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Giro d'Italia - Forli - Faenza

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  1. 0km - Thanks for following today's coverage of the Giro d'Italia here on eurosport.yahoo.com, and join us for more coverage of tomorrow's stage.

  2. 0km - So no changes at all in terms of the contenders for the GC win. Denis Menchov remains in the pink jersey, 34 seconds ahead of Danilo di Luca, and 43 seconds ahead of Levi Leipheimer.

  3. 0km - Ag2r's Tadej Valjavec has sprinted clear of the pink jersey group and finishes a couple of seconds ahead of the favourites.

  4. 0km - Pauwels wins the sprint for second place, with Marci Pinotti back in third, Lars Bak fourth and Marco Marzano fifth. Pauwels will not be content with that though. We are hearing he was told to wait for Carlos Sastre, though that was clearly a tactical blunder from Cervelo.

  5. 0km - Bertagnolli takes the stage win! And deservedly so! The Cervelo team have really mucked things up for poor Serge Pauwels today.

  6. 1km - Leonardo Bertagnolli goes under the red kite now! His victory looks certain!

  7. 2km - There seems to be a bit of hesitation in the Pauwels group as to who will do the work! They can't afford that, or their chances will be gone!

  8. 3km - Bertagnolli has three kilometres separating him from his first stage win of his career in a grant tour. Serge Pauwels must now realise his team have dropped a huge tactical clanger, and it's in the balance as to whether his group can chase down Bertagnolli.

  9. 5km - Pauwels and Pinotti are driving this chasing group now. They look the strongest two. Lars Bak is just sitting in there. They are just 37 seconds down on Bertagnolli now!

  10. /8km - Leonardo Bertagnolli has 2'05" on the pink jersey group, while the Armstrong / Cunego group is 2'35" back. To be fair, the real threat to Bertagnolli is the remains of the breakaway group. The likes of Pinotti and Lars Bak are still right in the mix between the leader and the pink jersey group.

  11. 9km - Armstrong and Cunego are chasing hard to get back into the pink jersey group. Popovych is in this quartet too.

  12. 10km - Bertagnolli goes under the 10-kilometre barrier. He's on his own now after Pauwels sat up, which will make it extremely difficult for him to get to the finish.

  13. 15km - Serge Pauwels has sat up and has cut his tempo! And now Garzelli and Basso have done the same in their group! Incrediable. Perhaps they realise that the Menchov / Di Luca group will inevitably close them down.

  14. 19km - Serge Pauwels and Leonardo Bertagnolli remain out front. THey are being chased by the Ivan Basso group, while Di Luca and Menchov are just under 3'00" back.

  15. 22km - Will there be some regrouping before the finish?

  16. 24km - The final 26 kilometers are almost entirely downhill.

  17. 26km - Di Luca has exploded out of the main bunch near the summit of the Monte Trebbio but Menchov is on his wheel.

  18. 28km - The gap is 2:20 back to Basso and Garzelli and 3:24 to the pink jersey group. The maximum gradient of 16% is yet to come.

  19. 30km - Bertagnolli (Diquigiovanni) is pounding up the final climb of the day, the Monte Trebbio, along with Pinotti (Columbia), Pauwels (Cervelo) and Marzano (Lampre). Those four riders lead the stage.

  20. 32km - After a steep descent of just over 300 meters in 4km, the course is climbing again.

  21. 36km - The maximum gradient came near the summit and hits 12%. The seven leaders were 33 seconds ahead of five of the original escapees. Basso and Garzelli cross 2:19 back, some 41 seconds ahead of the pink jersey group which contains only around 20 riders.

  22. 38km - Stefano Garzelli and Ivan Basso are on the counter-attack and trail the lead group which is down to seven by under three and a half minutes.

  23. 40km - The Monte Casale climbs 406 meters in 8.7 kilometers and LIQUIGAS have suddenly upped the pace. It has caused some chaos and Gilberto Simoni is in trouble.

  24. 45km - The lead has blown out to over six minutes and with 15 teams involved in the break, this one looks destined to stick. Pick your winner: Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne), Navarro (Astana), Donati (Acqua & Sapone), Pauwels (Cervelo), Grivko (ISD), Marzano (Lampre), Serpa and Bertagnolli (Diquigiovanni), Bak (Saxo Bank), Vorganov (Xacobeo Galicia), Montaguti (LPR), Eskov (Katusha), Pinotti (Columbia), Gonzalez Baeza (Fuji-Servetto), Stangelj (Liquigas) and Facci (Quick Step).

  25. 50km - The leaders have crossed the Valico la Valletta which rises 250m in three kilometers and now face an 8km stretch of gradual descending.

  26. 55km - The Giro d'Italia is LIVE NOW on British Eurosport 2 (Sky 411 / Virgin Media 525) and is also available on your PC via the Eurosport Player. Click here to subscribe

  27. 60km - The riders have just negoitated the Colla Albana, which climbed 222 meters in six kilometers, and the 16 escapees are 5:20 ahead.

  28. 65km - Britain's David Millar has retired from the race as promised. The Scot's broken collarbone earlier in the year meant he was never expected to finish the race.

  29. 70km - Faenza has hosted two Giro finishes recently. In 1970 Michele Cancelli took the win and six years ago Norway's Kurt Asle Arvesen celebrated a stage victory. The finish is at the Piazza del Popolo.

  30. 75km - We are in the northern foothills of the Appenino and the riders now have a 24km descent.

  31. 80km - The advantage of our 16 leaders was 4:40 at the summit of the Colle Carnevale.

  32. 85km - Spaniard Alejandro Valverde has won the Tour of Catalunya. The final stage, over 110.8 kms from Sant Cugat to the Formula One motor circuit in Montmelo, was won by New Zealand's Greg Henderson in a bunch sprint.

  33. 90km - None of today's climbs are that difficult but in accumulation they will test the riders. The GC contenders will be looking to keep their powder dry before tomorrow's monster stage.

  34. 95km - Now the riders have 12km of descending before the Colle Carnevale which is a punchy 6.2km climb with an average gradient of 6.2%.

  35. 100km - Since the start this morning, the riders have gone gradually uphill and have just ascended the longest of climb of the day, the 10.7km Passo dellÂ’Eremo. The gap back to the Rabobank-led peloton was 3:35.

  36. 110km - The lead group: Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne), Navarro (Astana), Donati (Acqua & Sapone), Pauwels (Cervelo), Grivko (ISD), Marzano (Lampre), Serpa and Bertagnolli (Diquigiovanni), Bak (Saxo Bank), Vorganov (Xacobeo Galicia), Montaguti (LPR), Eskov (Katusha), Pinotti (Columbia), Gonzalez Baeza (Fuji-Servetto), Stangelj (Liquigas) and Facci (Quick Step).

  37. 115km - 43.100 kmh was the speed in the first hour of racing.

  38. 120km - A group of 16 has escaped and built up a three minute lead. Names to follow shortly.

  39. 125km - Ricardo Serrano is the second Fuji-Servetto rider to abandon the race today.

  40. 130km - Hear what Gerrans had to say on the triumph. Video: Gerrans on stage win

  41. 135km - Australian Simon Gerrans of Cervelo sprinted clear on the brutal final 2km climb to claim victory yesterday. Levi Leipheimer and Ivan Basso lost three seconds on their main rivals while Michael Rogers and Lance Armstrong slipped down on the GC. General Classification

  42. 140km - Olivier Kaisen tried an early attack but was quickly reeled back and Dries Devenyns and Jens Voigt have also had attacks foiled. Still 'gruppo compatto'.

  43. 145km - Check out the conditions for today's stage. VERY HOT!! Weather report

  44. 150km - Forlì is a city in Emilia-Romagna, famed as the birthplace of the great painter Melozzo da Forlì, of the humanist historian Flavio Biondo, of the famous physicians Geronimo Mercuriali and Giovanni Battista Morgagni. The Fascist leader Benito Mussolini was born near Forlì as was his daughter Edda and his son Romano.

  45. 155km - The two non-starters this morning were Eros Capecchi of Fuji-Servetto and Tyler Farrar of Garmin. The American joins Mark Cavendish in making an early exit and with the big sprinters having departed it could be a day for a successful breakaway.

  46. 161km - Today's 15th stage of the Giro d'Italia is a lumpy 161km trek from Forlì to Faenza with four medium mountains en-route. 178 riders departed at 13:06 local time.

 

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