As it happened: Breakaway succeeds and GC shaken up on crash-marred stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia!

Here’s a look at the profile of today’s stage, which features a hilly closing circuit in Nova Gorica-Gorizia.

And here’s the stage 14 map.

Crunch time for Giro d’Italia sprinters – Who hasn’t won yet, and what are their chances?

Only two sprints left in Italy, with the fast finishes so far won by four different riders

Here’s a look back at the stage 13 results.

Giro d’Italia: Mads Pedersen digs deep in uphill charge against Wout van Aert for stage 13 victory

Maglia rosa Isaac del Toro rockets to third in fast finish across Monte Berico

30 minutes until the riders roll out in Treviso to start the day’s 6.4km neutral zone.

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Brandon Rivera is not at the start today, having pulled out of the race. The Colombian has done sterling work in aid of his Ineos teammate and compatriot Egan Bernal, especially on the strade bianche stage, and will be sorely missed as a domestique.

Isaac Del Toro sets off on what will be his fifth day in the pink jersey. He’s looked comfortable in it so far, and is starting to have ambitions of taking it all the way to Rome. He shouldn’t have many problems defending it today on what is a flat parcours.

The riders are off from the unofficial start.

The parcours is pan flat for the first 140km today, before a few small hills in the final phase of the race. You can’t imagine there will be many riders wanting to spend this one up the road in the breakaway.

The riders have stopped at kilometre 0 to greet Fausto Pinarello of the bike brand, that is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first ever Giro won on one of their bikes. We’re in the manufacturer’s heartlands roday, Treviso.

OFFICIAL START

And we’re off!

There are multiple attacks from the flag, and Groupama’s Paleni has gotten away. 

Dries De Bondt has jumped out the peloton to try and join him.

De Bondt has joined Paleni.

8 more riders are chasing that duo.

Wout van Aert is one of the riders in this chasing group. Surely he won’t be allowed up the road?

These 8 riders have joined the 2 leaders.

 Černý is the latest rider to join this group.

Asgreen and Van der Horn are two of the other riders here, plus a couple of Alpecin riders. You’d assume they’re marking this move rather than contributing to it, with their sprinter Kaden Groves one of the favourites in the event of a bunch sprint.

More attacks are being made from the peloton, including Josh Tarling. This is much less controlled than anticipated for such a flat stage.

The two Alpecin riders in the break are Hermans and Van den Bossche, while the other riders are Dewulf, Lamperti and Edmondson.

The 11 leaders have 22 seconds. Could this really be the break of the day?

Tudor Pro Cycling aren’t happy with this break, and are the team pacing the peloton to try to shut it down.

VF Group-Bardiani also aren’t happy at having missed out, and are aiding Tudor with the chase.

180KM TO GO

Their work is having an effect – the gap has come down to 12 seconds

Q36.5 and Polti are also helping the chase in the peloton, which is strung out in a long line as a consequence of this fierce pace.

Both the break and the peloton are really pushing it, and the gap between them is at 10 seconds.

The break is being brought back now, as Ineos up the pace.

There were some splits after Ineos acceleration, but the race is all back together again.

So we’re back to square one. Kasper Asgreen attacks to start round two of the attacks.

Asgreen is joined by Maestri. His Polti team will be determined to make the break this time after missing the first one.

Meintjes, Davy and Marcellusi are pursuing them.

Teams are blocking the front of the peloton. They’re happy with the five riders up the road.

The three chasers have joined the two leaders to form a five-man breakaway group.

They already have a gap of a minute, as the peloton has sat up.

170KM TO GO

Or has it? There’s another flurry of attacks by riders wanting to join them.

Those attacks have been shut down, but now De Bondt tries to go clear.

Van der Horn is desperate to get into this break, attacking multiple times, but isn’t being allowed to go.

Even if anyone can successfully jump out of the peloton without being marked, it’s a big ask to make up the 50 second deficit that they have to make up to the leaders.

Van der Hoorn tries again, but is again marked, this time by Tudor Pro Cycling.

A group of five managed to get a few seconds ahead of the peloton, but it too had been brought back.

This was the earlier breakaway containing Wout van Aert, that has since been brought back.

Having earlier had Van Aert in the break, Visma are now backing Olav Kooij for a sprint, doing a large amount of the work in preventing the attempted attacks from riders wanting to bridge up to the five leaders.

160KM TO GO

A horizontal line of yellow Visma riders are at the front of the peloton, trying to block the road and discourage any more attacks. And it’s working – the gap’s grown to 1-20.

Alpecin-Deceucnink have already taken over at the front of the peloton to set the pace and control the break’s lead. That’s an early statement of intent, that they believe Kaden Groves can win today.

The five riders in the day’s break are:

Kasper Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost)

Louis Meintjes (Intermarché – Wanty)

Martin Marcellusi (VF Group – Bardiani CSF – Faizanè)

Mirco Maestri (Team Polti VisitMalta)

At least, they were the five riders – having spoken to his team car, Meintjes has just sat up and is dropping back into the peloton.

Visma have joined Alpecin in the chase at the front of the peloton.

150KM TO GO

The gap’s only been allowed to grow out to 1:50. The peloton are keeping them on a leash.

There are a few spots of rain in the air. Thankfully the parcours os flat for most of the day, so no dodgy descents to worry about.

Here are the breakaway riders up the road (before Meintjes had dropped back).

140KM TO GO

The gap’s come down some more, to 1:22. Still it’s Visma and Alpecin doing the work. 

Juan Ayuso is back at the team car taking a rain jacket. He’s getting help from teammate Rafał Majka to put it on.

Olav Kooij’s status as favourite for the stage win today is being reinforced by Visma’s presence at the front of the peloton. He’s arguably the quickest rider in the race anyway, but the advantage of having an in-form Wout van Aert as a lead-out man (as demonstrated in the Dutchman’s victory two days ago) gives him even more of an edge.

130KM TO GO

The gap’s come down some more, to just over one minute. 

Large crowds greeted the riders in Treviso at the start of the day.

Still the only other team joining Visma in the pace-setting is Alpecin-Deceuninck. Their sprinter Kaden Groves, who has maybe not quite been at his very best this Giro, but still has a stage win to his name from Napoli.

120KM TO GO

A little more leeway has been given to the breakaway, whose lead has grown to 1:25.

The break cross over the intermediate sprint, with Maestri reaching it first.

Pedersen sprints for it, but is surprisingly challenged by De Bondt, who takes the single remaining point on offer from him.

In the aftermath of that sprint Taco van der Hoorn once again tries to break clear, having tried multiple time earlier. 

He hasn’t succeeded, however, and it’s all calmed down again.

It was difficult to know what De Bondt was up to sprinting against Pedersen for that point. He certainly won’t have endeared himself to the Dane by doing so.

There are some ominous dark clouds looming on the horizon. The weather could be about to take a turn for the worse. 

110KM TO GO

The race remains calm – and dry – for now. The difference between the four leaders and the peloton remains at 1:30.

The rain has started to fall. Riders are retrieving jackets again. 

It’s raining heavily now. This isn’t a fun day to be on the saddle.

Putting rain jackets on and off has been one of the key cycling skills most tested today. Here’s Anthony Perez having a go earlier.

100KM TO GO

The break’s lead has grown to the biggest margin it has for a while, to 1:50. The peloton’s chase has slowed amid the rain. 

These were the dark clouds the riders headed into, which have since deposited their contents onto the riders.

There’s another intermediate sprint coming up in a kilometre. It’ll be interesting to see what happens after the incident with De Bondt last time. Will he dare to sprint against Pedersen again?

Marcellusi is first over the line from the break, followed by Maestri. 

De Bondt’s done it again! He sprinted against Pedersen, and pipped him at the line.

Pedersen isn’t showing any outward signs of frustration at De Bondt, but it is strange behaviour by the Belgian, and going against some of the peloton’s unwritten rules. 

De Bondt is 7th on the points classification, but this is a lot of hassle for just one point.

90KM TO GO

The peloton are coming back to the break, reducing their lead to just 1:10.

The rain has eased off but the roads are still very wet from the earlier downpour. 

80KM TO GO

The gap’s remaining steady, at 1:10.

Pedersen is being paced back into the peloton by his Lidl team car.

What of Pedersen’s chances today? He hasn’t quite had the kick of the pre sprinters on flat finishes like today’s, but there are some hills in the final 45km where his team could put pressure on the others. 

If he can take the win, he’d become the only man other than Tadej Pogačar to win more than four stages at a single Grand Tour since Marcel Kittel at the 2017 Tour de France.

70KM TO GO

The race remains in a holding pattern, gap still at 1:15. The riders have about 25km left until the road tilts uphill for the first time all day for a small uncategorised hill.

Steven Kruijswijk has done much of the pace-setting for Visma-Lease a Bike. He’s used to being a key domestique in the mountains, but has also done much of the work on the flat at this Giro.

We have a third team contributing to the pace-setting with Visma and Alpecin – Picnic PostNL. Casper van Uden must fancy his chances of another stage win today.

We’re 1km away from the day’s Red Bull Kilometre.

Maestri and Marcellusi sprint for the line, with the former winning. Marcellusi was held up by some kind of gear problem. 

60KM TO GO

As we near the final third of the stage, the difference between the peloton and the leaders is 1:20.

A Picnic-PostNL domestique is setting the pace in the peloton. Van Uden was 2nd two days ago to back up his stage win at Lecce, and has the same aim as Groves and Kooij – to become the only rider other than Pedersen to win more than one stage at this Giro.

The pace has increased, with multiple teams in the peloton now starting the battle for space ahead of the upcoming climbs. 

50KM TO GO

The breakaway have responded by increasing their own pace, and consequently are maintaining their lead of 1:15.

Two men have gone down as the peloton passes through the narrow roads of a small town – Matevž Govekar and Luca Covili. Both are up, but Covelli is having to sort his bike out.

Govekar is Bahrain Victorious’ sprinter, so they’ll hope he can return to the peloton as quickly as possible.

The riders are climbing for the first time all day, and will cross the border from Italy into Slovenia halfway up it.

Unsurprisingly, there are multiple banners and road markings bearing the name of Primož Roglič, the local hero in these parts.

KOM – SAN MARTINO

There’s a big acceleration for position between Ineos, Visma and other teams as the road narrows at the start of the first official climb of the day, the category four San Martino.

Rather, the acceleration was for a narrowing of the road on the descent – the peloton haven’t started climbing just yet.

40KM TO GO

The four leaders have started the climb, with a lead of 1:30 over the peloton.

Asgreen is piling on the pace on this climb, and Clément Davy has been dropped.

Asgreen is easily the biggest name on paper in this group, and won a Grand Tour stage at the 2023 Tour de France in similar circumstances to this, when he was part of a small group that only just held off the peloton.

Asgreen leads the break over the climb, from Maestri and Marcellusi.

1:10 later, Ineos Grenadiers lead the peloton over the top of the climb, accelerating to seal the prime place at the front for the descent.

Tarling is setting such a pace at the front of the peloton that he’s got a gap, his Ineos teammate Arensman unable to keep up with him.

Tarling has sat up to allow the peloton to catch back up to him. That was an unintentional gap he opened up.

The riders have crossed the border back from Slovenia into Italy. There were huge crowds in Slovenia to cheer on the race.

30KM TO GO

The work from Ineos has seen the break’s lead tumble, to just 40 seconds. 

The gap’s grown again on the descent, the peloton not willing to risk as much as the break. They now have over a minute again – it’s not over yet for the leading trio.

The riders have begun the finishing circuit, which the riders will complete two laps of, including the obstacle of the 700m, 7% Saver climb.

Bahrain-Victorious have taken over at the front of the peloton for the first time. Is this to protect their GC man Tiberi, or Govekar, who will be sprinting on home Slovenian roads?

CRASH

There’s been a crash in the peloton on a narrow stretch of roads, with several men down.

Several riders from Lidl have been held up, including Pedersen. He’s back on his bike though and riding.

The crash has split the peloton, with 20 riders out front.

Ciccone was one to go down, and doesn’t look like he’ll be able to continue.

SAVER

Meanwhile up ahead, the breakaway are on the climb and nearing the top.

Asgreen leads the trio over the top.

Ciccone has two Lidl teammates waiting with hi, but looks like he’s about to pull out.

Now the reduced peloton led by Visma reach the top of the climb, just under a minute behind the break. The pink jersey is here.

Ciccone has got back on his bike and trying to continue. But he looks very uncomfortable.

20KM TO GO

Some GC men must have missed this split. Del Toro, Simon Yates and Carapaz are all safely in this front peloton, but the others are tbc.

Pidcock and Gee are also safe in the front peloton.

As for the stage contenders, Groves and Kooij are both here, but not Pedersen.

Ciccone is over five minutes adrift. 

Tiberi is also in the front peloton.

It seems Roglič and Ayuso are missing from the front peloton.

There’s no sign of the front peloton letting up, with Visma setting the pace. They have their GC man Yates here, their sprinter Kooij, and their lead-out man Van Aert.

Egan Bernal is also missing from the front peloton. He was held up in the crash.

We’ve got a first sight of the group behind the peloton. Red Bull-Bora Hansgroge and Ineos are leading it, for Roglič and Bernal. It’s unclear how far behind they are. 

The breakaway trio cross the finish for the first time, with a lead of 25 seconds. They’re not out of it, but Visma are charging behind them, and have now been joined by Alpecin.

Ayuso is also in the Bernal/Roglič group.

That chase group is about somewhere between 30 seconds to a minute behind the front peloton.

It turns out Tiberi is not in the front peloton, but even further adrift. He’s got three Bahrain teammates chasing him, and is about 30 seconds behind the Roglič group.

The Roglič/Ayuso/Bernal group is 50 seconds behind the pink jersey group.

10KM TO GO

It’s all happening out there. There are 22 seconds between the break and the pink jersey, then the Roglič/Ayuso/Bernal group 50 seconds behind them, and Tiberi another 50 seconds behind.

Del Toro nearly crashes! He lost control of the bike on a cobbled sector in the city, but somehow managed to prevent himself from falling.

As things stand the big winners of the day will be Del Toro, Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz. Del Toro will increase his lead at the top, Yates stands to move up to 2nd on GC, and Carapaz up to 4th.

Only 13 seconds left for the breakaway riders, as Movistar also aid with the pace.

 Pellizzari is working hard at the front of the chase group for Roglič, and is making inroads. He’s got their defecit down to just over 40 seconds.

Asgreen attacks out of the breakaway group. He hasn’t given up yet!

5KM TO GO

Asgreen has 5km to ride, and 15 seconds to defend.

Still the gap between the two chasing GC groups is 50 seconds.

Tiberi is a further minute behind.

Asgreen still has soemthing left in the tank, and a 14 second advantage. He might actually do this…

With 3km to go, Asgreen’s lead is growing! He’s got it up to 18 seconds.

The peloton is so small that it lacks the firepower to bring Asgreen back. It’s been left up to Simon Yates to do the chase, for his sprinter Kooij. 

15 seconds for Asgreen, with 2km to go.

Meanwhile the Roglič/Ayuso/Bernal group has drifted to a minute behind the pink jersey peloton.

Roglič and Bernal are having to do the pacing in that group themselves.

1KM TO GO

16 seconds for Asgreen as he enters the final kilometre. The stage is going to be his.

He’s celebrating 200m from the line.

ASGREEN WINS

Vicrory for Kasper Asgreen. What a ride!

Groves sprints for 2nd, ahead of Kooij in 3rd. They were 18 seconds behind.

We now wait for Roglič, Bernal and Ayuso…

They finish 1:03 down. So about 45 seconds behind the pink jersey. That’s bad, but could have been worse.

Now we wait for the Tiberi group.

Tiberi arrived home at 2:00. So about 1:40 behind the pink jersey group.

As a result of this carnage, the GC has changed considerably. Simon Yates moves up to 2nd, Carapaz up to 4th, Ayuso slips to 3rd, and Tiberi all the way down to 8th.

Del Toro has opened up some real time gaps over his rivals now. Simon Yates and Juan Ayuso are the only riders within 2 minute of him, with Carapaz 2:07 behind, Roglič 2:23 behind, Gee at 2:54, Caruso at 2:55, Tiberi at 3:02 and Bernal at 3:38.

Other riders who lost time today: Arensman, who finished with Bernal in the main chase group, and McNulty and Adam Yates, who were just behind the Tiberi group.

Good news in the circumstances: Ciccone has just finished the stage. He’s lost about 15 minutes and is out of GC contention, but has made some effort to finish the stage given how it looked like he was about to pull out altogether.

Ciccone had looked good for a highest ever Grand Tour finish, starting the day in seventh overall. Instead, he will hope he can recover from his injuries enough to be able to chase stage wins in the mountainous final week.

Despite losing yet more time at the finish today, Primož Roglič put on a brave face at the finish. 

This was the sprint for 2nd, which Kooij won ahead of Groves. Given that this is likely to be the last sprint chance until Rome, they will be bitterly disappointed to have not caught Asgreen.

Thanks for joining us today, for a day that had a far bigger impact on the GC than anticipated. There could be yet more changes tomorrow, as the race reaches the Alps for the first time, with the mighty Monte Grappa on the menu. Be sure to return to us tomorrow as the Giro really starts to heat up!