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Pogacar leads giro by nearly 7 minutes after stunning win in queen stage.

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LIVIGNO, ITALY - MAY 19: Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia and UAE Team Emirates - Pink Leader Jersey and stage winner looks on during the 107th Giro d’Italia 2024, Stage 15 a 222km stage from Manerba del Garda to Livigno - Mottolino on May 19, 2024 in Livigno, Italy. (Photo by Sara Cavallini/Getty Images)

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LIVIGNO, Italy — What Tadej Pogacar wants, he normally gets.

The Slovenian star said he wanted to win the Queen stage of the Giro d’Italia and he did just that on Sunday — destroying his rivals on the toughest leg of this year’s race to add three minutes to his already considerable advantage.

There is just one week remaining of the Italian grand tour.

Despite having ridden for more than six hours through the high mountains on Sunday, Pogacar was full of smiles as he was cheered on by the crowds lining the difficult summit finish at Livigno.

As the sunshine glinted off the snow on the sides of the route, Pogacar crossed the finish line with his arms outstretched over his head.

“Today was one of the best days, I would not say that it was the best day of my career but it was a really nice stage, really good route, nice climbs,” Pogacar said. “The team did a super good job.

“We had this stage in mind since December or whatever.”

Pogacar finished the 15th stage 29 seconds ahead of Nairo Quintana and 2 minutes, 32 seconds ahead of third-place Georg Steinhauser.

His closest rivals were nearly three minutes slower. With the bonus seconds he picked up, Pogacar now leads the Giro by 6:41 over Geraint Thomas, with Daniel Martinez 6:56 behind in third.

Two-time Tour de France winner Pogacar is targeting the Giro-Tour double this year.

With just six stages left after Monday’s rest day, he’s well set to complete the first step.

It was a fourth stage win for Pogacar in his Giro debut but the UAE Team Emirates rider had made no secret that he was targeting the Queen stage, which is the name given to the hardest leg of the race.

There were five categorized climbs — including the fearsome Passo del Mortirolo — and 5,200 meters of elevation on the 222-kilometer (138-mile) leg from Manerba del Garda to Livigno and the arrival at Mottolino, where the last 1,800 meters was on asphalt along a ski slope with 18% gradients.

Pogacar made his move with 13.9 kilometers remaining and none of the other GC contenders could follow him. At that point he was just over three minutes behind sole leader Steinhauser, who was on the verge of getting caught and then passed by Quintana.

Pogacar quickly swept up the remnants of the breakaway — which had been 50 strong earlier in the day — before blasting past Steinhauser toward the top of the penultimate climb and heading off in pursuit of Quintana.

He passed the 2014 Giro winner with 1.9 kilometers remaining and was untroubled on the steep climb to the finish.

“I gave it my all in the 10 or 15km,” Pogacar said. “I’m super happy that I can win a queen stage in Livigno, one of my favourite places in Italy.”

After the rest day, Tuesday’s 16th stage is another one where Pogacar could put even more time on his rivals as the race heads from the Alps into the daunting Dolomites.

The now 206-kilometer (128-mile) route from Livigno to Santa Cristina Val Gardena has been altered because of a high risk of avalanches on the Stelvio.

The riders will still go partly up the famed ascent but to 2,489 meters instead of 2,758. That will nevertheless still be the highest point of this year’s race.

The peloton will then instead head along another pass into Switzerland before rejoining the original route.

The Giro ends in Rome next Sunday.

Giro d'Italia stage 15 as it happened: Tadej Pogačar stuns to win queen stage

With 5,400m of climbing, there's an epic mountains day in store

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Buckle up, everyone, it's time for the queen stage at this year's Giro d'Italia . Today's stage 15 is the longest and toughest of the entire race, stretching out 222km, with a whopping 5,400m of elevation gain – that's more than half the height of Mount Everest. 

It will, no doubt, be a pivotal day for the general classification contenders. Following Saturday's time trial, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) leads Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) by three minutes and 41 seconds, but anything can happen in the high mountains. 

Join me, Tom Davidson, as I bring you all the action live throughout the day. If you'd like to get in touch, you can do so on X - @t_davidson . 

Today's stage is a brute. It's uphill from the gun, with a cat-three climb, a cat-two, and then a punishing duo of cat-ones. 

As if all that wasn't enough, the final kilometres are totally leg-sapping, counting gradients up to 19%, at over 2,300m altitude. If it comes down to a mountaintop shoot-out, this could be a very dramatic finale. 

Key timings for stage 15 (in BST): 

Roll-out: 9:25 Race start: 9:40 Expected finish: 16:00

That's right, it's likely to be over six hours in the saddle for the riders today.  

Are you as excited for today as Lidl-Trek?

Chapeau to Jonathan Milan for being in such high spirits. He's likely to finish today in the gruppetto, which will probably ride an hour longer than the first finishers. 

Getting ready for the queen stage with the dancing queen 👑 #Giroditalia pic.twitter.com/MUPwo71Hwy May 19, 2024

The riders roll out for the neutral start in Manerba del Garda. They'll have 6.7km to warm up the legs, before the official 222km begin. 

Stage 15 begins

222km to go: The official start is given and the long slog to Livigno commences. 

Here's a picture of Tadej Pogačar at the sign-on this morning. The Slovenian has been really looking forward to this stage. Livigno is one of his favourite training haunts. He spent four weeks there at altitude in 2022. 

222km go to: There are attacks for the breakaway immediately. Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) leads the move, with nine riders on his wheel. Among them, curiously, is sprinter Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla).

217km to go: 12 riders have gone clear with a 30-second lead. Movistar and Visma-Lease a Bike have missed the move, and both have busy riders at the front of the peloton, trying to wriggle away. 

211km to go: That was the easiest formed breakaway I've seen all race. There were no complaints from the GC teams, who have settled down behind. 

Here's who's up the road:

Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck) Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqtsan) Simone Velasco (Astana Qazaqstan) Harrison Wood (Cofidis) Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) Lewis Askey (Groupama-FDJ) Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ) Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty) Bert van Lerberghe (Soudal Quick-Step) Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) Davide Bais (Polti Kometa) Alessandro Tonelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè)

Calmejane is the highest place in the general classification, 24th overall, at 31-36. 

203km to go: Right, who had Cofidis pulling in the peloton on their bingo card? Presumably, the French team are riding to protect Simon Geschke, who is second in the mountains classification, and wearing the blue jersey on loan from Pogačar. The German has missed the breakaway, so there will be slim pickings for him today. 

200km to go: It's been a fast start to stage 15. The average speed is 47.5km/h, and the breakaway has quickly stretched out a three-minute advantage. 

193km to go: Cofidis are still riding hard on the front, but the gap to the breakaway is only going out. It's 3-40 now, and it looks like Geschke won't be getting many mountains points today. 

192km to go: The first categorised climb begins. It's 7.6km in length, classified as a category-three, and climbs to Lodrino. Don't expect fireworks this early. 

189km to go: Geschke takes matters into his own hands. The Cofidis rider has left his teammates behind on the categorised climb and gone in search of the breakaway. They're three minutes up the road. 

184km to go: Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) pips Lilian Calmejane (Intermarché-Wanty) to maximum points over the cat-three climb. Calmejane was not expecting the sneaky move, and offers a few, presumably stern, words to the Kiwi on the descent. 

180km to go: A large chasing group formed on the climb, and there are now 14 riders between the breakaway and the peloton. Simon Geschke (Cofidis) is among them, as are Colombian climbing duo Einer Rubio and Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

Geraint Thomas is expecting a "big, big day" today, he said on his podcast earlier this week. 

"[The plan is] obviously to be ready to be aggressive if the moment's there and the legs are good. But just race the race, you know?" he said. "For sure, we'll have some sort of plan at the start, but I think it's definitely a day where you want to try and have a good day. We'll see what happens."

The Welshman bunnyhopped Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) in yesterday's time trial to reclaim his second place in the GC. Can he take time back on Pogačar in Livigno? 

171km to go: We're onto the second climb of the day and, appropriately, it's a cat-two. 13.9km at 6.6%. 

169km to go: The chasing group has now swelled to around 50 riders. I won't name them all, but some of the bigger names include Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step), Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers) and Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek). 

They're 2-21 down on the 12 escapees, with the peloton, and Tadej Pogačar, a further minute behind.  

166km to go: The chasing group is really winding it up on this climb. There's still 9km to go until the top, and the gap to the breakaway has reduced to 1-30. If the two groups come together, we could be looking at a mega breakaway of around 60 riders. 

164km to go: The initial breakaway looks doomed. Their advantage to the chasers, all 46 of them, is now under a minute.

161km to go: Four kilometres from the summit and Caleb Ewan (Jayco AlUla) is going backwards out of the breakaway. It was probably a good idea for the Australian to get a head start today, but it could be a long afternoon for him now. 

159km to go: Three Italian climbers have bridged across to the front group. They are: Giulio Pellizzari (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè), Davide Piganzoli (Polti Kometa) and Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan). 

After a few of the early escapees fell away, the group is restored at 12 riders. The giant pack of chasers are at 40 seconds behind. 

158km to go: Ladies and gentlemen, we have a mega breakaway. The two front groups up the road come together as they approach the summit of the cat-two climb. There are around 60 riders in the group. 

157km to go: Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan) takes maximum points over the summit. Fair play to Simon Geschke (Cofidis) who, having missed the initial breakaway, kickstarted the chasing move, and clawed back the gap to take second on the climb. 

150km to go: The gap from the mega breakaway to the peloton is 4-38. I won't bore you with the names of all 54 of them, but here are the escapees who are best placed in the GC:

Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), +9-11 Davide Piganzoli (Polti Kometa), +14-11 Simon Geschke (Cofidis), +17-35 Juanpe López (Lidl-Trek), +20-01 Luca Covili (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè), +20-06

If things go well for Storer, he could find himself in the top 10 at the end of the day. 

142km to go: Six riders have wriggled free from the mega breakaway on the descent: Tobias Bayer (Alpecin Deceuninck), Davide Ballerini, Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan), Giulio Pellizzari, Alessandro Tonelli (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè) and Harrison Wood (Cofidis), the 23-year-old Brit on his Grand Tour debut. 

They're a minute up the road. 

137km to go: Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to confirm that the mega breakaway is now over. It was short-lived, but it will be remembered fondly. 

Our breakaway is now six riders. The other 46 are now teetering between them and the peloton. 

127km to go: The riders are now enjoying a rare stretch of flat road. Many are taking the opportunity to take on some lunch and recover before the next mountains test. That will be the cat-one Passo del Mortirolo, which starts with 79km remaining. 

Here's a closer look at the Mortirolo, one of the Giro's most famous ascents. 

It's a steady climb, but as seems to be customary in Italy, one that kicks up towards the top. 

It last featured in the race two years ago, when, like today, it came mid-stage in a proper mountains day. Jan Hirt, now of Soudal Quick-Step, won that day, his only WorldTour victory to date still. 

115km to go: If you're wondering who's in the chasing group, now 1-50 behind, the official Giro account has spared me the job of writing all the names out. Thread below. 

[THREAD] - The composition of the chasing group. #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/WFOQF1Znp6 May 19, 2024

111km to go: We are now officially at the halfway point of stage 15. For those of you who woke up early this Sunday morning to watch from the flag drop, I salute you. For those of you just tuning in now, congratulations on having better things to do with your weekend. 

104km to go: With a lull in the racing, now's a good time for a reminder of the race situation. 

We have a six-rider breakaway (Bayer, Ballerini, Scaroni, Wood, Pellizzari and Tonelli), with a two-minute advantage over a 47-rider chasing group. The peloton, which is where Pogačar and all his GC chums sit, are around five minutes behind the front of the race. 25km to the Mortirolo. 

94km to go: Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) is, once again, pulling at the front of the peloton. I hope all the riders band together and get him a thank you card at the end of this race. 

91km to go: Davide Ballerini (Astana Qazaqstan) takes the intermediate sprint from the breakaway. It was barely contested, to be honest, with the Mortirolo looming large. 

In the peloton behind, Kaden Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck) tries to pick up the scraps, but he's pipped by a VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè rider. 

84km to go: Just 5km to the start of the Mortirolo now. The six-rider breakaway has a 44-second lead over the chasing group, which I expect to fall away on the climb. 

79km to go: It's Mortirolo time. There are seven different roads to the summit of this climb, and the peloton today are taking one of the 'easier' ones. Of course, there are no easy ways to climb to 1,850m altitude. 

Here's a reminder of what the climb entails. It tops out with around 67km to go. 

Here's an ominous picture of today's chasing group. We're heading into the high mountains. 

76km to go: We've seen very little of Tadej Pogačar today. He's been nestled in the peloton, which is five minutes behind the front of the race. He still has all his matches left to burn.  

75km to go: The breakaway has now halved from six riders to three. It's an all-Italian trio, made up of Scaroni, Pellizarri and Tonelli. They've got 43 seconds on the 47-strong chasing group. 

73km to go: The front trio becomes a duo as Tonelli drops away. We're moments away from the mega breakaway establishing itself again. I cannot wait.   

71km to go: Simon Geschke (Cofidis) is upping the pace in the chasing group. There are mountains points up for grabs in just under 5km, and the German wants them. 

70km to go: We're onto the steepest section of the Mortirolo now. The road kicks up to 16%, before dropping to a constant 10%. Pellizzari and Scaroni are still clear. 

68km to go: Nicola Conci (Alpecin Deceuninck) has shot out of the chasing group. Geschke is in pursuit. The top of the Mortirolo is just over a kilometre away. 

67km to go: Conci catches the the leading duo and immediately attacks them towards the summit. The move isn't as fruitful as he hoped. Scaroni takes maximum points, followed by Pellizzari, with Conci crossing the line in third.  

64km to go: Over four minutes in arrears, the peloton cruises over the top of the Mortirolo and onto the descent. Pogačar heads down in around fifth wheel. 

55km to go: There's a screech of disc brakes as the chasing group descends the Mortirolo. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) has managed to make his way to the front of the race. 

52km to go: 19 riders are now at the front. Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling), nine minutes down on the GC, is the highest ranked among them. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) is in there too. 

45km to go: The average speed so far is 37.8km/h. That'll start tumbling now, though. The final climb doesn't start officially for another 20km, but it's gradually uphill to the base. 

41km to go: There are 18 riders out front, with a 3-40 advantage over the peloton. 

Here's who's up the road, courtesy again of the official Giro X account. 

🏁 41 KM1️⃣8️⃣ 🚴‍♂️ < 3’48’’ < 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️💗🚗🇦🇺 @mjstorer_au🇧🇪 @MVansevenant99🇨🇴 @NairoQuinCo🇪🇨 @NarvaezJho🇪🇷 @AmanuelGerezgh1🇩🇪 Georg Steinhauser💙 🇩🇪 @simongeschke🇭🇺 @ValterAttila🇮🇹 @covililuca97🇮🇹 Christian Scaroni🇮🇹 @DavidePiganzoli🇮🇹 Giulio Pellizzari🇮🇹 Manuele… pic.twitter.com/OJxJNqldyS May 19, 2024

35km to go: A couple of Ineos Grenadiers collect musettes from their soigneurs and sift through for food and drink. There's a real calm-before-the-storm atmosphere at the moment. 10km until the next climb begins. 

Here's what's coming. The next one's a cat-one climb, starting with 25km to go, that rises without any nasty pitches. Don't be fooled, though. After the summit, the riders will drop down for 5km, before a 4km kick up to the finish line in Livigno. The finale offers ramps at 19%, at an altitude of almost 2,400m. Hold onto your seats. 

30km to go: Davide Piganzoli (Polti Kometa) is out of the saddle on the front of the 18-rider front group. The Italian has forced a gap of a few bike lengths, towing Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) on his wheel. I'm not 100% sure why he's doing this, but I like the panache.  

29km to go: Attila Valter (Visma-Lease a Bike) collects three bonus seconds through a rather non-descript intermediate sprint. The InterGiro sprint is coming up now. If you don't know what that is, don't worry, it's not very important, but my colleague James Shrubsall wrote a nice explainer .  

24km to go: The breakaway rolls through the InterGiro and Davide Piganzoli (Polti Kometa) wins uncontested. He'll be on the podium at the end of the day, collecting a small, glass trophy for that very moment. 

23km to go: We're onto the cat-one Passo di Foscagno. Please allow me a moment to give you my unsolicited thoughts on how this stage will now pan out. 

The peloton, and the GC contenders, are at 3-15 behind a now 10-rider breakaway. Three minutes is a decent little gap, but I'll be honest, I can only envisage a Tadej Pogačar stage win today. 

My prediction is that his team will really start cranking up the pace to the top of the Foscagno climb. I don't think Pogačar will attack until those really steep final ramps to Livigno, though. After all, he doesn't really need to attac; he's sitting pretty at the top of the GC, but he's never one to turn down an opportunity to dazzle. I think he'll zip away with around 2km to go. Watch this space. 

22km to go:  Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) has launched an attack out of the breakaway. He's solo now, with a gap of just a handful of seconds. 

20km to go: Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) picks up the chase to Steinhauser. On his wheel is Nairo Quintana (Movistar), who, let's remember, won the Giro 10 years ago. Could he spring a throwback victory today? 

19km to go: Steinhauser is labouring over his stem, but he's managed to stretch out a 15-second gap. Behind him, Quintana, Storer and Valter follow in pursuit. 

18km to go: 'What's going on in the peloton?' I hear you cry. Well, Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates) is on the front, making sure the breakaway doesn't flutter away too far. Ineos Grenadiers are up alongside Pogačar's team, too. They're at 3-38 from Steinhauser. 

17km to go: Tadej Pogačar only has one man alongside him now – Rafał Majka. I'd be surprised if this was part of the plan. Still, maybe it is, and Pogačar's about to try and sail away. 

16km to go: There's a big focus on Pogačar in the GC group, but don't write off Steinhauser here. He's got a 30-second lead to Quintana, and it's not coming down. 

14km to go: This climb tops out in 5km, before a short descent, and a final 4km-odd kick up to the line. Steinhauser has a 20-second gap now to Quintana, who, steely-faced, is tapping out a fast rhythm. 

14km to go: Pogačar attacks! It's early, but it's effective. The pink-jersey-wearer puts daylight into his GC rivals. Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) is trying to follow. 

13km to go: None of the other GC contenders have tried to follow Pogačar, just Martínez. There are 4km to go until the top of the climb. 

Ahead, Quintana has teamed up with Steinhauser. They're still about three minutes up the mountain. 

12km to go: Martínez has fallen away. The Colombian couldn't hack Pogačar's speed. He's already 50 seconds ahead of his GC rivals, and is only 1-40 off Quintana, who is alone now out front. 

Here's the moment Pogačar attacked. It's a sight we've all become accustomed to, but it's no less spectacular. 

💥 @TamauPogi ATTACKS!! The Maglia Rosa drops everyone, and is closing in on the riders ahead of him #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/823nw06B5U May 19, 2024

11km to go: This is remarkable. Pogačar is flying. He's pulled almost a minute and a half ahead of the other GC contenders and is riding in a class of his own. 

He trails Quintana by 1-10. 

9km to go: Pogačar tags Steinhauser, leaving just Quintana ahead of him on the road. He has managed to claw back almost three minutes in just 5km of climbing. 

8km to go: Quintana crests the climb first and heads onto the descent. The Colombian is but a carrot on a string for Pogačar right now. And the race leader is hungry. 

5km to go: Pogačar is 40 seconds behind Quintana now. There's set to be a real battle between the two on the final slopes to Livigno. 

4km to go: Quintana is onto the final climb. It's short, but it's very steep. Pogačar is stomping down on the pedals behind. 

3.5km to go: The other GC contenders are 2-30 behind Pogačar. He's set to stretch out his GC lead to an astonishing six minutes. 

3km to go: Quintana's days are numbered. His advantage has slipped from 40-odd seconds to just 20 after only one kilometre. Pogačar will catch him soon. 

2km to go: 14 seconds now separate Pogačar from Quintana. The path of destruction is almost complete.

1.9km to go: Pogačar whips around Quintana and is now solo out front. The Colombian tries to kick out of the saddle, but it's fruitless.

1km to go: A man with a Slovenian flag runs alongside Pogačar, but can't keep up. The race leader is not allowing himself to come off the pedals. He wants to gain every second he can here. 

Tadej Pogačar wins stage 15

It's a fourth stage win for the pink-jersey-wearer, who now looks poised to add three minutes to his GC lead. He went with 14km to go and never let up to the line in Livigno. We expected a display of dominance, and that's what we got. We're watching a generational talent. 

Six hours, 11 minutes and 41 seconds. 

It's second for Quintana. The rest of the GC contenders are still to come. 

Martínez jumps beyond Thomas with 200m to go, but the Welshman hangs onto his wheel to protect his second place overall. The duo come in 2:51 after Pogačar. 

Hold tight, I'll have a full race report up shortly. 

Thanks for your patience. You can now find the full report , plus Pogačar's winning words, on our website. 

It's a rest day tomorrow, but we'll be back on Tuesday with another live blog. 

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Pogacar leads Giro by nearly 7 minutes after stunning win in Queen stage

Pogačar Tadej of Team UAE Emirates celebrates after winning the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi /LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogačar celebrates as he wins at the end of the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Massimo Paolone/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogacar, left, outpaces Nairo Quintana at the end of the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Luca Bettini/LaPresse via AP)

Pogačar Tadej of Team UAE Emirates celebrates after winning the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse via AP)

Tadej Pogacar celebrates on podium after winning the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Gian Mattia D’Alberto/LaPresse via AP)

Pogačar Tadej of Team UAE Emirates celebrates as he cycles to the finish line to win the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Marco Alpozzi/LaPresse via AP)

Nairo Quintana climbs during the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Cyclists pedal during the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

The pack climbs the Mortirolo Pass during the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

Cyclists climb the Mortirolo Pass during the 15th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Manerba del Garda to Livigno, Italy, Sunday, May 19, 2024. (Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via AP)

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LIVIGNO, Italy (AP) — What Tadej Pogacar wants, he normally gets.

The Slovenian star said he wanted to win the Queen stage of the Giro d’Italia and he did just that on Sunday — destroying his rivals on the toughest leg of this year’s race to add three minutes to his already considerable advantage.

There is just one week remaining of the Italian grand tour.

Despite having ridden for more than six hours through the high mountains on Sunday, Pogacar was full of smiles as he was cheered on by the crowds lining the difficult summit finish at Livigno.

As the sunshine glinted off the snow on the sides of the route, Pogacar crossed the finish line with his arms outstretched over his head.

“Today was one of the best days, I would not say that it was the best day of my career but it was a really nice stage, really good route, nice climbs,” Pogacar said. “The team did a super good job.

“We had this stage in mind since December or whatever.”

Pogacar finished the 15th stage 29 seconds ahead of Nairo Quintana and 2 minutes, 32 seconds ahead of third-place Georg Steinhauser.

His closest rivals were nearly three minutes slower. With the bonus seconds he picked up, Pogacar now leads the Giro by 6:41 over Geraint Thomas, with Daniel Martinez 6:56 behind in third.

Two-time Tour de France winner Pogacar is targeting the Giro-Tour double this year.

With just six stages left after Monday’s rest day, he’s well set to complete the first step.

It was a fourth stage win for Pogacar in his Giro debut but the UAE Team Emirates rider had made no secret that he was targeting the Queen stage, which is the name given to the hardest leg of the race.

There were five categorized climbs — including the fearsome Passo del Mortirolo — and 5,200 meters of elevation on the 222-kilometer (138-mile) leg from Manerba del Garda to Livigno and the arrival at Mottolino, where the last 1,800 meters was on asphalt along a ski slope with 18% gradients.

Pogacar made his move with 13.9 kilometers remaining and none of the other GC contenders could follow him. At that point he was just over three minutes behind sole leader Steinhauser, who was on the verge of getting caught and then passed by Quintana.

Pogacar quickly swept up the remnants of the breakaway — which had been 50 strong earlier in the day — before blasting past Steinhauser toward the top of the penultimate climb and heading off in pursuit of Quintana.

He passed the 2014 Giro winner with 1.9 kilometers remaining and was untroubled on the steep climb to the finish.

“I gave it my all in the 10 or 15km,” Pogacar said. “I’m super happy that I can win a queen stage in Livigno, one of my favourite places in Italy.”

After the rest day, Tuesday’s 16th stage is another one where Pogacar could put even more time on his rivals as the race heads from the Alps into the daunting Dolomites.

The now 206-kilometer (128-mile) route from Livigno to Santa Cristina Val Gardena has been altered because of a high risk of avalanches on the Stelvio.

The riders will still go partly up the famed ascent but to 2,489 meters instead of 2,758. That will nevertheless still be the highest point of this year’s race.

The peloton will then instead head along another pass into Switzerland before rejoining the original route.

The Giro ends in Rome next Sunday

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Pogacar conquers Queen stage with masterful Giro performance

Tadej pogacar made more cycling history on stage 15 after obtaining the largest lead at this point of the giro d’italia since 1954..

Tadej Pogacar celebrates after winning Stage 15 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia

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Pogacar leads Giro by nearly 7 minutes after stunning win in Queen stage

By the associated press | updated - may 19, 2024 at 11:23 a.m. | posted - may 19, 2024 at 10:25 a.m..

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

LIVIGNO, Italy — What Tadej Pogacar wants, he normally gets. The Slovenian star had said he wanted to win the Queen stage of the Giro d'Italia and that's just what he did on Sunday. He destroyed his rivals on the toughest leg of this year's race to add three minutes to his already considerable advantage. There is just one week remaining of the Italian grand tour. Pogacar finished the 15th stage 29 seconds ahead of Nairo Quintana and 2 minutes, 32 seconds ahead of third-place Georg Steinhauser. Pogacar now leads the Giro by 6:41 seconds over Geraint Thomas, with Daniel Martinez 6:56 behind in third.

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'you never know what happens in the mountains': pogačar holds biggest advantage at this point of the giro since 1990, but final week will decide everything..

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After three days for the sprinters and a flat time trial, the climbers will be salivating heading into Sunday’s stage of the Giro d’Italia .

The Mortirolo, Tadej Pogačar in pink, and the opening the Giro’s infamous final week, what’s not to love?

Sunday’s brutal menu includes five rated climbs — with the gruesome Mortirolo stacked up in cruel string of Cat. 1 climbs — will set their hearts a racing and mouths a watering even before they clip in. So too the total altitude gain of 5,400 meters, plus the day’s status as the Giro’s queen stage.

It’s going to be a monster, and the GC is certain to see another mauling.

Pogačar is hoping to do the hurting, although his rivals will be praying for a slaying of their own.

“Tomorrow is the queen stage and I go with a comfortable lead,” the Slovenian said after Saturday’s stage 14 time trial. “You never know what can happen but it’s better to have more time than less. So I’m super, super happy and I cannot wait for tomorrow also.”

If Pogačar crushes, the Giro could all but be over. If he cracks, the fight for pink could go all the way to Rome.

Pogačar had reasons to smile after Saturday. He may have just missed out on his second TT win of the race, the GC all rounder coming up against a very strong TT specialist Filippo Ganna on what was a course made for the Italian, but much was good about the day.

His pace — which saw him finish 29 seconds off the win — further boosted his advantage over each of his rivals. He took 45 seconds out of his most dangerous rival Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), 50 out of Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious), 56 out of Ben O’Connor (Decathlon Ag2r la Mondiale) and 1:16 out of Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe), to name but a few.

If he is in similar form on Sunday, it could be a massacre.

Early on the riders will tackle a third and a second category climb and then, following a less challenging section, will take on the formidable Cat. 1 Passo del Morirolo.

The final 53 kilometers are all uphill, although the day’s penultimate category one climb officially begins with 24km to go. The Passo di Foscagno is 15km long, averages 6.4 percent and at times reaches 11 percent.

The day’s finale is the Passo di Eira and is also over 2,200 meters and is also afforded category one status. While it is just 4.7km long, it reaches 19 percent inside the final kilometer and will be a dramatic end to a very difficult stage.

Anyone who thinks Tadej Pogačar will have an easy job tomorrow… I would like to warn you about two things here. 1. He has never ridden a stage with so many vertical meters in his career. (Tomorrow’s stage will be a 5600+ d+ stage) #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/1zmR401KN5 — Bence Czigelmajer (@cycloben2) May 18, 2024

2. He rode well on the first of his two 5000 d+ stages alongside Roglič (2020 TDF S18), but last year, he had that famous nightmare in Courchevel. And yes, I’ll pick him for tomorrow, but we can’t give him the win in advance because it’s going to be a crazy tough day. pic.twitter.com/FjvJoDvhuv — Bence Czigelmajer (@cycloben2) May 18, 2024

Worryingly for those rivals, Pogačar has indicated a willingness to chase the stage win, although he does say it depends on the day’s breakaway and how the other teams ride.

“Our plan will probably be quite simple. Go as far as possible into the stage with as many teammates as possible,” he said. “It’s the queen stage. Probably we want to go for the stage but let’s see.”

However some have suggested the stage could pose challenges for him, referring back to dramatic collapses in the Tour de France.

Wishful thinking for those seeking drama, or a valid point? Tomorrow may give a better indication.

‘You never know what happens in the mountains … rain, snow, whatever’

One of those hoping for a change in the race pattern is Thomas.

At 37, the former Tour de France winner is one of the most experienced in the bunch, and has known pattern of faring well in tough grand tours. He expressed hopes that the final part of the Giro d’Italia will bring the best out of him.

“I’m maybe not dropping off as much as some guys might,” he said. “I have been feeling pretty good, actually, in the second week. After that rest day, I felt good. So yeah, [the plan is to] attack the next six, seven days, whatever it is.”

Ben O’Connor is another rider who has been looking good. He is not a known time trialist but rode very solidly on Saturday, placing seventh in the TT.

He insisted at the finish that Sunday’s queen stage was not at the back of his mind, but said it would be once he had a shower and a chance to chill out. “It will be at the front of my mind tonight,” he promised.

He won’t be the only one. Sunday’s stage is the last before the rest day, and you can expect each of the GC challengers to go as deep as they can.

Pogačar will have the same intention, of course. He’s been on a roll thus far and if he has the legs, will want to further add to his buffer.

Tomorrow the Giro climbs Mortirolo. Hairpin #11 of the super steep side has a Pantani monument (1st photo). I have also cycled by Pantani monuments on Galibier (2nd photo) and at the summit of Colle Fauniera (3rd photo). Are there other Pantani monuments? #giro #Pantani pic.twitter.com/a7ADav47k5 — cyclingchallenge (@cyclingalps) May 18, 2024

As race organizers RCS Sport pointed out on Saturday, his 3:41 lead over Geraint Thomas is the biggest margin after 14 stages since Gianni Bugno back in 1990.

The Italian had 4:16 over Marco Giovannetti then, and went on to win the Giro with an advantage of 6:33 over Charly Mottet.

Pogačar would of course like to have an even greater gap over the runner-up on Sunday week in Rome, but cautions against any presumption that he is certain to win.

“It’s not wrapped up, let’s not discount anything,” he insisted.

“Now the real Giro starts, today it started. Today I gained the time but you never know what happens in the mountains … rain, snow, whatever.

“Let’s knock on the wood, here is the wood [he knocked on his head with a smile]. Let’s see.

“It should be okay, we have a strong team. We go confident to tomorrow’s stage looking for a good result. Let’s hope for the best.”

His rivals will too, including Thomas and Ineos Grenadiers teammate Thymen Arensman.

“We’ve just got to keep trying. That’s all we can do,” Thomas said. “We will see how the next week goes. There’s a big week to come now.”

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Giro d'Italia

Giro d'italia: five key stages that will decide the winner.

From the earliest summit finish since 1989 and a lengthy ITT within the first week to a double ascent of the Monte Grappa towards the end, here are the critical days for the pink jersey hopefuls

George Poole

Junior writer.

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The 2024 Giro goes over the famous Stelvio Pass

With the 2024 Giro d'Italia less than a week away and the Spring Classics in the rearview mirror, all attention has firmly turned to who will win the overall title and succeed last year's champion, Primož Roglič , who has his eyes squarely set on the Tour de France in July.

UAE Team Emirates arrive with the outstanding race favourite in Tadej Pogačar , who was in stellar form through the four races he attended in the spring, but the Slovenian won't be without his challengers. Vying for the final podium in Rome and possibly more should Pogačar slip up, Geraint Thomas leads Ineos Grenadiers, Ben O'Connor is spearheading a resurgent Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Romain Bardet carries the hopes of dsm-firmenich PostNL.

• Giro d'Italia 2024: Essential race preview
• A beginner's guide to the Giro d'Italia
• Eyes on the Giro d’Italia podium for Ben O’Connor: ‘It is a race that really suits me’

With the looming general classification showdown in mind, teams will have long since analysed the route and figured out their best strategies for taking the race to Pogačar. Featuring 68.2km against the clock, being strong in the time trials will be key, but, as ever, there is also plenty of scope for the climbers to make their mark across the six summit finishes.

Here are our five key stages that will decide who wins the 2024 Giro d'Italia.

Earliest summit finish in 35 years could be perfect for Tadej Pogačar

Stage 2: San Francesco al Campo – Santuario di Oropa, 154km

Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 2 profile

Stage 2 brings the earliest summit finish seen in the Giro since 1989. The pink jersey will be up for grabs on the steep slopes to the Santuario di Oropa.

At 6.2% for 11.8km, the Oropa is no easy test and will establish a very early pecking order amongst the GC contenders, just as Mount Etna did in 1989 when Acácio da Silva rode to victory. The Oropa itself has history weaved into its bends as well, with Marco Pantani infamously dropping almost 50 riders to win here in 1999 before his failed haematocrit test just a week later.

The last time the Oropa was included, Tom Dumoulin powered to victory ahead of of Vincenzo Nibali and Mikel Landa, on his way to winning the 2017 Giro d'Italia. On that day there were no categorised climbs prior to the Oropa, but Dumoulin's success points to how this year's summit finish may end up – with a powerful rider favoured over a lightweight climber.

The Oropa ascent has an irregular profile to it, with its toughest moments falling in the middle of the climb with kilometres 5-6.5 averaging 9.5%. This section looks ripe for a stinging attack from a rider in the ilk of Tadej Pogačar, i.e. somebody who is noticeably stronger than the other contenders even when everyone is fresh.

Read more: Stat Attack: 8 records to keep Tadej Pogačar from boredom at the Giro d'Italia

Although the final few kilometres of the climb have their tough moments – with a maximum pitch of 14% falling with 2km to ride – the gradient hovers between 5-8% and, should a powerful rider have been able to open a gap on the earlier (and steeper) slopes, this is where they could press home their advantage and sneak an early buffer in the GC standings.

The lightweight climbers may have to wait until later in the race to see their power-to-weight ratio offer them an advantage.

The first ITT will set the tone for the race

Stage 7: Foligno – Perugia, 37.2km (ITT)

Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 7 profile

Although the first two stages of the 2024 Giro d'Italia provide one of the toughest race starts in recent years, the opening week of the race is relatively easy for the GC favourites, with opportunities instead lent to the sprinters and puncheurs. However, their time to shine will come again on stage 7 with the first of two individual time trials of the race.

It is here that the GC standings will take on another reshuffle and decide who needs to go on the offensive in the mountains to make up for any time lost on the time trial bike. At 37.2km long, stage 7 presents a fairly lengthy test by modern expectations, and carries a sting in its tail with a cat-4 climb to conclude proceedings.

Read more: Tadej Pogačar is a bit of a freak but he’s beatable at the Giro d’Italia, says Cummings

The Perugia ascent won't require a bike change by any means, but does contain a steep 1km segment at over 10% and another 800m ramp at 9%, which will certainly tilt the favour ever so slightly the way of a climber who can time trial, rather than a time trialist who can climb - not that there's many of them around these days, anyway.

You can still expect the likes of Thymen Arensman and Geraint Thomas (both Ineos Grenadiers) to be strong here, but the likes of Hugh Carthy (EF Education-EasyPost), Dani Martínez (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma-Lease a Bike) will fancy their chances of limiting their losses over the irregular uphill to the finish.

Time losses here will dictate the mood heading into the hills on stage 8.

Queen stage of the race brings over 5,000m of climbing, but will it happen?

Stage 15: Manebra del Garda – Livigno (Mottolino), 222km

Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 15 profile

The longest and toughest day of the 2024 Giro d'Italia falls on stage 15 with what is undoubtedly the Queen stage. Five categorised climbs, 222km and 5,700m of elevation gain await the riders as they traverse from the Italian Alps to the Swiss border via the Colle San Zeno, Passo del Mortirolo and the Passio di Foscagno. Going to above 2,300m altitude, the summit finish comes after the 8.1km-long Mottolino climb.

Given its length and brutality, the contenders for the pink jersey will be forced into action on this day and the fatigue accrued throughout the stage will surely play a part heading into the final two climbs.

• Read more: Primož Roglič and Jai Hindley foresee ‘super hard’ second half of 2024 Giro d’Italia

With a little over 120km to ride, the riders will take on the 12.6km Passo di Mortirolo, with an average gradient of 7.6%, but sections on 16%. From here, there's a fast descent and then it's back uphill again – uncategorised for nearly 40km before the Passo di Foscagno officially begins.

This climb is the first of the two cat-1 climbs which conclude the day, with both of them finishing at above 2,300m altitude. On paper, it should provide a blockbuster finale to the longest day of the race – the Mottolino extends for 8.1km at 6.6% – but there may be fears for the accessibility of these high-altitude passes should Europe suffer another cold May, and this stage has already been rerouted once.

However, this new route is meant to be more weather-proof, and is perhaps even harder than the original route. Rounding out the second week with a rest day to follow, the GC group should be in tatters by the final 2km that averages over 10%.

A post-rest day treat awaits on the Passo dello Stelvio

Stage 16: Livigno – Santa Cristina Valgardena, 202km

Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 16 profile

It is perhaps fears over the snow-capped mountains that have led the Giro organisers to shy away from including the Passo dello Stelvio as anything other than an aperitif on stage 16. The infamous 2,758m high pass will provide a cruel welcome back to the riders following the final rest day, but falling over 100km from the final climbs, its lacklustre inclusion has come to the disappointment of many fans.

That being said, there should still be enough character in the route to draw out another showdown amongst the pink jersey contenders, with the Stelvio serving to create attrition amongst the peloton before the finale.

Following the Cima Coppi of this year's race, it will be on the famous 48 hairpins of the eastern side that the peloton will descend towards the valley. The Val Gardena Dolomites await to the east, beginning with the 23.4km-long Passo Pinei that begins with 35km to ride.

Averaging 4.7%, this little-known ascent is not the steepest of mountains but does hold ramps of up to 15% and will be no easy test given its length. Expect to see a GC team or two setting a high pace from the bottom of this climb in order to string things out ahead of the Monte Pana.

Falling the day after the final rest day, stage 16 packs a punch at over 200km and for any riders coming out of their recovery with wooden legs, there will be no room to hide. The riders who perform well on this summit finish will undoubtedly be those trending in the right direction towards the end of the Giro.

Two ascents of the Monte Grappa will decide the winner of the Giro

Stage 20: Alpago – Bassano del Grappa, 175km

Giro d'Italia 2024 stage 20 profile

As has become tradition in the Giro d'Italia, the final stage will be a procession around the streets of Rome, ensuring that the pink jersey battle will be sewn up in advance of stage 21. It will, however, be decided in style with the unprecedented double ascent of the Monte Grappa on stage 20, prior to a lengthy descent to the finish where the winner of the Giro d'Italia will be crowned.

The 80km of undulating roads before the first ascent of the Monte Grappa will likely see a nervous peloton keep any potential breakaway on a tight leash, with just one cat-4 climb to deal with. Traversing the opposite route to when Nairo Quintana conquered the Monte Grappa in the 2014 edition – albeit in an individual time trial – the peloton will tackle the Monte Grappa from Treviso.

At 8.1% for 18.2km, the Monte Grappa has not been used often in the Giro's history, but it is a fearsome test nonetheless. There truly is the potential for a GC team to light up the first ascent and send their leaders on the attack over its summit, a proposition that will no doubt have fans salivating.

The descent of the Monte Grappa is over 25km long and includes a 1.5km climb at 9.2% in the middle of it. Those comfortable with pressing home an advantage on descents can take a flyer over the first summit, before beginning the final climb of the 2024 Giro with an advantage and the pink jersey to incentivise them.

This same descent and mini, uncategorised climb will follow the second summit of the Monte Grappa, which will fall with 30km of descending to tackle until the finish in Bassano del Grappa.

Let there be no doubt, the winner of the 2024 Giro d'Italia will not be completely decided until the double-ascent of the Monte Grappa looms into view over the Venetian plains, with even the most solid of leads open to threat on this tough stage.

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the   history of the race   to this year's route   and   start list , be sure to check out our   dedicated race hub .

Tadej Pogacar

• Team UAE Team Emirates
• Nationality Slovenia
• UCI Wins 77
• Height 1.76m

Geraint Thomas

• Team INEOS Grenadiers
• Nationality United Kingdom
• UCI Wins 27
• Height 1.83m

Ben O'Connor

• Team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
• Nationality Australia
• UCI Wins 11
• Height 1.88m

Romain Bardet

• Team Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
• Nationality France
• UCI Wins 14
• Height 1.85m

Hugh Carthy

• Team EF Education-EasyPost
• Height 1.93m

Cian Uijtdebroeks

• Team Team Visma | Lease a Bike
• Nationality Belgium

Daniel Martinez

• Team BORA-hansgrohe
• Nationality Colombia
• UCI Wins 15
• Height 1.74m

• Dates 4 May - 26 May
• Race Length 3,247 kms
• Race Category Elite Men

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Queen+Adam Lambert Tour Italia: biglietti, date concerti e scaletta

25/06/2022 Luca Landoni Biglietti Tour 0

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I  Queen con frontman confermato Adam Lambert dopo le due date nel 2018 torneranno in Italia nel 2022 confermando comunque Bologna come sede del doppio concerto nel nostro paese. Vediamo insieme date e info biglietti della tournée della band.

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Discografia Queen

1973 – Queen 1974 – Queen II 1974 – Sheer Heart Attack 1975 – A Night at the Opera 1976 – A Day at the Races 1977 – News of the World 1978 – Jazz 1980 – The Game 1980 – Flash Gordon 1982 – Hot Space 1984 – The Works 1986 – A Kind of Magic 1989 – The Miracle 1991 – Innuendo 1995 – Made in Heaven

Queen+Adam Lambert in Italia

La nuova tournée dei Queen+Adam Lambert consta di due concerti dopo il raddoppio annunciato a fine maggio. Ecco il calendario in costante aggiornamento.

10-11 luglio 2022 Casalecchio di Reno (Bo), Unipol Arena

Biglietti Queen Ticketone 

I biglietti del Tour 2022 si trovano in vendita su Ticketone e in tutti i punti autorizzati abituali con prezzi da 70 euro (parterre) in su. Saranno disponibili dalle ore 10.00 di mercoledì 25 settembre e li trovate qui .

Scaletta Queen+Adam Lambert

Scaletta 2022

Now I’m Here Tear It Up Seven Seas of Rhye Hammer to Fall Somebody to Love Killer Queen Don’t Stop Me Now In the Lap of the Gods… Revisited

Bicycle Race Fat Bottomed Girls Another One Bites the Dust I Want It All

Love of My Life ’39 Crazy Little Thing Called Love

A Kind of Magic I Want to Break Free Who Wants to Live Forever

Tie Your Mother Down Radio Ga Ga Bohemian Rhapsody

We Will Rock You We Are the Champions

Scaletta 2019

Now I’m Here Seven Seas of Rhye Keep Yourself Alive Hammer to Fall Killer Queen Don’t Stop Me Now Somebody to Love In the Lap of the Gods I’m in Love With My Car Bicycle Race Another One Bites the Dust I Want It All Love of My Life ’39 Doing All Right Crazy Little Thing Called Love Under Pressure Dragon Attack I Want to Break Free Tie Your Mother Down The Show Must Go On Fat Bottomed Girls Radio Ga Ga Bohemian Rhapsody

Scaletta 2017-2018

We Will Rock You Hammer to Fall Stone Cold Crazy Tie Your Mother Down Another One Bites the Dust Fat Bottomed Girls Killer Queen Don’t Stop Me Now Bicycle Race I’m in Love With My Car Get Down, Make Love I Want It All Love of My Life Somebody to Love Crazy Little Thing Called Love Under Pressure I Want to Break Free Whataya Want From Me Who Wants to Live Forever Last Horizon Radio Ga Ga Bohemian Rhapsody

Day-Oh We Will Rock You We Are the Champions

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Giro d'Italia 2024 Stage 12: How to watch on Thursday, TV and live stream details as Julian Alaphilippe eyes win

Published 15/05/2024 at 23:03 GMT

Julian Alaphilippe, this day was made for you. The Frenchman is without a Grand Tour stage win since 2021, when he grabbed the yellow jersey on the opening day of the Tour de France. With four punchy categorised climbs on the menu, Alaphilippe will be among the favourites for victory. So how can you watch Stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia? And when does coverage start on Eurosport and discovery+?

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Concerti Queen + Adam Lambert: Info e Biglietti del Tour 2024/2025

Concerti Queen + Adam Lambert : di seguito trovi l'elenco di tutte le prossime date del Tour 2024/2025. Trova i biglietti per i concerti su Rockol.it.

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Queen Extravaganza Announce 2024 UK and European Tour

QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA NEW TOUR FOR 2024!  

THE OFFICAL QUEEN TRIBUTE BAND  PRODUCED BY ROGER TAYLOR & BRIAN MAY  ANNOUNCE NEW TOUR DATES FOR 2024

TICKET LINK: www.queenonline.com/quex

Tickets go on sale @ Friday, 30th June at 10am (GMT)

Queen Extravaganza, the official Queen tribute band produced by Roger Taylor and Brian May, returns to the UK in 2024, following their triumphant 2023 tour. 

The band, who have been touring for over a decade, is made up of a rolling cast of gifted musicians, all of whom have been hand-picked by Roger Taylor and Brian May to perform the magical songs from one of the biggest bands in the world.. in fact in history! Queen Extravaganza band lineup will be confirmed later this year. 

Renowned for touring all over the USA, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil and Europe, Queen Extravaganza has earned much love and respect from their devoted and ever-growing fan base.  Roger Taylor confirms “It’s our own official tribute band”  and millions of fans compare the experience as being the closest they can get to the original.    This spectacular 90-minute show features more than 20 Queen classics drawn from the band’s biggest hits: Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites the Dust, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Under Pressure, We Will Rock You, We Are the Champions, Radio Ga Ga, Somebody to Love and Killer Queen as well as other fan favourites.

Always a night to remember, for Queen fans across the world it really is A Kind Of Magic!   QUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA TOUR DATES 2024            

26/02/2024 – Civic Hall – Wolverhampton 27/02/2024 – St George’s Hall – Bradford 28/02/2024 – O2 City Hall – Newcastle 01/03/2024 – SEC Armadillo – Glasgow 02/03/2024 – Arena – Derby 04/03/2024 – Arena – Swansea 05/03/2024 – Beacon – Bristol 06/03/2024 – Eventim Apollo – London 08/03/2024 – Globe – Stockton 09/03/2024 – O2 Apollo – Manchester 10/03/2024 – New Theatre – Oxford 12/03/2024 – Congress Theatre – Eastbourne 13/03/2024 – Regent Theatre – Ipswich 15/03/2024 – Pavilion – Plymouth 16/03/2024 – International Centre – Bournemouth 17/03/2024 – Hall For Cornwall – Truro 19/03/2024 – Olympia Theatre – Dublin 21/03/2024 – Waterfront Hall – Belfast 24/03/2024 – Zénith – Rouen 25/03/2024 – Zénith – Amiens 26/03/2024 – Zénith – Paris 28/03/2024 – Zénith – Nancy 29/03/2024 – Zénith – Dijon 30/03/2024 -Zénith – St. Etienne 31/03/2024 – Zénith – Toulon 02/04/2024 – Palais Nikaia – Nice 04/04/2024 – Le Summum – Grenoble 05/04/2024 – Arena – Narbonne 06/04/2024 – Zénith – Pau 07/04/2024 – Arkea Arena – Bordeaux 09/04/2024 – Le Liberté – Rennes 11/04/2024 – Mitsubishi Electric Halle – Dusseldorf 12/04/2024 – Forest National – Brussels 14/04/2024 – Tivoli mVredenburg – Utrecht

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Next date in 2023

The “ Regina – The real Queen experience ” band was born in 1999, from Italian musicians and great lovers and experts of QUEEN .

Over the years they have had the opportunity to be appreciated in all the most important clubs in Italy, finding such a success by the public as to persuade them to set in motion a much more defined and accurate project.

To highlight the classification among the best 6 talents in Italy obtained through participation in the television format Italia’s Got Talent, broadcast on Channel 5.

Their show stands out as one of the best ever, both for the fidelity of the sounds in the performances and for the technique, proposing a range of songs that goes from the first “Queen” era, passing from the most famous performance at Wembley Stadium in 1986, up to the last songs ever performed live by the legendary band.

The characteristic stage costumes and the majestic sound impact cannot be missing, to ensure an exciting experience to give to the public.

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Venaria Reale – Torino

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2024 Giro d’Italia: Pogačar Claims His 5th Giro Win on Shortened Stage 16

T he 2024 Giro d’Italia runs from May 4 to May 26 through the mountains of Italy. The first of three men’s grand tours, the Giro is arguably the most difficult. Two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar is making his Tour of Italy debut, and he will be looking to claim the pink jersey over the likes of Geraint Thomas, Cian Uijtdebroeks, Ben O’Connor, and Romain Bardet will look to fend off the Slovenian.

How to Watch 2024 Giro d’Italia Must-Watch Stages Riders to Watch

Check out stage-by-stage recaps of the action below.

Stage 16: Livigno to Santa Cristina Valgardena/St. Christina in Gröden, 202 km

Pogačar makes it five.

Stage Winner : Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

Race Leader: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

May 21, 2024—For the first time in this year’s Giro d’Italia, the weather played a factor. And it did so in more ways than one.

Last week, it was announced that the Passo dello Stelvio , originally slated for today’s sixteenth stage, was removed from the stage for fear of avalanche. That left the still-might Umbrailpass, a 16.7-kilometer climb that averages 7.2 percent and tops out at two thousand five hundred meters.

However, as bitter rain fell, the stage was again shortened, removing the Umbrail Pass, after the riders unanimously agreed not to race the stage unless the summit was removed from the parcours. Thus, the UCI’s Extreme Weather Protocol was invoked, and the stage was shortened to one hundred and twenty-one kilometers with just a pair of summits on the day.

Riders and team managers grumbled amid the confusion of the early morning, but AG2R Decathlon La Mondiale’s GC guy Ben O’Connor didn’t mince words.

“It’s probably one of the worst organized races. I’m just being honest. This would never happen in 99 percent of other situations,” O’Connor told Eurosport. “It’s just a shame that it is 2024, and you have dinosaurs who really don’t see the human side of things. I would still like to ride the stage, but I don’t want to ride over 2,500 meters. It is already five degrees (Celsius) and pouring rain, and at 2,500 meters, it is already snowing. I’d like to see (race director Mauro Vegni) in our position, go outside on the bike and do the start of the stage, and see what his answer is after those couple of hours.”

The stage did start, albeit a few hours late, and saw an immediate attempt at a breakaway. After a few futile efforts, a small, four-man break of Soudal Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphillipe, Polti Komete’s Mirco Maestri, Astana Qazaqstan’s Davide Ballerini, and EF Education-EasyPost’s Andrea Piccolo stuck, eventually putting up to a two-minute lead into the group.

The day’s two climbs came in quick succession, with the summit of the first—the category 1 Passo Pinei—coming just twelve kilometers before the second: the day’s category 2 summit finish atop the Monte Pana. The two nearly combined climbs made for a final thirty-six kilometers that were ostensibly uphill.

Shortly after the start of the first climb, Julian Alaphillipe launched a solo attack, quickly gapping his three breakmates by a minute. That lead was whittled down to just twenty seconds at the top of the Pinei, and Alaphillipe was swallowed up by a three-man chasing group of Ewen Costiou of Arkéa B&B Hotels, Giulio Pellizzari of VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, and Christian Scaroni of Astana Qazaqstan after the start of the final climb.

Those four became three when Alaphillipe fell off the back at the 3-kilometer mark. Pellizzari and Costiou traded punches at the front before the twenty-year-old Italian made a final and seemingly decisive move with a kilometer-and-a-half to go.

But Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) once again proved that he might not be of this world, launching a move that quickly caught and dropped Costiou and Scaroni before catching Pellizzari and winning his fifth stage of this year’s Giro.

Behind the man in pink, BORA-hansgrohe’s Dani Martínez snatched second back from Ineos Grenadiers’ Geraint Thomas in this Grand Tour’s most (and possibly only) compelling competition.

“(Movistar) went really fast on the final climb,” Pogačar said. “The final two kilometers, we tried to control. Then Rafa (Majka) had enough, and he said, ‘Yeah, we push on.’ I was thinking that Pellizzari would win today’s stage. I’m super happy that he got second.”

“Actually, today we didn’t want to go for the stage,” said Rafaeł Majka, Pogačar’s UAE teammate. “On the last climb, I said (to Pogačar), ‘Go on, man.’”

Stage 15: Manerba del Garda to Livigno, 222 km

It’s all pogačar once again.

Tadej Pogačar did it again on Sunday’s Queen Stage at the Giro d’Italia. Pogačar claimed his fourth stage win of the Giro and extended his own lead in the general classification in another brilliant show of strength.

A big breakaway was able to stay away for much of the day, and the veteran Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was the last remaining rider. The 34-year-old Quintana was all alone with under 20km in the stage.

But Pogačar, of course, was on the hunt. With 1 km to go, Pogačar set off on his solo mission to catch Quintana and win the stage. He timed in well, making the pass with 2km to go and quickly gapping Quintana. It was yet another incredible performance from Pogačar, who has continued to dazzle through the first 15 stages of the Tour of Italy.

All told, Pogačar won the stage by 29 seconds over Quintana, who settled for second after a long day out front. Pogačar added almost another three minute buffer between him and his closest GC rivals. Daniel Martinez (BORA-hansgrohe) and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) finished 2:50 back on Pogačar on the day. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was 2:58 back.

Pogačar lead in the GC has swelled to an almost unbelievable 6:41 over second place Thomas, and 6:56 over third place Martinez. It seems that Pogačar just needs to remain upright during the last week of the Giro and he will claim another grand tour victory.

Pogačar was his usual self after the stage, celebrating the fact that the second rest day of the Giro comes tomorrow. “Drink to that!” he said before taking a swig of hot tea.

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Stage 14: Castiglione delle Stiviere to Desenzano del Garda (Individual Time Trial), 31.2 km

Ganna gets his itt stage victory.

Stage Winner : Filippo Ganna (INEOS Grenadiers)

Eight days after he roasted on the hot seat for much of the day only for the maglia rosa to steal the spotlight at the last minute, Filippo Ganna was able to exact some revenge and get his time trial stage victory at the 2024 Giro d’Italia.

With just 150 meters of elevation gain, the stage certainly played into the hands of Ganna, the time trial specialist from INEOS. It was tailor made for a big performance. It was on the final climb of the Stage 7 time trial where Ganna lost crucial seconds to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and finished second on the stage. There would be no stage victory stealing from Pog this time.

Ganna, in the Italian champion’s jersey, put down a time of 35:02 to set a strong early standard. Of course, with Pogačar, there are no guarantees. The race leader put down a solid performance—29 seconds off Ganna and enough for second on the stage, furthering his lead in the general classification.

Pogačar entered the stage with a 2:40 over second position Daniel Martinez (BORA-hansgrohe) and 2:56 over third position Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers). After the Stage 14 TT, Pogačar extended his lead to 3:41 over Thomas, who slipped into second place in the GC with a strong ride, and 3:56 over Martinez.

Stage 13: Riccione to Cento, 179 km

Jonathan milan takes third giro victory.

Stage Winner : Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)

May 17, 2024—After an action-packed opening two weeks, it was an atypically quiet day on a flat stage that was one of the last chances for the sprinters to shine in this year’s Giro d’Italia.

The lake-flat 179-kilometer stage took the riders from Riccone, on the Adriatic, to Cento, a small medieval city directly north of Bologna. And as they often do on flat stages, crosswinds battered the peloton all day.

Of course, there was a breakaway. Given the rate at which breakaways have turned into winning moves in this race, as much was expected. But the leading group never got more than a few dozen seconds clear of the peloton. With just over fifty kilometers left to race, the peloton caught the small group off the front. However, the breakaway again fought valiantly, keeping themselves on a rubber band just a few seconds ahead. Again, they built up a near-minute lead before the peloton steadfastly reeled them back in.

A two-man breakaway of Martin Marcellusi of VF-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè and Dries de Pooter of Intermarché-Wanty built up a lead upwards of thirty seconds before a crash tangled up several riders with just under twenty kilometers to go. However, as it was toward the back of the pack, it had little effect on the stage results and the GC riders.

A few moments later, de Pooter ended up off the front alone. But his attack lasted just a few kilometers, and he was swallowed up with nine kilometers to go.

The group was disorganized as they crossed under the 5 km banner, with teammates peppered throughout the peloton. From there, the pace ratcheted up instantly, everyone trying to find position and leadout men for the day’s final stretch, which included several technical turns and pinch points.

Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, the current maglia ciclamino, spent much of the day at the front, though his legs apparently didn’t suffer much. He was right there battling for the sprint finish.

Movistar’s Fernando Gaviria was the first to launch with less than five hundred meters to go. But it was Milan, coming off Gaviria’s wheel with about two hundred meters left, who took the line, notching his third win of this Giro and tightening his stranglehold on the maglia ciclamino.

“It’s about the team,” said Simone Consonni, one of Milan’s key leadout men, immediately following the stage. “They were unbelievable today.”

Milan echoed the sentiment in his postrace interview. “The guys did an amazing job,” he said. “They delivered me in the perfect position. It was impressive how the guys rode today, how everyone did his part, how everyone pushed for this team goal. When everyone is believing all this, this is the end. I'm super proud of the guys on my team. I have to say ‘thanks’ to them.”

Stage 12: Martinsicuro to Fano, 193 km

Julian alaphilippe takes stunning victory in signature style.

Stage Winner : Julian Alaphillippe (Soudal-Quickstep)

May 16, 2024— Stage 12 turned out to be a lightning-fast stage over a hilly course with 2,200 meters of elevation, leading to some animated racing from the breakaway, chase groups, and even the peloton, where GC riders sat hoping for the race to calm down. But for 193 km, it never really did.

The victory was taken with aggression and style by two-time World Champion Julian Alaphillippe (Soudal-Quickstep). Alaphilippe was part of a huge breakaway battle that started in the Marche region, and at an average of 47 kilometers per hour, it turned out to be one of the top ten fastest stages in Giro history. Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers) finished in second, and Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was third after the chase-group sprint in Fano.

This is the Soudal-Quickstep rider’s first win since last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné and his first at a Grand Tour since 2021. The win also completes his Grand Tour stage-win set and adds to his six Tour de France stage victories and one La Vuelta a España win.

Alaphilippe launched the first of many attacks about 138 km from the finish before meeting his breakaway companion Mirco Maestri (Polti-Kometa). Their effort would hold off the chasers until Alaphilippe attacked the last ascent 11.5 km from the finish.

“I didn’t plan it. I was expecting a big group to be in the breakaway. First, I have to thank my teammates who perfectly controlled the first 60 km. I was focused on being on the front,” said the Frenchman in the post-race interview.

Alaphilippe believed he could win the stage, but made sure to continue working and hold off the chasers. “Until the last kilometer, I had to keep pushing full gas because I hear Narvaez was close behind me,” he said. “It was my dream to win a stage of the Giro.”

While Maestri would have certainly liked to finish behind a champ like Alaphilippe, the chase caught up to him on the last climb, and he went on to finish in 9th place. “He also deserved to win today. He was amazing. We collaborated super well,” said Alaphilippe.

This is how the stage went down. At 140 km to go, Alaphilippe, along with Andrea Piccolo, sparked a decisive move on an uncategorized climb, prompting a group of former stage winners to join in the action. As the breakaway materialized, Alaphilippe initiated another acceleration, reducing the group’s size to just him and Maestri, leaving the peloton behind.

Although the breakaway initially held a substantial advantage, cooperation within the group was scarce, allowing the chasing peloton to gain ground. As the race approached the final climb, Alaphilippe made his move, leaving Maestri behind in pursuit of the stage win.

Jan Hirt (Soudal-QuickStep), who sits in 11th place in the GC, tried to get in the early break, but team Bahrain Victorious, who has rider Antonio Tiberi sitting in 5th in the GC, made sure Hirt wouldn’t get very far.

While Alaphilippe dominated the finale, Narváez showcased his strength by securing second place. Behind them, the GC contenders remained cautious; race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) stayed safe in the peloton alongside Dani Martínez (Bora-hansgrohe), and Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers). Bora-hansgrohe did attempt to position Martínez for a potential attack, but it never materialized. With the flat stages ahead and a crucial time trial looming, the focus has shifted to preserving energy and maintaining position in the overall standings.

Stage 11: Foiano di Val Fortore to Francavilla al Mare, 207 km

Jonathan milan beats tim merlier and kaden groves in messy sprint finish.

May 15, 2024—After a bit of whistle-wetting with Stage 10’s summit finish, the sprinters again took the spotlight for Wednesday’s Stage 11.

The 207-kilometer stage that started in Foiano di Valfortore kicked off with a few bumps in the road before the parcours sloped gently downward toward the sea, with the day’s final hundred kilometers offering more or less a flat run into Francavilla al Mare.

A small breakaway built a two-minute-and-forty-second lead heading into the day’s only classified climb, the category three Pietracatella, which pitched up at the stage’s fortieth kilometer. But they were slowly reeled in along the flat Adriatic coastline and fully caught one-hundred-and-thirty kilometers late, with just over thirty-five kilometers to go.

Despite a fruitless late attack from EF Education-EasyPost’s Andrea Piccolo, the peloton stayed together at a blistering pace of well over sixty kilometers per hour (occasionally over seventy).

With 4 kilometers to go to the finish, the course bent a hard ninety degrees, a brief wrench thrown into an otherwise straightforward day. And other than a bit of slowing, the peloton came through the turn unscathed.

Movistar’s Fernando Gaviria launched first with just a few hundred meters to go, but by the time the final meters ticked down, the race came down to Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier and current and reigning maglia ciclamino Jonathan Milan of Lidl-Trek. It marks Milan’s second win in this year’s Giro.

“Our team put me in a really good position,” Merlier said immediately following the stage.“Perfect job from the guys. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t win for them.”

One developing non-racing story to keep an eye on is just how many riders have abandoned due to an illness that is spreading through the peloton. Twenty-one riders have thus far dropped out of the Giro d’Italia, several due to crash-related injuries. However, an inordinate amount of riders have packed it in, citing fevers and viral symptoms.

Just one day after winning Stage 9, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Olav Kooij abandoned with illness during Monday’s rest day. The following day, his team leader, Cian Uijtdebroeks, suffered the same fate. Visma’s main leadout man, Christophe Laporte, crashed out on Stage 4, leaving last year’s world beaters with just four riders left and two weeks still to race.

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Stage 10: Pompei to Cusano Mutri, 142 km

Paret-peintre claims his first professional win.

Stage Winner : Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

Fresh off a rest day, it was all out from the flag drop on today’s stage. With 142 km to cover, it was a relatively short stage. Riders had a long warmup before the climbing started. This stage featured a summit finish on a new climb, the Category 1 Bocca della Selva, with a deceiving 4.6-percent average gradient. Jan Tratnik (Visma-Lease a Bike) led for more than 25 km, but it was Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) who finally caught him and took his first professional win.

Despite pleasant temperatures, riders had to contend with wet roads and rain. Staying upright required all the bike handling skills and smart choices on turns and descents. Riders also had to maneuver around a dog on the course—likely a stray.

The first sprint came at 52 km in Arpaia. Alessandro De Marchi (Jayco-AlUla) took first, Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) took second, and Kaden Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck) crossed the line in third.

At 73 km, the lead group and the chase group were still fairly chaotic. Alessandro De Marchi and Simon Clarke remained the lead duo, followed by many attacks. Eventually, we saw a breakaway group of 27 riders.

The 6.1 km category 2 climb at Camposauro saw Simon Geschke (Cofidis) take first, Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group–Bardiani–CSF–Faizanè) second, and Enzo Paleni (Groupama-FDJ) third.

Eventually, Simon Clarke was dropped by the breakaway and caught by the peloton. With 28 km to go, Tratnik took a solo lead. Tratnik took the bonus sprint points at Cusano Mutri with 20 km to go. He remained out front into the final climb of the stage.

The Bocca della Selva climb started with just under 18 km to go. Riders climbed 976 meters (3,202 feet) with a maximum gradient of 10 percent. A plateau broke up the climb a little over halfway through.

With less than 3 km to go, Tratnik was finally caught by Paret-Peintre, followed by Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL).

Following in his brother (and teammate) Aurélien’s footsteps, and just ahead of his idol, Bardet, Paret-Peintre took his first professional win. Previously, his best Giro stage result was 31st place. This was the 15th win for Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale. It’s like they gained superpowers by abandoning the brown bibs.

In his post-race interview, Paret-Peintre said that he decided to go for it in the final kilometers because it was the toughest section, and he felt like he had it in his legs. “I can’t describe what I feel now. It’s just amazing,” said Paret-Peintre. “I was there to go for a good result and why not win? Now, I have a Giro stage win for my first pro win. It’s amazing.

“I saw that the last 4 km was the hardest, so I said, ‘ok, if I want to attack, it’s in the last 4km, so I was waiting waiting waiting for all the last climb, then when I see the last 3 km, I attacked.”

Tratnik took third at the summit, after a strong and successful ride. There were lots of changes in the top ten, with a huge scramble for seconds with the chase group. But no change in the pink jersey going into Stage 11. Is it possible that Tadej Pogačar is finally riding a bit conservatively?

Stage 9: Avezzano to Naples, 214 km

Olav kooij takes first-ever grand tour stage win.

Stage Winner: Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease a Bike)

The longest stage so far is arguably one of the easier stages despite covering 214 km. Compared to the gravel stage, a short, hard time trial, and the brutal summit finish in yesterday’s stage, Avezzano to Naples may have a lot of distance, but it was relatively flat and fast. While a valiant effort from Polti Kometa’s Andrea Pietrobon and Mirco Maestri kept the two riders away for most of the race, Julian Alaphilippe and Jhonathan Narváez both made impressive attacks in the final kilometers. But it came down to a sprint finish that was played perfectly by Visma-Lease a Bike’s Olav Kooij.

The long, flat start meant plenty of attacks from early on, with Soudal-QuickStep, EF Pro Cycling and Bahrain Victorious as some of the early teams to head to the front. But the first early attack that stuck came from Polti Kometa’s Andrea Pietrobon and Mirco Maestri—they grew a gap of over two minutes, but the peloton behind seemed unbothered. As always, kudos to the Giro Twitter feed for gems like this:

The two led for much of the race, maintaining a nearly two-minute gap at 65 km to go—a no man’s land with the intact peloton behind and charging hard. The Alpecin-Deceuninck team led the peloton behind Pietrobon and Maestri as the two teammates continued to sweep up sprint points.

A crash at 57 km to go saw three Ineos Grenadiers, including Geraint Thomas—currently third in the general classification—go down. But with his teammates, Thomas was unconcerned and was back on and riding back to the peloton quickly.

Meanwhile, the peloton began to pull the Polti Kometa riders back, dropping the gap to 1:20 with 53 km to go. UAE Team Emirates and EF Education-EasyPost took control of the front of the peloton as the three Ineos Grenadiers, including Thomas, made their way back into it.

At 27 km to go, Julian Alaphillipe launched an attack with the two leaders just 10 seconds ahead. He swiftly chased them down with teammate Nicola Conci as they closed on the top of the punchy climb. Alaphilippe raced past the Polti Kometa riders, continuing his attack up the road. Kevin Vermaerke (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Lewis Askey (Groupma FDJ) were able to launch themselves from the peloton and attach themselves to the now-six-man strong lead group.

Behind them, attacks came fast and furious from the peloton as the clock ticked down on Stage 9, and riders tried to bridge up to the lead group. Arkea-B&B Hotels’ Ewen Costiou made his way across the now-lowered gap, and the peloton struggled to get organized to chase with Lidl-Trek on the front.

Costiou and Alaphillipe attacked, spearing themselves from the lead group, opening a 15-second gap to the five riders behind them. The peloton continued to reel in the leaders, tightening the gap between them and the now-chase group to only four to 10 seconds.

While Costiou and Alaphillipe made a valiant effort, on the final climb with 10 km to go, Costiou couldn't hold the pace, and Alaphillipe was forced to continue his attack solo, reestablishing a 10-second lead on the peloton as he raced out of the saddle and towards the finish.

But he couldn't quite make it. He was absorbed by the peloton at just over 7 kilometers to go, as Ineos Grenadiers’ Jhonatan Narváez made an attack, opening a five-second gap as the peloton splintered on the climb.

Stage 1 winner Narváez hit the final descent at 3 km to go, enjoying the use of the entire road on the downhill. He held an 8-second gap as the peloton started to organize for the final sprint.

With 1400 meters to go, Narváez had a 12-second gap as the small peloton, including Pogačar, tried to prepare for the sprint. But Narváez was unable to hold on to his gap as the teams massed behind him, swallowing him up with under a hundred meters to go.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s Olav Kooij ultimately took the sprint win ahead of Lidl-Trek's Jonathan Milan and Juan Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates), who was led out by race leader Pogačar. (“If I can help… it’s better for me to be in front and help my friend,” he said in the post-race interview, adding, “I’m really looking forward to the rest day tomorrow.”)

Stage 8: Spoleto to Prati de Tivo, 152 km

Pogačar sprints to victory and maintains overall lead.

Stage Winner: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates)

We know he can win races with dramatic breakaways, but it turns out Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) also can perfectly play out a sprint. In today’s race, he just narrowly outsprinted Daniel Martínez (Bora-hansgrohe) and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) for the win at the top of the steep final ascent to the finish.

In case you were wondering, Pogačar has continued to opt for the full pink kit after the sartorial debacle earlier this week .

Today marked the first major mountain stage of the Giro, with some of the classic climbs we love to see. Right from the start, it was clear that riders were going to be attempting breakaways before, during, and after every climb. Mountain stages at the Giro are often where we see unlikely stage winners thanks to a breakaway that comes as a surprise and actually sticks.

By 20 km into the race, a large group had formed at the front, but only 20 seconds separated them from the full might of the peloton. The group ebbed and flowed, and was cut down to 14 riders by just under 100 km to go. Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Romain Bardet (dsm–firmenich PostNL) and Magnus Sheffield (INEOS Grenadiers) were a few of the riders making moves in the lead group, and their lead stretched to over 2 minutes ahead of the peloton at 61 km to go.

But when a team like UAE Team Emirates is chasing the breakaway to preserve Pogačar’s overall lead, does it stand much of a chance?

“We thought the breakaway had a good chance, to be honest,” said Thomas in a post-race interview . “Obviously, UAE set a good tempo on the climb, and I guess because it was still quite close, I don’t know if they decided to go for the stage in the beginning, but they certainly decided to go for it in the end.”

As the group hit 15 km to go, heading towards the final climb into Prati di Tivo, the gap had dropped to just over 30 seconds. While several riders made valiant efforts to hold off the peloton, Pogačar sped into the finish with a group of seven riders and ultimately took the sprint.

However, the GC remained relatively unchanged, since seven of the top finishers on the stage were in the top eight in the GC, which is now led by Pogačar by 2:40 over Martinez and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers).

“I wasn’t expecting this today,” Pogačar said in the post-race press conference, making him pretty much the only person in the world who wasn’t expecting it.

Stage 7: Foligno - Perugia (Individual Time Trial), 40.6 km

Pogačar strengthens grip on pink jersey.

165 riders rolled down the little pink ramp this morning, each one minute apart, for the first time trial of this year’s Giro.

Vicious crosswinds pushed riders across the road at points, their giant disc wheels acting as windsails, slowing down even some of the most skilled time triallists around.

And there is arguably no rider more skilled on a TT bike than INEOS Grenadiers’ Filippo Ganna, one of the world’s fastest men in the race against the clock.

“Top Ganna” is what the commentators called him, saying that everyone else looked like a passenger plane next to the fighter jet that is Ganna.

However, the 40.6-kilometer stage included a mighty pitch in the final stretch, gaining over two hundred meters over the last four kilometers, whose multi-digit grades benefitted some of the punchier riders in the bunch. After all, today’s time trail ran from Foligno to Perugia, across the undulating hills of Umbria.

By the time Geraint Thomas—who started the day in second place in the GC standings—rolled down the ramp, his INEOS Grenadiers teammates held all three positions on the podium (Ganna, Thymen Arensmen, Magnus Sheffield). By the time he crossed the line, those results held.

But there was only one rider left in the starting tent behind Thomas: current pink jersey, race favorite, and generational talent across a variety of disciplines, Tadej Pogačar.

Going back to his stunning time trial on the penultimate stage of the 2020 Tour de France, where he snatched the yellow jersey from Primož Roglič, Pogačar has displayed that he, too, is one of the world’s great time triallists.

And today, that skill on a TT bike threw a wrench directly into the works of INEOS’s 1-2-3 day, as Pogačar made up over a minute on the stage’s final six kilometers. Pogačar finished seventeen seconds ahead of Ganna, giving the UAE Team Emirates superstar the stage win.

A bunch of INEOS riders who couldn’t quite nip Pogačar. Seems to be one of the themes emerging from this year’s Giro.

Pogačar’s ride put nearly two additional minutes into his nearest rivals in the GC standings, increasing his overall lead from 46 seconds to 2:36.

Meanwhile, BORA-hansgrohe’s Dani Martinez, who entered the day in third place overall, bested Geraint Thomas by thirteen seconds on the stage, putting him ten seconds ahead of Thomas in the GC standings.

“There was a lot of preparations for this, a lot of ups and downs,” Pogačar said. “I’m super happy that today I felt good. I paced myself until the climb and then the climb, full gas.”

Geraint Thomas, meanwhile, wore a subtle look of disappointment after the race.

“I tried to ride within myself, and when it was time to go, I just lacked it a little bit. It is what it is. It’s just one of those days.”

Thomas ended his post-race interview abruptly when the interview reminded him that his teammates did an excellent job on the day, without actually asking a question

“Thanks,” he said sternly, taking a sip of his drink.

Stage 6: Torre del Lago Puccini - Rapolano Terme, 180 km

Underdog victory: pelayo sánchez triumphs in giro’s gravel stage.

Stage Winner: Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar)

May 9, 2024—Looking at the profile of Stage 6, you might think that the day would have been relatively mellow. One-hundred-eighty kilometers, minimal elevation, a pair of category-four climbs. However, thanks to a trio of gravel sectors—the strade bianche of Tuscany—today’s stage was anything but.

What many thought might be a launching pad for Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who won March’s Strade Bianche with a stunning eighty-kilometer solo break, ended up seeing a series of breakaways, none of which stuck.

Until one did. And, for the second day in a row, the break stayed away.

The trio of Movistar’s Pelayo Sánchez , Soudal Quick-Step’s Julian Alaphilippe, and Jayco AlUla’s Luke Plapp had a lead that stretched out to as much as two and a half minutes as the race entered its third and final gravel sector. But INEOS Grenadiers set a blistering pace behind, quickly whittling the three-man breakaway’s lead to less than thirty seconds with just a few kilometers to go.

But the gap stayed at around twenty seconds as the Plapp, Alaphilippe, and Sánchez passed under the 1 km to go banner. Alaphilippe launched early, and Sanchez responded. Though Plapp was hanging on their wheels, it was clear that this was a two-man race to the finish.

In his post-race interview, Sánchez was asked if he knew what he had just accomplished. “No,” Sánchez replied. “This is amazing. I don’t have words. Crazy, crazy day for me. I thought today that I could be in the breakaway, but I could never imagine winning here.”

Sánchez also admitted that, even though he spent the last several dozen kilometers working with Plapp and Alaphilippe, he tried several times to put time into his mates in the breakaway. “I tried to drop [Plapp and Alaphilippe], but it was impossible for me,” he said. “So, I tried at the end with the sprint. Luckily, I was the fastest.”

Plapp, who spent much of the day in the virtual pink jersey, said after the race, “That was an insane day. The race was out of control, the whole race. It was ridiculous for the first eighty kilometers.”

“The three of us worked reasonably well to the finish,” Plapp added. “We played games a bit. I was half-eyes looking for time and half-eyes looking for the stage, so I ended up riding a bit harder.”

Asked if he was thinking about the pink jersey during his breakaway, Plapp said, “No, no, no. I know (UAE Team Emirates) were never going to let it go. You could see from the gaps they were keeping, they weren’t willing to let the jersey go.”

Stage 5: Genova - Lucca, 178 km

A win for the breakaway as the peloton couldn’t get it together.

Stage Winner: Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis)

May 8, 2024—Another flat-ish day, another sprint finish. That was supposed to be the script for Wednesday’s fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia. But if there’s a theme emerging from the early stages of this year’s Giro, it’s to expect the unexpected.

Because in a move that seems ever more rare, the day’s breakaway stuck, the charging group of sprinters behind unable to catch up.

At the end of the 178-kilometer stage, Benjamin Thomas captured Cofidis’s first win this season. Behind him were EF Education-EasyPost’s Michael Valgren, Andrea Pietrobon of Polti Kometa, and Groupama-FDJ’s Enzo Paleni. The group spent about half of the day with a lead of around one minute over the peloton.

Eight seconds behind Paleni, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan—the current maglia ciclamino— led the rest of the peloton across the line.

With 5 kilometers to the finish, the four-man breakaway had a solid forty-second lead, and it seemed as though the peloton couldn’t organize themselves enough to reel them back in. Ineos Grenadiers had the most notable attack, but pulled off after the 3-kilometer mark, ostensibly working to protect their lead man Geraint Thomas’s time.

From there, nothing much materialized, and the breakaway was allowed to duke it out themselves for the win.

“I said maybe today’s my day,” said the French Thomas, who captured both his first WorldTour and Grand Tour victories with the win. “Everything is perfect today. I knew the final because I trained there sometimes. I knew the Montemagno in the final, and it helped me, knowing the cobbles and the corners. It's a nice thing to win in Italy. It means a lot to me.”

Thomas, who is a seasoned track racer, likened the four-man break to a “long, long team pursuit.”

Valgren added that the topography of the parcours aided the breakaway’s chances.

“It was actually only with three or four ks to go (that we thought we could win) because you always think the peloton will take 10-seconds-per-kilometer more or less,” Valgren said after the race. “We kept working well together and there was in our favor kind of downhill. Chapeau to the other guys for working well together. We didn't start to play the games, so it was nice.”

The one thing that was expected was that nothing much changed in the GC battle. UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogačar remains forty-six seconds clear of Geraint Thomas and forty-seven seconds ahead of BORA-hansgrohe’s lead man, Dani Martinez.

Stage 4: Acqui Terme - Andora, 190 km

Jonathan milan wins sprint finish.

Stage Winner: Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek)

May 7, 2024—For the second straight day, the Giro d’Italia ended with a flat sprint that was almost nabbed with a daring and unexpected last-minute attack.

The 190-kilometer route from Acqui Terme to Andora started with a gradual ride into the day’s only categorized climb, the category 3 Colle del Melogno, where the KOM points were taken by Intermarché-Wanty’s Lilian Calmejane. After that, it was an almost wholly downsloping back half of the stage, ending with a straight, flat shot into the seaside town of Andora.

If the peloton felt a bit jumpy heading into Andora, it no doubt had to do with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas’s (INEOS Grenadiers) almost successful late break in yesterday’s sprint stage.

And then, just like yesterday, a solo attack was launched with plenty of racing left. Today, it was Ineos-Grenadiers’ Filippo Ganna, one of the fastest solo bike racers that’s ever lived, who attacked at the foot of the day’s final pitch, the Capo Mele, with 4 km to go. However, the long-distance attack was once again in vain, as he was caught and swallowed up with just a few hundred meters to go.

Moments later, another Italian, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan, launched a furious and commanding 300-meter sprint that would net him his second Giro stage win, exactly one year to the day from his first.

Meanwhile, Dani Martínez, who entered the day in third place in the GC standings, suffered a late-stage mechanical. Lucky for the BORA-hansgrohe racer, it was within the final 3 kilometers, meaning he was awarded the same time as the bunch ahead and lost no extra time to Pogačar and Thomas.

In sad news, Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) slid out on a slick descent with about 62 kilometers left, crashing out of the race with an injury. It was a brutal reminder of the Eritrean’s luck, who, moments after becoming the first Black African rider to win a Grand Tour stage in 2022’s Giro, suffered a freak injury when the cork from his celebratory champagne bottle shot him in the eye, causing him to abandon the race with a hemorrhage in his eye.

“We saw Ganna going full gas in the last climb, and we just had to catch him,” said Milan of his Italian track teammate. “Today, the guys did such an amazing job. This experience was special because my parents were here today. I’m really happy about it,” Milan, who won last year’s maglia ciclamino, added.

After the race, second-place finisher Kaden Groves said the day’s blisteringly high speeds made the stage “quite scary at times.” And when asked about how his Alpecin-Deceuninck team was shaping up over the Giro’s first week, Groves said, “We’re getting there.”

Stage 3: Novara - Fossano, 166 km

Soudal quick-step’s tim merlier takes sprint victory amidst gc favorites’ late attack.

Stage Winner: Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step)

May 6, 2024 – The sprinters had their first chance to shine, as the race’s third stage from Novara to Fassano featured just 750 meters of elevation over 166 kilometers.

However, it wasn’t without a bit of drama, as the race’s biggest GC favorites launched a thrilling attack over the last four kilometers, throwing a wrench into what was expected to be a straightforward day. After an early move from EF-Education EasyPost’s Mikkel Honore, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) followed, forming a small, three-man breakaway that, for a moment, looked as though it might stay away from the group.

Honoré was swallowed up by the group with about 1 kilometer to go, and given the day’s high pace and series of breakaways, there was some thought that Pogačar and Thomas’s attack might just stick. However, the two GC men were caught with about 400 meters to go, setting up the bunch sprint everyone expected the day to end with.

Soudal Quick-Step’s Tim Merlier nipped a group at the line that included Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Intermarche Wanty’s Biniam Girmay, who rounded out the day’s podium, along with Arkea’s Jenthe Biermans and dsm-Firmeninch PostNL’s Tobias Lund Andersen.

After a masterful recovery from a late crash to win Sunday’s second stage, Pogačar started the day in the maglia rosa , forty-five seconds clear of Dani Martínez of BORA-hansgrohe and Geraint Thomas of Ineos Grenadiers. By the time stage 3 was over, those standings remained exactly the same.

“It wasn’t the plan,” Thomas said of the two-man attack over the closing kilometers. “We just wanted to stay out of trouble.”

He added that, over the final few hundred meters, it took everything he had to keep contact with Pogačar. “I was just trying to hold his wheel,” Thomas said, admitting that the attack was never part of the day’s plan.

“It was the hardest victory so far,” stage winner Merlier said of the unexpected chase he and his group of sprinters found themselves in as Thomas and Pogačar rode away. Merlier said he hesitated, causing him to miss out on his leadout man, and eventually forcing him to attack directly into the wind without any support.

Stage 2: San Francesco al Campo - Santuario di Oropa, 161 km

Tadej pogačar wins stage 2 and takes the maglia rosa.

May 5, 2024 - Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates wins Stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia 2024 and takes the Maglia Rosa. Twenty-seven seconds behind, Dani Martínez (Bora-hansgrohe) takes second, and Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) is third.

It was a masterful performance by UAE Team Emirates once Pogačar made it back to the front of the peloton after a small crash due to a front flat tire. The Slovenian leads Thomas and Martinez by 45" in the General Classification.

In the post-race interview, Pogačar was asked if he panicked after crashing in the lead-up to the last climb. “Not really. I was quite calm. I hit a hole in the city and had a super fast flat tire. There was a bit of confusion. I wanted to stop before the corner, but the DS said, ‘No, no, after the corner.’ I was feeling good. The team was super good today. And then we set the pace that we like and it was perfect,” said the race leader.

“I didn’t know the climb well. Everybody was maybe doing this climb for the first time, and it was hard to guess where to do the [hard] pacing, but I think we did a really good job today. And it was super good the last pull of Rafał Majka in the hard part so that I could attack,” Pogačar added.

“I just wanted a stage win today and some gap. Test the legs a little bit. And the [goal] was to take the pink jersey. Now I can relax a little bit in the next few days with the team and we stay safe in the sprints.”

Watch the final kilometer of Stage 2 on the Giro d’Italia’s YouTube Channel

Geraint Thomas of INEOS Grenadiers found himself meeting his limit in today’s stage. “It was so hard to follow, but I knew if I tried to keep going I would completely blow up. I felt bad for sitting on Ben [O’Connor], but I was on the limit for a while there,” said Thomas in the post-race interview.

Regarding Pogačar’s crash, Thomas said, “Honestly, I didn’t know until I was on the climb, and someone said Tadej was back. The plan was to go to the front, not to attack, but to stay safe on the front.”

Stage 1: Venaria Reale - Torino, 140 km

Narváez upstages pogačar to secure stage 1 victory and maglia rosa.

Stage Winner: Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers)

Race Leader: Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers)

May 4, 2024 - The opening stage of the Giro d’Italia produced plenty of fireworks and a surprise winner on the line. Team UAE Emirates set it up perfectly for Tadej Pogačar on the opening stage. After some long-lasting breakaways were caught, Pogačar broke free in the last four kilometers with Jhonatan Narváez (INEOS Grenadiers) and Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe). The Slovenian just couldn’t gap those two rivals, and it set it up for a sprint finish. In a bit of a surprise, it was Narváez, the 27-year-old Ecuadorian national champion, outsprinting Schachmann (second on the stage) and Pogačar (third). Narváez earns the first Maglia Rosa of the 2024 Tour of Italy.

Though he didn’t win the stage, Pogačar will head into Stage 2 with an advantage over many of his top GC rivals. Geraint Thomas (INEOS Grenadiers) was 10 seconds behind Pogačar on the stage and, after factoring in time bonuses, 14 seconds behind Pogačar in the GC standings.

Watch Stage 1 Highlights on the Giro d’Italia’s YouTube Channel

“It was a great feeling. We knew it was going to be a stage for me, and I worked a lot on it,” Narváez said in the post-race interview. “Following the best guy in the world on the climb was really hard, so it’s a special victory today. It’s still hurting me now. It was really hard—really, really hard. But in the end, I made it.”

“I think [Pogačar] went too long in the sprint, 200 meters after a really hard stage, and I did a short sprint, and in the end, I took the victory. For me, it’s amazing. There aren’t many opportunities in a Grand Tour to get the maglia rosa on the first day because you have a bunch sprint, a TT, or a different stage. Today was a good opportunity. I worked really, really hard for it,” added Narváez.

• Giro d'Italia

The queen stages of the 2023 Grand Tours!

We already know the complete profiles of the three grand tours of cycling for 2023. Today we remind you of the dates of the main stages of the Giro d'Italia , Tour de France and Vuelta a España. 3 days not to be missed for cycling lovers.

Giro d'Italia - May 24

Stage 19: Longarone - Tre Cime di Lavaredo, 182 kilometers

The queen stage of the Giro d'Italia will head into the Dolomites, on a day that has been affected by the weather in the past, especially in 2013. It could very likely be the return of Tre Cime di Lavaredo to the Giro d'Italia.

This should see the combination of Passo Campolongo, Passo Valparola, Passo Giau and Passo Tre Croci beforehand. All of these will be ridden at high altitude, and the Passo Giau should be an incredibly tough climb with almost 10 kilometers at 10%. The summit finish, however, will take place at over 2300 meters altitude, with 4 kilometers at 11%.

Profiles & Route 2023 Giro d'Italia | 68 ITT kilometers; Tre Cime di Lavaredo returns and HELLISH MTT on stage 20

Tour de France - July 19

Stage 17: Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc - Courchevel, 166 km

The queen high mountain stage of the 2023 Tour de France features 5000 meters of elevation gain and four very tough climbs during the 166 km stage: Col des Saisles (13.3 km at 5.3%), Cornet de Roselend (19.9 km at 6%, Cöte de Longefoy (6.6 km at 7.6%) and the terrible final climb to the Col de la Loze (28.4 km at 6%). The summit will be reached 6.5 km from the finish in Courchevel, which will be reached after a fast descent.

Profiles & Route Tour de France 2023 | 22 kilometers of ITT; Col de la Loze, Puy de Dôme, Grand Colombier in climber-oriented route

Vuelta a Espana - September 8

Stage 13: Formigal - Col du Tourmalet, 134.7 km

The queen stage was one of the most rumored and it turned out to be exactly as expected, as the race heads into the Pyrenees, with a mammoth mountain stage. Not because of its size, as it stretches over just 134 kilometers, but because of its constant climbs and descents. The riders will climb the Col d'Aubisque and the Col de Spandelles, which are separately very tough climbs, before the summit finish on the Col du Tourmalet, above 2000 meters.

Profiles & Route 2023 Vuelta a Espana - Andorra, Tourmalet and Angliru summit finishes headline mountainous route

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UNDER_ARTICLE

Wed 22 May 2024

Tue 21 May 2024

CELEBRATING TOUR 2023/24

OCTOBER, 2023

TEATRO PALAPARTENOPE Naples

NOVEMBER, 2023

TEATRO GALLERIA Legnano (MI)

DECEMBER, 2023

TEATRO NUOVO San Marino

JANUARY, 2024

AUDITORIUM CONCILIAZIONE Rome

FEBRUARY, 2024

TUSCANYHALL Florence

Teatro alfieri turin.

MARCH, 2024

TEATRO MASSIMO Pescara

Gran teatro geox padua, gran teatro morato brescia, teatro delle muse ancona.

APRIL, 2024

PALA RIVIERA San Benedetto del Tronto

Teatro ponchielli cremona, teatro nazionale milan, nuovo teatro verdi brindisi, teatro team bari, teatro ariston sanremo, politeama genovese genoa, teatro golden palermo, metropolitan catania, teatro moderno grosseto, teatro goldoni livorno, prambanan jazz jakarta, indonesia, in evidence.

QUEEN AT THE OPERA PRAMBANAN JAZZ 

• Italiano ( Italian )

Queen + Adam Lambert Return For The Rhapsody Tour Across North America

Tickets Onsale Starting Friday, March 31 at 10am Local on LiveNation.com

“visions fine and sound supreme   essence of a fiery queen   doyens of the paradigm   we will rock you one more time.”   brian may  .

Having first launched their universally acclaimed Rhapsody Tour with 25 epic shows across North America in 2019, Queen + Adam Lambert are bringing their highly acclaimed production, now expanded and updated, back to where it first began. After a 4-year long hiatus, Sir Brian May, Roger Taylor and their exceptional frontman Adam Lambert have announced they will set out on a spectacular North America run this fall. Produced by Live Nation, the tour kicks off on October 4 at Baltimore’s CFG Bank Arena making stops in Toronto, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and more before concluding at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. See full routing below. 

Brian May says, “Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious. Watch out world.”  

And Adam Lambert says: “I can’t wait to tour North America one more time with the Rhapsody tour alongside the two unbelievably talented legends that are Brian May and Roger Taylor.”  

WATCH THE TOUR TRAILER BELOW  

﷟HYPERLINK “https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lkG43askLccMkhPLdxnrCNa7mhSRGKbT/view?usp=sharing”  

Queen + Adam Lambert’s 150-minute career-spanning set list celebrates the band’s extraordinary back catalogue, lining up wall-to-wall immortal anthems like “We Will Rock You”, “Don’t Stop Me Now”, “Radio Ga Ga”, and “Somebody To Love” alongside classic deep cuts and vintage fan favourites. Featuring a dazzling state-of-the-art stage design, incredible special effects and set pieces, this sense-swamping extravaganza has been blowing critics and fans away the world over. 

As with last year’s UK and European dates, the 2023 North American tour will see Queen + Adam Lambert supported on stage by their regular band members, long-serving Queen keyboard player and musical director Spike Edney, bass guitarist Neil Fairclough and percussionist Tyler Warren.  

Having extensively toured over the last few years, the Rhapsody show is forever evolving. But it remains at heart a tribute to Freddie Mercury’s majestic legacy, a confirmation of Brian and Roger’s undimmed musical prowess, plus a magnificent showcase for Adam’s vocal skills and electrifying stage charisma, all of which adds up to a glorious full-blooded celebration of one of the greatest songbooks in rock history. Read more on the story of The Rhapsody Tour so far, including the special performance opening the Platinum Jubilee concert with the late Queen herself tea cup tapping to the beat of “We Will Rock You” HERE . 

TICKETS: Tickets will be available via a general onsale beginning Friday, March 31st at 10AM local time at LiveNation.com .  

MORE ON TICKETS:  

Queen + Adam Lambert appreciate that it is an enormous task to try and stop scalpers from taking advantage of fans wanting to purchase tickets for the tour. In an effort to help minimize resale and keep ticket prices at face value for fans, the band are collaborating with the venues’ ticketing partners to restrict the ability to transfer tickets for The Rhapsody Tour so that they may only be transferred between fans at the original price. 

Fans will still have protection against unforeseen circumstances. Those who purchase tickets and are no longer able to attend their show will be able to sell their tickets at the price they paid using a face value ticket exchange, including the Ticketmaster Face Value Exchange – which is free to use for buyers and sellers. More information on how the Ticketmaster Exchange works is available here . 

Unfortunately, the states of NY, IL, and CO have laws in place which protect ticket scalpers – these laws prohibit artists from being able to restrict the transfer of their tickets to face value exchanges only. For shows in these states, Queen + Adam Lambert strongly encourage fans to only buy or sell tickets to one another on face value exchanges. More information can be found here , with more details to follow in the coming weeks.  

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT THE RHAPSODY TOUR 2023 DATES:   

Wed Oct 04 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena 

Sun Oct 08 – Toronto, ON — Scotiabank Arena 

Tue Oct 10 — Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena 

Thu Oct 12 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden 

Sun Oct 15 – Boston, MA – TD Garden 

Wed Oct 18 — Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center 

Mon Oct 23 — Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena 

Wed Oct 25 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena 

Fri Oct 27 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center 

Mon Oct 30 — Chicago, IL – United Center 

Thu Nov 02 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center 

Sun Nov 05 — Denver, CO – Ball Arena 

Wed Nov 08 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center 

Sat Nov 11 – Los Angeles, CA – BMO Stadium 

About Live Nation Entertainment  

Live Nation Entertainment (NYSE: LYV) is the world’s leading live entertainment company comprised of global market leaders: Ticketmaster, Live Nation Concerts, and Live Nation Sponsorship. For additional information, visit www.livenationentertainment.com . 

MEDIA CONTACTS:  

Rhapsody Tour  

Cara Hutchison | [email protected]  

Queen  

Phil Symes | [email protected]   

Sharrin Summers – Hollywood Records | [email protected]  

Adam Lambert  

Kristen Foster | [email protected]   

Avery Robinson | [email protected]   

Live Nation Concerts  

Monique Sowinski | [email protected]  

Valeska Thomas | [email protected]   

Maya Sarin | [email protected]   

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Anne Hathaway pairs Gap shirt dress with millions in Bulgari diamonds

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Your favorite mall brand might be making a comeback.

Anne Hathaway, 41, made a strong case for the Gap at a Bulgari jewelry event in Rome Monday, stepping out in a glamorous white shirt dress from the brand.

The asymmetrical button-up style — made of 100% organic cotton, per a press release from the brand — was a custom creation by Zac Posen, Gap’s recently appointed creative director and executive vice president.

“The dress mimics the construction of the shirt’s collar and placket but adds a feminine twist with darting at the waist and a coordinating corset,” the release reads.

“It’s a modern look, inspired by the iconic Audrey Hepburn film, Roman Holiday.”

Styled by Erin Walsh, Hathaway elevated her look with dazzling pieces of Bulgari jewelry.

In addition to sporting a show-stopping sapphire-and-diamond necklace from the house’s high jewelry collection, the “Princess Diaries” star wore a matching sapphire cocktail ring, a diamond Serpenti bracelet and a set of sparkling statement earrings

She kept her glam on the simple side, wearing her hair down in a bouncy blowout and choosing neutral makeup with a light pink lip.

There’s no denying the New Jersey native has been on a roll when it comes to her recent fashion choices.

While promoting her latest film, “The Idea of You,” Hathaway joined TikTok and used her first video to highlight some of her boldest ensembles from the past few years.

The quick clip spotlighted everything from a colorful  Christopher John Rogers look  to her hot pink sequined minidress from a 2022  Valentino couture show .

And she made sure to include another past look that was  “dripping in Bulgari”  — the crystal-covered mesh Atelier Versace gown she paired with rubies aplenty for the brand’s high jewelry show in Venice last year.

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