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Giro d'Italia - Sulmona - Benevento

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0km - Thanks for following stage 18 of the Giro d'Italia on eurosport.yahoo.com, and log on tomorrow for live comments on what should be a thrilling stage to Vesuvius.
0km - The peloton now rolls in 3'55" back, though nothing changes in the top ten of the GC.
0km - The result is in. Felix Cardenas took second, with Danny Pate in third, Lars Ytting Bak fourth, and Dmytro Grabovskyy a rather distant fifth.
0km - It's a photo-finish for second, with Lars Bak, Danny Pate and Felix Cardenas all crossing the line together.
0km - Danny Pate closes it down and Devenyns is now cooked! That's the cue for Felix Cardenas to go for home on the right hand side...Pate comes past him...but here comes Scarponi!!!! Scarponi pulls away and takes it!
0.5km - Devenyns goes again! this is a big push! The Saxo Bank boys are trying to counter it!
1km - Theygo under the final kilometre it's one from seven, and there are two Saxo Bank riders in there.
2km - McCartney goes hard after Devenyns and Visconti and Bosisio try to bridge the gap to the leaders.
2km - Grabovskyy has made it across too, as Devenyns attacks hard!
3km - Pate and Bak try their luck, but Devenyns closes it down again, with McCartney right on his wheel.
3km - Scarponi is desperately trying to bridge the gap, and suddenly we're back to sixmen out front. Devenyns has got back too.
3km - A perfect situation for Saxo Bank-two men in the lead four!
3km - Cardenas attacks again, Bak is up there as is his team-mate McCartney, and Danny Pate!
4km - McCartney and Cardenas have a couple of seconds over the rest now.
4km - The peloton have now arrived onto the cobbles of the circuit.
6km - The cat and mouse games have meant the lead eight have been caught by the other escapees who were dropped earlier!
7km - Pate attacks now, Grabovskyy is right on his tail! Now Grabovskyy moves out and goes on himself. He's a big strong rider who can go from afar.
9km - An attack has come from Jason McCartney now! He has been joined by Dries Devenyns!
10km - The lead eight go under the 10-kilometre barrier! Saxo Bank have the clear advantage with two men in there.
13km - This breakaway will remain clear allthe way to the finish! 2'45" is the gap back to the peloton.
14km - Right, the eight men in the lead group now are: Bak, Pate, McCartney, Zeits, Devenyns, Cardenas, Grabovskyy and Scarponi. The remains of the breakaway are desperately trying to get back on level terms.
15km - There we go! The attacks in the breakaway have started! Both Saxo Bank riders Bak and McCartney are in there, Danny Pate is in there, Quinziato is there too, as is Grabovskyy and Cardenas. It's an eight man group out front now.
18km - We can expect a fair numbers of attacks to come from this breakaway over the final few kilometres - especially those who don't have a sprint on them.
21km - It's interesting to note that the last few hundred metres of today's stage are on cobbles, so it really is lucky that the rain has stopped.
22km - Race radio reports the latest split as 2'50"
25km - Both the breakaway and the peloton are burying themselves now. It's going to be close as to whether they can stay clear.
28km - Denis Menchov may be able to take things a little easier today, but he knows a tough day awaits him tomorrow on Vesuvius: "It's a different climb. I think it willsuit meless than Blockhaus, which is a more even climb. I am expecting Di Luca to attack. I will try to stay with him, just as I did yesterday and at Monte Petrano," he said.
30km - The breakaway are working pretty well together, but they have all expended a lot more energy than the peloton, and are inevitably going to feel that over the last 30 kilometres.
35km - 3'50" is the latest split with 35 kilometres remaining!
45km - All of which is good news for Allan Davis and Alessandro Petacchi, who could get the chance to contest a bunch sprint.
46km - Fuji-Servetto and Milram continue to work like trojans on the front of the peloton. The gap is down to 5'00" with 46 kilometres to go.
49km - Some news on Astana's Chris Horner, who crashed on stage 10 of the race: Scans in San Diego revealed he has suffered a small fracture of his left tibia.He still hopes to ride the Tour de France, but has been ordered to take an extra two weeks' rest.
51km - Of the escapees, Astana's Yaroslav Popovych is the best placed on the general classification. He lies 14th, 16'43" back from Denis Menchov.
53km - The average speed in the third hour of racing was 43.8km/h.
54km - 5'30" the gap now. It's coming down slowly but surely as Fuji-Servetto hit the front of the peloton.
55km - Thankfully the weather has dried out now, and the riders are no longer having to take curves on wet roads. The temperature is still cool, and the sky still overcast, though a lot brighter than an hour ago.
60km - The presence of Milram, Fuji-Servetto and Ag2r alongside Rabobank has helped bring this gap down a bit below the 6-minute mark.
64km - The riders are just passing through the rather beautiful town of Piedimonte Matese. Well, it certainly looks pretty from these shots fromthe helicopter - can't pretend I've been there.
65km - Milram and Ag2r have moved to the front of the peloton to help Rabobank out. Neither of these teams are represented in the breakaway.
66km - Just looking down those names, if it were to come to a sprint finish, Julian Dean wouldn't be a bad bet, while Liquigas' Manuel Quinziato and Katusha's Evgeni Petrov are pretty strong too. Dean has the advantage of having a team-mate in the break in Danny Pate. Columbia's duo of Lovkvist and Siutsou can both go from afar, as could Saxo Bank's Jason McCartney and Lars Bak.
67km - A quick reminder of exactly who is in our lead group: Popovych and Zeits (Astana), Bak and McCartney (Saxo Bank), Pate and Dean (Garmin), Bosisio (LPR), Scarponi (Diquigiovanni), Siutsou and Lovkvist (Columbia), Petrov (Katusha), Lopez Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne), Masciarelli (Acqua e Sapone), Cardenas (Barloworld), Voeckler (Bouygues), Deignan (Cervelo), Visconti, Grabovskyy (ISD), Gavazzi (Lampre) , Quinziato (Liquigas), Devenyns and Seeldrayers (Quick Step), Bertolini (Diquigiovanni), Ljungblad (Silence-Lotto), Vorganov (Xacobeo Galicia).
69km - It's looking more and more like this breakaway will stay clear to the finish. Rabobank seem happy just to keep them under control, while LPR understandably don't seem hell-bent on setting up a mass sprint for Petacchi, given the work they will have to do for Di Luca on Vesuvius tomorrow. Quick Step might have done something for Allan Davis, though with two men in the break, there's no need.
70km - The breakaway have extended their lead out to 6'15".
71km - Also, if you happened to miss yesterday's stage finish to Blockhaus, catch it here on video: Pellizotti takes solo win
73km - While the race settles down, why not have a look at Johan Bruyneel's thoughts on Lance Armstrong's return to grand tour racing: Bruyneel backs Armstrong
75km - The breakaway's lead has stabilised at around the 5'00" mark.
78km - Stefano Garzelli and Danilo di Luca are spinning away in the peloton next to eachother. There certainly doesn't seem to be any bad blood between the two, and I'm sure Di Luca has far more sense than the tifosi who booed Garzelli at the end of yesterday's stage.
79km - Ooh! Philip Deignan has either gone down today while the cameras were off him, or he is still bearing some nasty scars from his fall yesterday. His hands and handlebars have fresh-looking scars all over them, and his shorts are torn too - indicating he has been down today again. I certainly didn't see it on my screens, and race radio hasn't mentioned anything of it either.
80km - Zeits' jersey is torn allaround the shoulder are from that fall earlier, though he himself looks to be doing okay. Meanwhile, the peloton have hit the feeding zone.
82km - The lead group now pass through the feeding zone at Quattro Venti.
84km - And as a perfect contrast, it's beautifully sunny in Benevento, where the stage ends today.
85km - The breakaway's lead has now gone out to a full 5'00" as the showers turn into driving rain on the breakaway. It's still dry where the peloton are, but it won't stay like that for long.
91km - The rain is starting to come down a little heavier on the riders now, and the roads are getting gradually more slippery.
92km - A story emerged yesterday about Austrian investigators talking to race leader Denis Menchov's team about a possible link to the Humanplasma laboratory, which was reportedly at the centre of a blood doping ring, though the Russian has denied any involvement. For more on this, click below: Menchov denies doping involvement
94km - Andrey Zeits and Francesco Gavazzi have just dropped back to the team cars due to technical problems, though are soon on their way. In fact looking at the way they are checking over their shorts, it looks like they had a fall. We didn't have pictures of them hitting the deck, though Gavazzi is brushing down his elbow.
95km - Well, we haven't got the glorious weather we have had over the past few days, though I suspect the riders will not mind putting up with damp roads if they don't have to endure blazing sunshine and searing heat.
97km - 45.1km/h average over the last hour of racing. Frenetic stuff.
99km - The gap is growing all the time, and the Rabobank team at the head of the peloton are having to work hard to keep this under control. 3'45" is the latest split with just under 100 kilometres until the finish.
106km - The advantage of the big lead group has now grown to 3'00" over the peloton.
112km - Right, here's the composition of the lead group: Popovych and Zeits (Astana), Bak and McCartney (Saxo Bank), Pate and Dean (Garmin), Bosisio (LPR), Scarponi (Diquigiovanni), Siutsou and Lovkvist (Columbia), Petrov (Katusha), Lopez Garcia (Caisse d'Epargne), Masciarelli (Acqua e Sapone), Cardenas (Barloworld), Voeckler (Bouygues), Deignan (Cervelo), Dean, Visconti, Grabovskyy (ISD), Gavazzi (Lampre) , Quinziato (Liquigas), Devenyns and Seeldrayers (Quick Step), Bertolini (Diquigiovanni), Ljungblad (Silence-Lotto), Vorganov (Xacobeo Galicia).
114km - The breakaway has 1'30" on the peloton.
115km - The lead quintet have now been caught by the chasing pack and we have a big group of 25 riders out front.
115km - A reminder of the standings on the general classification: 1. D Menchov (RAB); 2. D di Luca (LPR) + 0:26; 3. F Pellizotti (LIQ) + 2:00; 4. I Basso (LIQ) + 3:28; 5 C Sastre (SAX) + 3:30. For a more complete GC list, please follow the link below: General Classification
116km - Grabovskyy has done it! He has made it across to the others, and we now have five out front.
116km - It's the Rabobank team who are at the head of the peloton now, with Denis Menchov sat fourth in line.
118km - Grabovskyy attacks from the chasing pack, trying to bridge the gap across to the lead quartet.
120km - The Scarponi group has a 21 second advantage over a big group of about 20 riders, who in turn have a 30 second lead on the peloton, containing the maglia rosa.
124km - That big group has now been swallowed, and a dangerous looking quartet has now formed out front: Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni) Gabriele Bosisio (LPR), Yaroslav Popovych (Astana) and Danny Pate (Garmin) are the four riders.
127km - Meanwhile, Scarponi'steam-mate Jackson Rodriguez gets himself back into the peloton after a fall.
129km - Now Scarponi attacks again! He is immediately joined by a big group of about 20 riders!
131km - That quartet have now been caught by the main group. The tempo remains extremely high. So many riders are desperate to get themselves into a break.
139km - Now a quartet look to have gone clear. Philip Deignan (Cervelo), Danny Pate (Garmin), Dmytro Grabovskyy (ISD) and Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) have gained a few seconds on the pack.
142km - Diquigiovanni's Alessandro Bertolini is at the head of the peloton at the moment. Denis Menchov is sat comfortably about 15 riders back.
143km - A more than respectable 39.7 kilometres was covered in the first hour's racing. Impressive given that most of those kilometres were uphill.
150km - The peloton are now on the descent of the Piano delle Cinque Miglia, still together.
155km - Scarponi's attack is closed down, as are another series of attacks from the peloton.
155km - An interesting, and slightly unfortunate development at the end of yesterday's stage to Blockhaus. Stefano Garzelli,who took second place ahead of Danilo di Luca in the final sprint at the summit, was roundly booed by the Italian cycling fans for snapping 4 bonus seconds away from Di Luca. A large number of the fans on the summit were big Di Luca fans, as he himself is from the region, though Garzelli defended himself, saying: "I am riding my race. I don't see why I should have let Danilo pass. We're not on the same team, and I have my climber's jersey to worry about."
160km - Scarponi also one of the members of the long breakaway last Monday,on the stage that finished on Monte Petrano. He was in the big 20-man break that went away on the first climb of the day, then attacked again to whittle the escape group down to four, though he was the first of those to be dropped on the Monte Catria. As it happened, none of the other three escapees held on until the finish either, with Yaroslav Popovych the last to be caught.
160km - The first 20 kilometres or racing have seen no end of breakaway attempts, but it's Diquigiovanni's Michele Scarponi who has gone clear. Scarponilies 29th on the GC, 51'15" off the pace.
182km - A breakaway win is perhaps the most likely outcome today, though two men hoping their teams will give them a shot in a possible sprint are Alessandro Petacchi and Allan Davis. Whether LPR will be prepared to put in the amount of work to pull back any breakaway, given that they also have Di Luca challenging for the pink jersey, remains to be seen. Quick Step, having shown precious little this tour, have no excuse not to work.
182km - Just one big climb on the agenda today, and that comes pretty much straight after the start. It's the Piano delle Cinque Miglia, a category 2 climb that should provide a breakaway with an ideal platform on which to escape. After that, it's all largely downhill, with a flat finish.
182km - Today's 18th stage of the Giro d'Italia comprises a 182km ride from Sulmona to Benevento and should be one for a breakaway. 172 riders set off at 12:50 local time.