Yates, of course, has taken the time to write a stage-by-stage guide to the Giro, which is probably why his form has been so good in this first week. Here's his thoughts on today:

Simon says: "Two things have the potential to shape today - how deep we all went yesterday and the wind. We basically follow the coast all day. No wind equals a standard sprint day for the likes of Quick-Step and maybe throw Bora in there to spice it up with Sam Bennett. Wind equals a stressful day in the bunch. We rely on our big riders to keep us in a good position and we will be happy to make it through with all of the contenders.

"We are promised wide roads and we basically ride in a straight direction all day so we are hoping for the former."

Simon's one to watch: Sam Bennett - the Belgian-born Irish sprinter delivered his best result in 2017 with a stage win at Paris-Nice.

What a stage it was on Thursday, Britain's Simon Yates riding into the leader's jersey with a wonderful display on Etna. Remind yourselves of the details in our stage report here.

Image source, APA

Overall standings:

1 Simon Yates (GB/Mitchelton-Scott) 22hrs 46mins 3secs

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned/Team Sunweb) +16secs

3 Esteban Chaves (Col/Mitchelton-Scott) +26secs

4 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita/Bahrain-Merida +43secs

5 Thibaut Pinot (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +45secs

6 Rohan Dennis (Aus/BMC Racing) +53secs

7 Pello Bilbao (Spa/Astana Pro Team) +1min 3secs

8 Chris Froome (GB/Team Sky) +1min 10secs

9 George Bennett (NZ/LottoNL-Jumbo) +1min 11secs

10 Fabio Aru (Ita/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 12secs

...from Pizzo to Praia a Mare, sliding up the west coast of the mainland after three days in Sicily and three before that in Israel. Minimal bumps in the route profile, a day for the sprinters after the pell-mell madness of Thursday's finish up Mount Etna.

Here's your menu for the afternoon.

Image source, Giro d'Italia