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Giro d'Italia - Pergola - Monte Petrano

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0km - Thanks for following our coverage of stage 16 of the Giro d'Italia. Join us for more coverage on Wednesday with another mountain stage from Chieti to Blockhaus.
0km - Leiphimer's hopes of his first grand tour win have takena battering. He rolls in a full 2'51" off the pace, and is now 4th on the general classification behind Sastre.
0km - Sastre's stage win give him 20 bonus seconds, while Menchov pocketed 12 for coming second, with Di Luca gaining 8 seconds.
0km - Ivan Basso is fourth, another ten seconds further back roughly.
0km - Denis Menchov attacks di Luca inside the final kilometre now! He finishes 24 seconds behind Sastre, with Di Luca at 26 seconds.
0km - Victory for Carlos Sastre! A superb performance on the Monte Petrano!
0.3km - Sastre passes over the top and switches into the big ring!
0.5km - Sastre is within sight of the finish line now!
1km - Menchov and Di Luca are about to catch Ivan Basso.
1km - Carlos Sastre goes under the red kite!
2km - Sastre has now gone ahead of Leipheimer on the virtual GC - a nightmare for the American! Armstrong is still pacing his compatriot up the Monte Petrano!
2km - Basso now goes under the 2 kilometre barrier, 26 seconds behind Sastre.
2km - Popovych must be cursing now! After his very long day out working himself into the ground he has been passed in the final two kilometres.
2km - Menchov is still sticking like glue to Danilo Di Luca, and Sastre can now see Popovych up the road!!
3km - 38 seconds now separate Sastre and Popovych! The Spaniard now looks like he will catch Popo.
3km - Leipheimer and Armstrong are 3 minutes back from Popovych, so well over 1'30" back from Sastre and over a minute back from Menchov and Di Luca.
3km - Di Luca and Menchov are closing on Basso by the looks of things, while Sastre seems to be suffering too.
4km - Sastre is just 1'20" behind Popovych now! Just over 3 kilometres to go!
4km - Just as I say that, we see Armstrong has gone back to pace Leipheimer up the climb.
4km - Menchov and Di Luca have passed Cunego now. The giro seems to be slipping from Leipheimer's grasp. He was struggling earlier, and we haven't seen him on our screens for a while.
4km - Basso is still only 20 or 30 metres behind Sastre.
4km - Menchov and Di Luca go under the 5km barrier side by side.
4km - Sastre has caught Cunego! Can the Spaniard catch Popovych and win the stage?
5km - Di Luca has attacked Menchov! That's a huge dig! But Menchov responds immediately and counters successfully!
5km - Menchov hits the 5km barrier. Cunego is now 1'40" back, with Sastre at 2'55".
5km - Valjavec comes past Menchov and Di Luca now...as does Garzelli! Menchov is struggling!!
6km - Basso counters Sastre! And Menchov still doesn't follow! The Russian only seems worried with Di Luca!
6km - Sastre goes once again! And nobody can follow. Menchov is happy to let the Spaniard go, Basso is looking round wondering what to do, and Di Luca isn't moving either.
6km - Six kilometres to go for Yaroslav Popovych, and it looks like he has the stage win in the bag. Cunego is losing ground, and is now a minute back!
7km - Yet another dig from Sastre. They are all trying to grind down Menchov, though nobody has managed it yet. They are all suffering like dogs, and Menchov looks by far the most comfortable of the lot.
7km - Meanwhile, Bosisio is swallowed by the Menchov group.
7km - Sastre can't quite open up a gap now, and Di Luca is the enxt to try and break Menchov, but the big Russian is countering everybody's moves so far!
7km - Now Sastre makes it back...AND PUTS A HUGE DIG IN!!! We saw what he did on the Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France last year! Can he do it again?
8km - Leipheimer is in trouble!! He is being distanced! What will Lance Armstrong do now?
8km - Cunego is now 1'00" down on Yaroslav Popovych! The Lampre man cannot keep pace with the Astana man.
8km - Stefano Garzelli has bridged the gap too! As has Lance Armstrong! This may all come back together again.
8km - Basso attacks! And Menchov counters! Di Luca gets on the wheel of this pair, but nobody else can follow!
8km - Sastre is in trouble! He is losing contact!! No wonder Pauwels was looking round wondering what is going on.
9km - Serge Pauwels is at the front now for Cervelo and Sastre, while the favourites keep eachother in check just behind.
9km - The lime green jerseys of Liquigas have moved to teh front of the peloton for Basso and Pellizotti, while Popovych continues to move ahead of Cunego! 33 seconds is the gap that race radio is reporting!
10km - The Monte Petrano is 10.4km long, at an average gradient of 7.9%, though there is one nasty section towards the start of the climb at 13%!
11km - Popovych approaches the foot of the Monte Petrano now. Can he maintain his slender advantage over Cunego in the final climb of the day?
13km - Bosisio is now 1'34" down on Popovych, while Cunego is 24" back. Bosisio's chances are gone, but Cunego is still right in it, while the Menchov group are 5'00" back.
14km - Bosision is now 1 minute behind Cunego thanks to his problems on the descent. Meanwhile, there's a lot of movment in the pink jersey group as the favourites prepare themselves for the final climb of the day.
15km - Apparently the graphics on screen are wrong, so it's 4'48" back from Popovych to the pink jersey group containing all the main favourites. Meanwhile, Popovych has a 20-second advantage over Cunego.
17km - Cunego is chasing Popovych on his own now as Bosisio has apparently had a problem with his rear wheel.
19km - More confusion over time gaps! Our graphics on screen are telling us the peloton are 2'20" behind Popo, though race radio is reporting the gap as 4'20"!
20km - Ten Dam has left his leader behind on this narrow descent. We know Menchov is not a fan of going downhill, and he certainly won't like this one. Meanwhile, Popovych goes under the 20km barrier.
21km - Jeannesson (Caisse d'Epargne) was the one man still in no man's land between the lead trio and the pink jersey group, though he has picked up a puncture, and is swallowed as well.
22km - The pink jersey group are now 13 seconds behing Popovych.
23km - Gabirele Bosisio has overshot one of the corners in pursuit of Popovych, though he is back up and still ok. That will cost him a few seconds though.
24km - Levi Leipheimer has a puncture at a bad moment on the descent of the Catria! He swap bikes with a team-mate, and is immediately back on his way.
25km - Popovych has 13 seconds on the two Italians chasing him.
27km - An attack from Popovych on the descent now!!! And he has put distance into Bosisio and Cunego!
31km - Scarponi is now eaten up by the peloton, which crosses the top of the Monte Catria 3'10" behind the Cunego group. Which makes me question some of the time gaps given out by race radio over the past few kilometres.
31km - I'd love to update you with news of Chris Froome's attack, but he hasn't appeared on out screens for a while, so I quite simply don't know where he is. My guess is that he is still somewhere in no man's land between the peloton and the lead trio.
31km - Cunego crosses the top of the Monte Catria now to pick up the 10 mountains points, with Bosisio in second (6 points) and Popovych third (4 points).
31km - Popovych is still hanging on, and indeed he is about to regain contact with Cunego and Bosisio.
31km - Scarponi has totally blown. He is almost going backwards. He will be swallowed by the peloton in a minute or so.
31km - Cunego is still continuing his big dig with Bosisio in his wheel, and Popovych is gamely hanging on.
32km - Another attack from Cunego, and Bosisio is off in pursuit! Popovych is distanced, but only by a couple of metres.
32km - Race radio is reporting that the peloton, which is becoming smaller and smaller, is a mere 45 seconds behind the lead quartet now.
33km - Kjell Carlstrom of Liquigas is still going strong - in fact he has passed Michele Scarponi! At this rate he is likely to catch the three leaders at some point. He was initially in the big escape group.
34km - Ardila Cano and Laurens Ten Dam are still looking quite comfortable on the front of the peloton, which is certainly a good sign for Menchov and Rabobank ahead of the final climb of the day.
34km - Just 3 more kilometres to the summit of the Monte Catria for our leaders now.
36km - Cunego seems perhaps the freshest of this quartet, though Popovych seems not be be suffering quite so badly. And jsut as I type that, Popovych launches a big dig, Cunego and Bosisio follow it, and Scarponi has to let them go. The Diquigiovanni man really is suffering out there.
36km - Cataldo has been dropped by the chasing pack and will soon be swallowed up by the pink jersey group.
37km - An attack from the peloton from Eurosport blogger Chris Froome!!
38km - Scarponi (Diquigiovanni) has put in a giant effort to get back in touch with the other three leaders. In fact the quartet have slowed quite considerably on the Monte Catria.
39km - Team Columbia's young star Thomas Lovkvist has been dropped by the peloton, as has Gilberto Simoni!!
40km - Menchov has only Ten Dam at his side now, so Ardila Cano has come back from the breakaway to work for his leader as the peloton take on the first couple of kilometres of the Monte Catria.
43km - Cunego seems to be frustrated that nobody is taking over from him at the front, so he puts in a big dig, only for Popovych and Bosisio to spring straight into his wheel again. Scarponi looks to be struggling somewhat.
45km - The lead quartet are now about to attack the 1st-category 1368-metre Monte Catria. It's an 11 kilometre climb at around 8% average, though with one nasty passage at 13 kilometres.
48km - Here's a quick clarification of the stage at the moment: Out front are Popovych (Astana), Bosisio (LPR), Scarponi (Diquigiovanni) and Cunego (Lampre). 1'25" behind them are the remains of the breakaway group, including Jens Voigt (CSC), Francesco De Bonis (Diquigiovanni), Ardila Cano (Rabobank), Jeannesson (Caisse d'Epargne) and several others. The peloton, now led again by Denis Menchov's Rabobank team, are 4'40" back.
50km - Here's how they went through the intermediate sprint at Cantiano: 1. Scarponi (Diquigiovanni), 2. Popovych (Astana), 3. Cunego (Lampre).
55km - It's Michele Scarponi who is still doing most of the work at the front of the quartet as they approach Cantiano.
58km - Liquigas have taken over at the head of the peloton now. They are no longer represented in the new lead quartet.
60km - Juan Mauricio Soler has just climbed off his bike in the peloton. That just goes to show how difficult conditions are today - over 30 degree heat and blazing sunshine.
62km - Popovych and Bosisio have caught Cunego and Scarponi, and they now have a 55-second lead on the remains of the breakaway group.
65km - Yaroslav Popovych ups his tempo too. He doesn't want to see Cunego in particular go too far up the road! Bosisio has gone with him.
67km - An attack in the lead group! Scarponi puts in a big dig and Damiano Cunego has gone with him!!
68km - I mentioned the work of Laurens Ten Dam at the front of the peloton for Denis Menchov and Rabobank, but Tom Stamsnijder is also doing an excellent job. He may not be there to help his leader when the final climb of the day to Monte Petrani starts, but he's certainly helped keep this break well and truly in check.
69km - Quickstep's Davide Malacarne has taken a tumble in the peloton. His shorts are ripped at the back, but he gets up and manages to join onto the back of the pack.
70km - The descent down into the valley is a pretty quick one, though there's a nasty little sting in the tail of it, in the shape of the Plan di Polea, a short, sharp rise, before the Monte Catria starts.
72km - Popovych is the best-placed of the breakaway group in the GC. He is currently 14th, 9'00" behind Menchov, while Damiano Cunego is 15th, 9'43" back.
74km - All the big teams were careful to make sure they got a man in the break today. Menchov's Rabobank team sent Tjalingii and Cano Ardila forward - though the former has now joined the peloton. Di Luca (LPR) has Gabriele Bosisio out in front, while Leipheimer's Astana squad have one of their strongest domestiques there in Yaroslav Popovych. Basso and Pellizotti (Liquigas) also have Kjell Carlstrom in the break. All of which bodes well for an even finale to the stage, with no team under more pressure than any other to chase down the break.
76km - This descent is certainly very technical in parts. We've just had a shot of the road from the helicopter, and it's curve after curve after curve.
77km - The peloton go over the top of the Narone 3'40" behind the leaders.
79km - Laurens Ten Dam is keeping things moving at the head of the peloton. He has been invaluable as a top class domestique climber for Rabobank over the last few years.
80km - De Bonis took the ten points for going over the top of the Narone first, while Scarponi was second through to pick up six points, followed by Damiano Cunego, who picks up four.
81km - The lead group are approaching the summit of the climb, and it's still the two Diquigiovanni boys - De Bonis and Scarponi - at the front.
83km - Three kilometres to the summit of the climb, and Rabobank are doing a fine job so far for Menchov. They have reduced the gap to 4'25" now.
86km - Interesting to read Mario Cipollini's view of the race in one of the Italian papers this morning. He reckoned that this stage would be perhaps the last chance Di Luca and Leipheimer have of snatching the pink jersey away from Denis Menchov. Di Luca in particular knows he absolutely must have the pink jersey going into the final time-trial around the streets of Rome if he is to have a chance of winning his second Giro d'Italia.
88km - A charity football match is being organised today between journalists and former champion cyclists. Among the former cyclists lining up are Moreno Argentin, Paolo Bettini, Francesco Moser, Gianni Bugno and Giuseppe Saronni! If they are half as good with a ball at their feet as they are on their bikes, then the journalists are in for a run-around.
88km - Xacobeo's Delio Fernandez has lost contact too, and we are down to 14 riders in the breakaway. A bottle of water is being passed round the escape and the riders are pouring it over their heads and down their backs. LPR's Gabriele Bosisio is looking quite comfortable in comparison to one or two of the others.
89km - It's the Diquigiovanni duo of Michele Scarponi and Francesco de Bonis who are setting the pace on the climb for the leaders.
91km - The average speed after 4 hours racing 36.1km/h.
92km - The Rabobank-led peloton are now a very manageable 5'45" back from the leaders.
93km - No sooner has the climb begun than Martin Tjallingii of Rabobank and Pavel Brutt of Katusha are spat straight out of the back of the escape group.
96km - The Monte Narone is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. It starts of at a gentle 2.7% for the first 1.5 kilometres, but then ramps up to a leg-sapping 8.6% until the 7km mark. It then continues at 7.9% for another 2 kilometres, before going up to 8.1% for the final 4 kilometres. The altitude at the summit is 1525 metres.
98km - The lead group are now on the slopes of Monte Narone. Will they all stay together over this difficult climb?
102km - Michele Scarponi in the lead group has a technical problem and has to stop to let his mechanic sort his bike out, though he is soon back on his way.
109km - Yohann Gène of Bouygues Telecom has abandoned today, so we are down to 174 riders. Gène was 164th, a hefty 2h47'15" behind Menchov.
111km - The breakaway has reached the top of a mini rise in the road, La Rocca Leonella. I can't really term it a climb, given the four other real climbs in the stage today, but in any case it will be all downhill now towards Pianello, where they will start the ascent of Monte Nerone. The peloton is still hovering at 6'15" back.
113km - A quick reminder of the composition of our escape group: Dion (AG2R), Bellotti (Barloworld), Jeannesson (Caisse d'Epargne), Popovych (Astana), Sprick (Bouygues), Bosisio (LPR), Voigt (Saxo Bank), Scarponi (Diquigiovanni), Cunego (Lampre), Cataldo (Quick Step), Carlstrom (Liquigas), Gomez (Fuji), Ardila Cano (Rabobank), De Bonis (Diquigiovanni), Lopez Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne), Tjallingii (Rabobank), Brutt (Katusha), Fernandez Cruz (Xacobeo).
116km - Bosisio (LPR) and De Bonis (Diquigiovanni) try an attack, but the rest immediately shut it down, and we're back to normal within a matter of minutes in the escape group.
118km - We're now exactly halfway through that stage and the Rabobank team continue to pull the peloton along 6'30" behind the leaders. Denis Menchov is sat pretty in pink, five riders back.
125km - 6'12" is the gap between the peloton and the escapees with 125km to go. The average speed is 37.8km/h. It looks like they're saving themselves for the final climbs.
128km - The peloton passes through the feeding zone at Acqualunga now. They're just short of halfway in today's stage.
136km - The gap is beginning to come down now as Rabobank up their tempo just a tad. 6'50" is the latest split.
141km - It's a blisteringly hot day here in the province of Pesaro-Urbino, and Levi Leipheimer even gone so far as to stuff a big of ice down the back of his jersey to keep himself cool.
142km - Voigt and Popovych have seen their escape attempt is not going to come to anything, have sat up, and have now joined back in with the larger escape group. The prospect of just the two of them trying to stay ahead of a high-quality escape group for 140 more extremely hilly kilometres can't have been too tempting.
142km - Tom Danielson and Bradley Wiggins have now been swallowed up by the peloton.
144km - Scarponi and Brutt have now rejoined the big escape group after their fall, though Voigt and Popovych still have a small lead.
145km - The leaders' advantage has dipped slightly to 8'16" as the orange and blue Rabobank train set the pace at the head of the pack.
146km - We're still waiting on news on Scarponi and Brutt - it's not clear yet quite where they are.
146km - Cataldo has managed to pick himself up and get himself back into the escape group, but no sooner has he done that than Jens Voigt and Yaroslav Popovych launch an attack!
150km - A fall in the escape group on the descent! Katusha's Pavel Brutt has hit the tarmac along with Dario Cataldo and Michele Scarponi!
156km - The leaders have just gone over the summit of the Monte delle Cesane now. Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni) was the first man over the top, followed by Arnold Jeannesson (Caisse d'Epargne) and Yaroslav Popovych of Astana.
158km - The peloton are now 8'38" back from the leaders as they approach the summit of the Monte delle Cesane.
160km - 14 men are leading they are: Dion (AG2R), Bellotti (Barloworld), Jeannesson (Caisse d'Epargne), Popovych (Astana), Sprick (Bouygues), Bosisio (LPR), Voigt (Saxo Bank), Scarponi (Diquigiovanni), Cunego (Lampre), Cataldo, Carlstrom (Liquigas), Gomez (Fuji), Ardila Cano (Rabobank) and De Bonis (Diquigiovanni). Brutt (Katusha), Lopez Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne), Tjallingii (Rabobank) and Fernandez (Xacobeo-Galicia) are just behind while Brit Bradley Wiggins and Tom Danielson have lost contact after being part of the intial 20-man escape.
165km - Here we go for the first major climb of the day, the Monte delle Cesane which begins in the town of Fossombrone. The maximum gradient of 18%, comes inside the first kilometer of climbing.
170km - Levi Leipheimer was drug tested this morning, he tweeted: "Woken up early on an already early morning for anti-doping control. Long day today! Get to next hotel at 9pm."
175km - Disgraced Austrian Bernhard Kohl has announced his retirement from competition at the age of 27 following a two-year suspension for doping. Full Story
180km - Pavel Brutt has taken a tumble but is back on his bike and in a peloton which trails the escape group by 6:20.
185km - Here the thoughts of Bertagnolli and Serge Pauwels on the stage into Faenza. Video: Bertagnolli interview
190km - If you missed any of yesterday's stage, here are the highlights. Video: Stage 15
195km - 40.1km covered in the opening hour.
200km - 4:35 is now the advantage for the lead group, names to follow shortly.
205km - The riders face 42.5km of climbing today - the Monte delle Cesane (7.7km, 512m, avg 6.6%, max 18%), the Monte Nerone (13.4km, 1025m, avg 7.6%, max 12%), the Monte Catria (11.0km, 876m, avg 8.0%, max 13%) and the Monte Petrano (10.4km, 824m, avg 7.9%, max 13%).
210km - A group of 20 has now opened up a two minute lead over the peloton.
215km - Massimo Codol of Lampre has abandoned early on in today's stage.
220km - The top seven on GC stay unchanged but Lance Gilberto Simoni was the big loser as he dropped from eighth to 26th. Britain's Chris Froome also slipped from the top 30 as he paid for Saturday's effort. General Classification
225km - Yesterday's stage was won by another Diquigiovanni man in Leonardo Bertagnolli. This is how he did it.
230km - The Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni duo of Michele Scarponi and Francesco De Bonis have gone off on a suicidal long break.
235km - The riders have left Pergola, a municipality in the Province of Pesaro e Urbino in the region of Marche. It's another scorcher. Weather Report
237km - Here we go for what could be the most exciting and pivotal stage of the Giro d'Italia. It certainly is the race's most gruelling, a mountainous 237km trek through the Apennines between Pergola and Monte Petrano. 175 riders departed at 10:45 local time.