Giro d’Italia stage 20 LIVE: GC contenders poised for one more uphill fight on final mountain of the Giro

With just over 5km to ride until the start of the climb, the break has increased their lead, to 2:10.

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There’s a subdued sprint for the Red Bull KM, just about won by Arrieta from Warbasse and Cresciolli.

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The break on the first ascent of Piancavallo. They’ll have to do it all over again shortly.

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The gap’s holding steady at 1:30, as they circle back to the foot of the Piancavallo once again.

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This was Jonas Vingegaard’s mechanical incident on the last climb. It’s about the most stress he’s been in all this final week, which has gone swimmingly for him.

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Derek Gee-West is one of the riders who will have his eye on Hindley’s podium spot. He’ll have to find 1:27 on him if he’s to do so.

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Soon the final jostling for the final GC placings will begin. Jai Hindley is one of the riders with most to lose, with the spot he earned on the podium yesterday set to come under great pressure, especially from Thymen Arensman. He may need more help from Red Bull teammate Giulio Pellizzari, who did such sterling work for him yesterday.

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Cresciolli, Arrieta and Huens have joined the three leaders.

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Arrieta and Cresciolli have been really flying down this descent. They’ve bridged up to Huens, and are only a few seconds away from Haig, Leknessund and Warbasse at the front of the race.

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Back to Ciccone – this will be the third Grand Tour mountains classification title of his career, remembering his polka-dot jersey from the 2023 Tour de France. That makes him the only man (aside from, you guessed it, Tadej Pogačar) to win that many since Richard Virenque retired in 2004.

1:25 is the gap as they continue the descent. That’s not anything like enough ahead of the second ascent of Piancavallo.

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Over in Cesenatico on the Adriatic coast, the women’s Giro is about to get underway. We have all the action on our Live feed.

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All Ciccone has to do now to seal the blue jersey is make sure he finishes the race. If he does, he’ll become the first rider since Stefano Garzelli in 2011 to become a multiple winner of the Mountains Classification at the Giro.

1 Ciccone 277

2 Vingegaard 216

3 Rubio 164

4 Van der Lee 108

5 Gall 100

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The break lead the peloton just over a minute, as they embark on the descent.

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There’s movement in the peloton, as Arrieta and Cresciolli attack over the summit.

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Ciccone sprints out of the bunch regardless to claim four points by being 6th at the summit. He now holds a mathematical lead in the classification!

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Ciccone and Vingegaard are still chatting in the bunch, but whatever they’re talking about is irrelevant to the outcome of the blue jersey, as other riders dropped from the break are about to hoover the rest of the points.

Haig leads the break over the summit, from Warbasse and Leknessund.

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Haig, Leknessund and Warbasse are 1km from the summit, and lead by 1:20.

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Ciccone has come up to Vingegaard’s wheel, and exchanged a few words with Vingegaard.

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Ciccone is moving up the peloton. He might want to make absolutely sure of the jersey by sticking to the front and keeping an eye on Vingegaard, the only man who can challenge him for the blue jersey.

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The gap’s been coming down again to 1:35, but that should be enough for the leaders to survive to the top of the climb.

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Tarozzi and Silva have both been brought back by the peloton.

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Looking back to Vingegaard’s ‘mechanical’, it seems he was worried that something had happened to his front tyre. But after checking it for a few moments he was satisfied and continued riding without changing bikes.

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With the riders in the break set to take the KOM points, Ciccone is about to mathematically seal the blue jersey.

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The gap is no longer coming down. It’s held steady at about two minutes ever since Vingegaard’s mechanical.

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Haig has upped the pace, and only Leknessund and Warbasse can stay with him.

The leaders have two minutes on the peloton, with a whole 7km still to climb before getting to the summit.

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O’Connor has made his way back into the peloton, for now.

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He sorted it quickly, and has made his way back up to the front of the peloton. That was a very rare moment of seeing the Dane at the back of the peloton on a climb.

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Mechanical for Vingegaard! He’s had to stop to sort it himself.

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Eulálio is now the last man in the peloton. He might really be struggling this time.

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Another strong climber is struggling in the peloton – Caruso, who’s right at the back. There are a lot of tired legs in this peloton.

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Haig is doing the pace-setting in the break, but going much slower than Campanaerts in the peloton.

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Ben O’Connor is on another bad day. He’s been dropped already.

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2:30 is the gap now. At this rate the peloton might even catch them before the top of this first ascent.

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Silva and Tarozzi have now both been dropped.

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Silva is also struggling at the back. This is not his terrain.

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Tarozzi is only just about hanging on at the back of the breakaway. He’s pulling lots of panined faces.

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After his effort from earlier, Van der Lee is now going out the back of the peloton.

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After one final effort Rex almost comes to a standstill, and Campanaerts takes over.

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Rex is going hard, and the gap is coming down a lot. They’ve already been brought back to within 3:30.

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Harper has been dropped, surprising given the form he’s shown during this final week.

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Eulálio has drifted towards the back of the peloton, but then again did the same thing yesterday and was only dropped towards the top of the climb, so no need to panic.

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Kielich is done pacing for Visma, and Rex takes over again.

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Van der Lee has thought better of it. Nobody went with him, and he’s sat up.

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Van der Lee has been competing for the KOM points, and is ranked 4th in the classification. Victory is mathematically beyond him, but is he after more points?

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The peloton have started the climb, and there’s been an attack by Van der Lee.

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The breakaway have begun the Piancavallo for the first time, their lead at 4:33. They’ll be climbing for 14.5km at 7.8%.

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Warbasse and Tarozzi put a lot of work to get into this break in the first place, while the latter has used up lots of energy throughout these three weeks with his constant attacking. It’ll be an especially big ask for them to get up these climbs.

The breakaway riders are still holding their lead at about 4:20, but you sense they’d need more to have a real chance of surviving for the stage win before the double ascent.

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Groupama-FDJ have been one of the most animated teams in the search of an elusive stage win, and this time Axel Huens is their man in the break. Given the terrain, they would surely have preferred to have Josh Kench in his place.

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Alpecin are one of the teams desperate to win a stage at the Giro, but it’s going to be hard for their man in the break, Jonas Geens, to deliver one. He’s been in a few breaks already this Giro, but has tended to struggle and fade towards the end of the stages.

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The best climber on paper in the breakaway group is probably Jack Haig. The Australian has great pedigree in the mountains, having made the podium of the Vuelta five years ago, and though it’s been a long time since he’s shown that kind of form, he’s still done some good work as a domestique for Thymen Arensman at this Giro. With the Dutchman wanting to leap back onto the podium today, he could play a key role as a satellite rider.

The break are giving themselves a chance. They’re on a long valley road the kind of which it’s hard to maintain an advantage on over a big peloton, but so far they’re keeping their lead at around 4:30.

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Jonas Vingegaard, wrapped in a comfort blanket of his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates in the peloton.

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Of the riders in the break, one already has a stage win to his name from this Giro – Silva, who has been one of the revelations of the race. That was won in a reduced bunch sprint however, and though he has been active in getting into the breakaways he’s more of a sprinter than a climber, and is also likely to find the final mountain beyond his capabilities.

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4:30 is the gap now between the break and the peloton.

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Of the seven riders up the road, Leknessund has shown the most skill in competing for stage wins from breakaways. He’s already finished second on three occasions at this Giro, behind Narváez, Bettiol and Valgren, but on punchier terrain compared with today’s mountain test. Though a decent climber, the Piancavallo might be too hard for him.

At the halfway point of the stage, the gap beween the seven leaders and the peloton is 4:40.

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There’s been a crash in the peloton on ths technical descent Dversnes was down but back on his feet.

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With the first climb over and done with, there are just two left of this Giro, and 90 points left to be won in the KOM classification. Ciccone is inching ever close to sealing victory in it.

1 Ciccone 273

2 Vingegaard 216

3 Rubio 164

4 Van der Lee 108

5 Gall 100

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The gap came down a little more before the top of the climb, but not by much. The leaders are descending with an advantage of 3:50.

Leknessund rolls over top of the climb to take the KOM points. Unlike at the intermediate sprint, this time there is no sprint for them.

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Rex is keeping this gap steady on the climb, with it remaining at about four minutes.

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One goal Visma-Lease a Bike has for today is not just defending Vingegaard’s Maglia Rosa, but also claiming the white jersey for Davide Piganzoli from Afonso Eulálio. He needs to gain 1:03 to do so.

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The riders are on the climb, and Visma is leading the peloton with that man again, Tim Rex. He’s upped the pace, and brought the gap down to 4:10.

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The gap is still at about five minutes as they approach the foot of the first official climb of the day.

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As for Tarozzi, he was sprinting as he leads the Intermediate Sprint classification, as a result of being in so many breaks at this Giro. He deserves some praise for his tireless efforts throughout the race.

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Silva and Leknessund might be too far adrift to win the classification, but they are third and fourth respectively, and solidify their positions by taking some points.

1 Magnier 195

2 Milan 103

3 Silva 94

4 Leknessund 87

5 Stuyven 75

Nevertheless, there’s a proper sprint for it, with Silva taking it ahead of Leknessund and Tarozzi.

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The riders are climbing another unclassified ramp, at the top of which is an intermediate sprint. Nobody in the break has any interest in the Maglia Cicalomano though,which is set to be won by Paul Magnier.

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Their presence should give a boost to the break’s hopes of survival. Right now their lead is 5:15.

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Tarozzi and Warbasse have done it. Chapeau! That was a massive effort to get into the front group.

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It looks like the break have slowed to let them join, too.

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Warbasse and Tarozzi have indeed done a great job on that ramp, and are now only 20 seconds behind.

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There’s a short but steep ramp coming up, which might provide the chasing duo a chance to make up some of that gap and bring the leaders to catchable distance.

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Warbasse and Tarozzi are still in a tough situation, and are back to a minute behind. They’re having to do a lot more work than the five riders up the road, too, having to share the workload between just the two of them.

The break are at least giving themselves a chance with the size of this gap. It’s now grown to 5:18.

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This break is neither as big nor as full of quality pure climbers as those from previous stages, and it’s therefore going to be hard for them to win this stage unless they manage to open a very big gap up before the climbs.

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We’re also bringing you live coverage of the Unbound Gravel 200 today, which you can follow along with here.

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The gap between the peloton and the leaders has grown to 4:25, and the chasers are getting a little closer, now at 50 seconds.

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Warbasse and Tarozzi will be especially motivated to bridge the gap, as they’re representing two of the fifteen teams still without a stage win. Of the other thirteen, only two are represented in the front group – Groupama and Alpecin.

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A man down, this is a tough chase for Warbasse and Tarozzi. And, frustratingly for them, they’re not really making any inroads, still just over a minute behind.

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At some point Livyns dropped out of the chcase group, so it’s just Tarozzi and Warbasse.

Visma are still leading the peloton, but the gap is growing, to 3:18.

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EF’s efforts at the front of the peloton were short-lived, and Visma have taken over the pace-setting. But they’re not exactly hanging about, and are setting a fairly quick tempo.

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The five riders at the front of the race.

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Unlike on previous stages, where riders managed to use a change in terrain to up pace and join a break that had already gone out, today doesn’t really provide the same opportunity as the parcours remains flat for so long.

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Or is it done yet? EF have just upped the pace and strung the bunch out again, but have they left it too late?

This does indeed look like we have our break of the day! 2:20 is the gap between the leaders and the peloton, which is still bunched up. The chasers should join them, too, though still have a minute to make up.

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Consequently, the gap is really growing out now, to 1:40. This might be it!

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The gap is still hovering at about one minute, but the peloton are bunching up again.

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Jonathan Milan pauses at the roadside for a moment to greet who we assume are his family. He’s from around here and on local roads, waving to many more he passes.

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More attacks are made, and again marked by Visma, who seem to want to calm this down as quickly as possible and ensure the break that’s already up the road is the one for the day.

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A Movistar rider tries to jump out the peloton, but is hunted down by the Visma domestiques.

And that lead is still growing. It’s now up to 1:10, with the chasing trio also 30 seconds ahead of the peloton.

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There has been a response in the peloton now, which is strung in a long line again, but the leaders are already one minute up the road.

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Warbasse, Tarozzi and Livyns are the three chasers.

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The peloton is already slowing down. If there’s not a response soon, this could be the break.

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Those five riders: Haig, Leknessnd, Silva, Geens and Huens.

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Another group of five is ahead of that trio, and lead the race.

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The other rider in this trio is from Alpecin.

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Three men do have a few seconds – a rider from Netcompany, Astana and another.

Lots of attacks, but nothing’s stuck. This is a battle that could rage for a long time.

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Here was what Giulio Ciccone had to say about that fallout yesterday between himself and Einer Rubio.

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Milan’s animated too, annoyed with Movistar’s Garcia Cortina – it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that it’s the same two teams, Movistar and Lidl-Trek that had beef yesterday in the breakaway.

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Lidl are very eager to get up the road, with Milan especially lively. He’s riding at the front now trying to get away.

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This was when the peloton pased to pay repects to the victims of the earthquake that devastated this region fifty years ago.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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They’re both brought back.

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Gualdi has a gap, and this Giro’s eternal runner-up Leknessund has joined him.

And we’re off! With multiple attacks right from the flag.

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It’s another hot day at the Giro, with a cloudless sky greeting the riders.

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There are still fifteen teams without a stage win at this race. With tomorrow likely to end in a sprint, this really is the last chance for many riders, and many teams, to put that right – so brace yourself for what might be the most desperate battle to get into the day’s break.

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The riders have paused briefly at the neutralised one by a cemetery, to pay their respects to those who passed away in an earthquake here fifty years ago.

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This is also set to be a very long stage, in excess of 200km, and so the riders legs will already be considerably sapped of strength even before they reach the final climbs.

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Though the Piancavallo is a proper, category one mountain, to get there the riders must first take on about 130km of almost completely flat road. That could make this an unusual start to the stage, with a very different set of riders best equipped to get into the break different that those best equipped to win the stage.

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The riders have just rolled out from the unofficial start.

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The Giro d’Italia women also gets underway today, with a stellar line-up of some of the very best in the world. Have a read of our analysis of the contenders.

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Jonas Vingegaard, with few obstacles left in his way to winning the Maglia Rosa.

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Here’s a more detailed look at what today’s stage has in store.

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The riders might be desperate for a rest after yesterday’s unforgiving mountains test, but they’re not going to get one today. They have to climb the horrible Piancavallo not once but twice, and the amount of fatigue accumulated by now will make it even harder.

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After three weeks of racing this year’s Giro d’Italia is reaching its climax. With tomorrow’s flat stage in Rome a ceremonial affair, today marks the last chance for any changes in the GC.

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Buongiorno and welcome to stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia!