from Casagrande, who was suffering with an inflamed sciatic nerve. However, he was then caught up in the 2002 doping scandal at the race and controversially forced out - after testing positive for a masking agent.

  34. 110km - Eddy Merckx visited Lance Armstrong and the Astana team yesterday - a mere 12 Tour de France victories there. Garzelli is now 54 seconds clear of Soler as they race downhill, with the peleton in a solid group again 1:23 behind the leader.

  35. 115km - The leaders now have a fast, 14km descent through the town of Susa to the valley floor. Leipheimer topped our poll to find out who will win this year's race. Poll Results

  36. 120km - At the top of the Moncenisio, Garzelli hangs on for the King of the Mountains points from Soler, Lance Armstrong (Astana), Danilo Di Luca (LPR) and Chris Horner (Astana).

  37. 121km - Mauricio Soler is 18 seconds behind Garzelli, with the peleton - split into two - a further six seconds further back.

  38. 122km - Garzelli reins him in and takes over, eight seconds clear of a sizeable chasing splinter group... 2km to the top...

  39. 124km - As the mountain's summit approaches, Johann Tschopp (Bouygues Telecom) pulls 28 seconds clear. He wants those King of the Mountains points...

  40. 125km - Briton Ben Swift (Barloworld) - who hails from the same South Yorkshire village as your commentator - is sucked out of the leading group and eventually back into the peleton. Catch up with the best images from the race by clicking here.

  41. 130km - The riders are on the first climb of the day, the Moncenisio. A 10.2km ascent which climbs 817 meters and has an average gradient of 8 per cent - the maximum gradient is a whopping 14 per cent. Cavendish now has four stage wins in the race but has some way still to go if he is to break Mario Cipollini's record of 42. Giro history

  42. 135km - The difference is now 56 seconds. Rogers, third on GC, had a relaxing rest day with just a mere two and a half hours on the bike and "a few interviews and as much sleep as possible", according to his Twitter page.

  43. 140km - At Susa the lead is down to a minute. The riders of Acqua e Sapone are at the head of the chasing group.

  44. 145km - There are 12 riders in one group ahead of the peleton, 1:10 clear. Prosecutors in Austria are investigating whether banned cyclists Bernhard Kohl and Michael Rasmussen helped others with blood doping. "We are investigating everyone who took part in the purchase of this equipment," Vienna State prosecution spokesman Gerhard Jarosch said yesterday. Kohl's attorney, Manfred Ainedter, denied any wrongdoing by his client.

  45. 150km - The average speed in the second hour was 48.2 km/h. There are now three groups: one of 10 which is 34 seconds clear of the second, which in turn is 56 seconds ahead of the main body.

  46. 155km - They have fragmented into four groups now: at the front are a bunch of seven, with three following before the two bigger groups trail behind.

  47. 160km - The gap between the two groups is now up to 1:35.

  48. 165km - The peleton splits into two groups, eight seconds apart.

  49. 170km - After the first mostly-flat part of today's route, which took in the towns of Saluzzo and Cavour, the leaders are sucked back in.

  50. 175km - 2000 Giro winner Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo), Vladimir Efimkim (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Mathieu Sprick (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), David Lopez Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne) and Serge Pauwels (Cervélo TestTeam) join the escapees.

  51. 180km - Morris Possoni (Columbia), Carlos Jose Ochoa (Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni-Androni Giocattoli) and Tiralongo break away and are currently 10 seconds clear.

  52. 185km - Janez Brajkovic is 30th on GC and spent the rest watching CSI Miami! "Love it. Wish I had the whole season with me," the Astana rider twittered.

  53. 190km - Now the riders face an 8km ascent to Colletta de Cumiana: it's only a 300m elevation so nothing to worry about - even for the biggest sprinter.

  54. 195km - Danilo Di Luca, the 2007 champion, goes into today's stage wary of a number of close rivals. He holds a 13-second lead over Sweden's Thomas Lovkvist whose Columbia team-mate Michael Rogers is third overall at 44 seconds. A quartet of bigger pink jersey contenders - Leipheimer, Denis Menchov, Ivan Basso and Carlos Sastre - are between 51 seconds and 1:24 in arrears. General Classification

  55. 200km - The peloton is just going through the finishing town of Pinerolo for the first time, with the riders of Xacobeo and Garmin at its head. Pinerolo is 40km south-west of Turin on the River Chisone. It hosted the curling at the 2006 Winter Olympics and the Uruguayan football team Penarol takes its name from this town.

  56. 205km - The two groups merge again, the gap having peaked at 18 seconds.

  57. 210km - There are 23 riders in the leading group, leading now by 15 seconds. The average speed is 50.4 km/h.

  58. 215km - Paolo Tiralongo (Lampre) and Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale) have a nibble out in front and are soon joined by a large group which stands five seconds clear of the other half of the peleton.

  59. 220km - Kaisen breaks away again and gets 18 seconds clear of the peleton before he is hauled back in a few kilometres later. Just stretching his legs.

  60. 225km - But the victory was overshadowed as the riders decided the stage around Milan was too dangerous and would not count towards the GC. Giro d'Italia director Angelo Zomegnan has warned the riders who stopped racing because of safety fears there could be a public backlash against the protest. Full story

  61. 230km - "I'm not in the shape at Milan-San Remo but I'm in better overall condition than last year," said Cavendish. "I'm actually feeling better each day and so hopefully my form is getting better too."

  62. 235km - We had a rest day yesterday but it was British sprint king Mark Cavendish who claimed his first victory of the centenary Giro on Sunday to hand his dominant Columbia team their fourth win of the race. This is how he did it

  63. 240km - The main body of riders absorb him back into their midst, like a stray meatball into so much bolognese sauce. Perhaps.

  64. 245km - Check out the conditions for today's stage. Weather report

  65. 250km - Levi Leipheimer is looking forward to the stage: "It's a big day today here in the Giro, 262km, three big climbs and seven hours. Bright and sunny here in the Italian Alps. Stay tuned..."

  66. 255km - Olivier Kaisen (Silence-Lotto) moves out in front. Steady on, son, you've a day of work ahead of you.

  67. 260km - Cuneo is a city in Piedmont. It is located at the foot of the Maritime Alps on the Stura di Demonte river where it emerges from the Valle Stura and neighbours the communes of Boves, Cervasca, Vignolo, Beinette, Peveragno, Castelletto Stura, Caraglio and Tarantasca. During World War II, from 1943 to 1945, it was one of the main centres of partisan resistance against the German occupation of Italy.

  68. 262km - Today's 10th stage of the Giro d'Italia is the longest of the race, a monster 262km trek from Cuneo to Pinerolo. 190 riders set off at 10:00 local time.

 

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