Giro d'Italia 2023 Stage 10 recap: Geraint Thomas survives first day in pink as Magnus Cort takes win

"It was obviously not ideal conditions to be wearing the jersey for the first time but it was a solid day. Attacking from the outset, pretty cold up top, and a crazy descent before the final – a lot going on, a solid day, but happy to get through. I’m not taking anything for granted with this race – especially with the weather. I’m taking every day as it comes and we’ll see. Every day I’m in it, it will be very nice."

The withdrawal on Sunday of race leader Remco Evenepoel and today of Aleksandr Vlasov - who was seventh - plus the crash by Jay Vine which saw him plummet out of the top 10 all means that we have a new-look top 10 that includes four Ineos Grenadiers riders...

1. Geraint Thomas
2. Primoz Roglic +02
3. Tao Geoghegan Hart +05
4. Joao Almeida +22
5. Andreas Leknessund +35
6. Damiano Caruso +1:28
7. Lennard Kamna +1:52
8. Pavel Sivakov +2:15
9. Eddie Dunbar +2:32
10. Thyman Arensman +2:32

"I’m incredibly happy about the win. For me, it’s a lot more important to do it than who was the first. Today was such a hard day – one of the hardest stages I’ve done on a bike. To end up with a win is unbelievable. At times I was out there in the cold and almost didn’t know what was going on.

"We didn’t have much other choice than keep pushing. I can’t remember if I’ve ever done a stage like this with so much pushing in the hills. Giving all you have in a group of just three or four guys – it’s a very tough day."

Magnus Cort's Grand Slam took a bit longer than his compatriot's 300 days. But he's the second rider now to complete a set of Grand Tour stage wins on this Giro. Here's how he did it...

In a sign of what may have happened, Mads Pedersen (Trek-Sagafredo) won the sprint in the reduced peloton to take fourth place ahead of Pascal Ackermann (UAE Team Emirates), Stafano Oldani (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and a tiring Jonathan Milan (Bahrain Victorious). Eighth place Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) had little hunger for the sprint once the chance of the win dried up on the wet finish. The time gap was 51 seconds in the end.

That's the American team's second win after Ben Healy's victory on Saturday. And on both occasions, Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) took second place. It was Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) who led the sprint out after rejoining the duo on the home straight. But Cort bided his time and then launched at the killer moment to pop De Marchi and then hold off the Canadian Gee.

The Dane wins Stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia to complete his Grand Tour grand slam. He was the logical choice but it didn't make that any less sweeter.

Cort fights back onto Gee's wheel just under the 1km banner but De Marchi looks to have shot his bolt. But as the pace eases up, perhaps the Italian will have another chance.

De Marchi leads the trio on the wet roads of Viareggio with Cort behind and Gee in third wheel after a big pull. And then the Canadian puts in the first big attack to steal the initiative...

It looks like the opportunity is going to be missed by the sprinters. Gianni Moscon has peeled off while Ghebreigzabhier - who has crashed today - throws in the towel with the gap still 45 seconds.

What a titanic effort this trio is putting in as they bid to hold the pack at bay and contest the win. We've been here before - indeed, we've been here before with one third of the cast: last week Alessandro De Marchi came within 200m of contesting the win with Simon Clarke in Naples, only to be caught right at the death. Can he pick up that elusive Giro win today - or will it go to Magnus Cort for the Dane to complete his grand slam, or perhaps to the debutant Derek Gee, who finished runner-up on the weekend...?

It's anyone's guess what will happen because the main field - down to less than 50 riders - has really run out of firepower with the gap to close still 45 seconds. Astana's three riders - including Cavendish - are near the front and trying to rally the troops, with Ineos Grenadiers also heavily present for their man in pink Geraint Thomas. It's Gianni Moscon - a former Ineos rider - working for Cavendish on the front now as we enter the final throes of this absorbing stage.

Eduardo Zambanini (Bahrain Victorious) skids onto the tarmac on a right-hander and that causes Thomas Gloag (Jumbo-Visma) to take evasive action and run off the road. The British rider goes over his handlebars but lands on his feet and avoids a tree. Skills.

The three leaders come over the top of a small hill and it's the Italian veteran who opens up a gap on the quick descent, before looking over his shoulders and then urging his companions through. They only have 45 seconds to play with now, with the second peloton - the Jay Vine group - now a whopping seven minutes back.

Speaking from the back of the moto, Jens Voigt - who has put in a star turn today - says he thinks Magnus Cort will win if the breakaway go the distance. But if caught, his money is on Mark Cavendish. This is what he just said:

"Believe me, Mark Cavendish today looks like a grizzly bear just out of hibernation: hungry, lean and mean. He is ready to take his win."

While it's warmer in Viareggio it's still wet and we've had news that the finish is quite slippery. It comes on a huge long straight but it will be interesting because most of the sprinters left don't have any leadout men with them. Pedersen, for instance, has his only Trek team-mate - Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier - working to reduce the gap of the break. Jonathan Milan also only has Andrea Pasqualon because Damiano Caruso and Jack Haig won't be working for him. Ditto Mark Cavendish, who has just two Astana team-mates with him. The gap is 1'15".

Robbie McEwen thinks the pendulum has swung in favour of the breakaway again - although the latest time check for the trio is down to 1'45". Astana and Trek still each have a rider on the front ahead of the Ineos and Jumbo trains. This main peloton has Pedersen, Ackermann, Cavendish, Ballerini and Milan in it. Behind, 5'15" down, we have the second part of the pack which includes Jay Vine - the big loser today - as well as Kaden Groves and Fernando Gaviria. In fact, the Colombian may be even further back given his crash was well before Vine hit the deck.

Jay Vine, who crashed on the last descent, is in a second peloton with a cluster of UAE Team Emirates team-mates as they try to bring the Australian back into contention. They are 4'35" down on the leaders and around 2'30" down on the first peloton, which is being driven by the Astana, Trek and Soudal team-mates of sprinters Cavendish, Pedersen and Ballerini. Vine is currently ninth in the standings but is likely to drop back out of the top 10 today.

After some brief respite, the dogs and cats are coming down again. De Marchi - who was in that move which almost went the distance with Simon Clarke in Napoli - lead the break towards the intermediate sprint at Ponte a Moriano, which is duly 'won' by Magnus Cort. They have 2'25" still over the pack. Cort needs the win today to complete his Grand Tour grand slam.