The pace is up in the peloton, with Steven Kruijswijk stringing it out in one long line. As a result, the gap has come well down to 2:20. It might only be the one rider doing all the work, but he’s outpacing the two leaders comfortably at the moment.
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Cofidis has helped with the pace-setting earlier, but did not step in when Visma called everyone’s bluff and stopped pulling earlier. As good as Coquard has been in the sprints, he hasn’t looked like coming close to beating Brennan in the last couple of finishes, and he’s scratching his head as to how to get the better of him.
Visma are eating into the break’s lead again, pulling back some of the time they conceded by bringing them back to 4:20. They’ve made it harder for themselves, but still have the stage under control.
Normality has resumed, with Steven Kruijswijk going back to his usual role of pulling the peloton for Visma-Lease a Bike. The Dutchman has put in a serious shift throughout this Vuelta, the last Grand Tour of his whole career, and is epitomising what has made him such an invaluable domestique in this final phase of his career.
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90KM TO GO
Visma are back riding at the front now, but not before the gap has grown to 5:20. That’s given some hope to the breakaway duo, who will be encouraged by the big margin they now have.
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There’s a bit of a stand-off in the peloton. Visma and Cofidis have stopped chasing, and no other teams have stepped in to take their place. As a result, the break’s lead has ballooned up to almost five minutes. That’s an unusual move from Visma, given how they are the hot favourites for the stage win, and no other team wants to give them a free ride to the finish.
100KM TO GO
Visma and Cofidis are keeping the break very much under control. With 100km still to ride, they have them at 3:20. There’s been no real drama yet today – but there’s still a very long way to go until the finish in Sevilla.
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Van Aert’s form has raised eyebrows in the cycling world, especially ahead of the World Championships, with some saying that he looks as good as he did a few years ago during his peak. While collecting stage wins for himself and his team at the Vuelta is the immediate goal, he’s also riding here with an eye on building form just in time to win what would be a career-first rainbow jersey.
As well as taking two stage wins for himself, Wout van Aert has performed exceptionally as a lead-out man for Brennan this Vuelta, and is a big reason he is enjoying such success. Unless Visma-Lease a Bike have a surprise in store (as at stage 15 when they misled the opposition off their scent by feigning to ride for a bunch sprint before Van Aert attacked), he’ll likely be tasked with being Brennan’s last lead-out man once again.
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120KM TO GO
As Visma and Cofidis continue to set the pace in the peloton, the gap has come down a little, to three minutes. It’s hard to see this culminating in anything other than a bunch sprint.
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Yesterday, Matthew Brennan became the first rider to win four stages on Grand Tour debut since Fernando Gaviria in 2017. Today, he’s the hot favourite to make it five. The young Brit has been imperious in the sprints all race, and has confirmed his enormous talent. So good is his form, and such is the high he is riding, that he has set his sights on being selected for Visma-Lease a Bike’s Tour de France team for next year, with his eye on wearing the yellow jersey on home British road.
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130KM TO GO
3:25 is the gap between the breakaway duo of Paleni and Fernández to the peloton, which is being led by Visma-Lease a Bike and Cofidis. They’re working for Brennan and Coquard, the men who have been first and second respectively in both of the last two bunch sprints.
Also safely in the peloton is Enric Mas, who is moving ever-closer to what would be a career-defining victory. The Spaniard is on the brink of ending what has been a career’s worth of second-place finishes and finally taking the big prize of overall victory at the Vuelta. Today should be a simple defence of the red jersey; tomorrow’s time trial, however, will be another matter.
The GC riders are having an uncomplicated day hidden in the peloton, including Primož Roglič, pictured here. His big day comes tomorrow, when he’ll finally get to exercise his time trialling muscles in a bid to make a move on the red jersey, which he still hopes to win. Before the race started, he was not confident of winning what would be a record-breaking fifth Vuelta overall title – now, it looks like a very real possibility.
The race has settled down again, the break being allowed a gap just shy of four minutes. It’s serene in the peloton, where they are taking it relatively easy in the heat.
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It was actually nine riders rather than six who counter-attacked, and was a real ragtag bunch. Sprinter Bryan Coquard was a part of it, as was Mas’ teammate Raúl García Pierna and stage favourite Brennan’s teammate Steven Kruijswijk, plus Embret Svestad-Bårdseng, Mathias Sunekær Norsgaard, Milan Vader, Martin Tjøtta, Clément Alleno and Sergio Samitier.
There’s been a surprising development in the peloton, as six riders have attacked out of it. They have a considerable 4:30 to make up if they’re to join the two leaders, so it’s difficult to fathom what their plan is exactly, but it’s sure livened things up – at least, until a few moments ago, when they were brought back.
There’s a relaxed atmosphere in the peloton, which has allowed the gap to the two leaders to grow to almost four minutes. The parcours is so flat and uncomplicated today that they are confidant in bringing a big gap back before the finish.
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170KM TO GO
Dversnes is back in the peloton, while Fernández and Paleni have a lead of over three minutes on a disinterested peloton. It’s unclear why Dversnes dropped back, but what is known is that Fernández and Paleni love a breakaway, and will relish a day riding out the front that most would dread.
The scene at the start today in Dos Hermanas.
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These are the three riders who escaped up the road, but they’ve now become two, as Dversnes has dropped. While Paleni and Fernández are over a minute up in the peloton, Dversnes is caught somewhere between in no-man’s land.
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OFFICIAL START
And they’re off! Paleni, Dversnes and Fernández are the first riders to attack, and already have a gap approaching 30 seconds. Given the flat parcours, and seeming hopelessness of the break’s chance of survival, this might already be the break of the day.
The riders have been in the neutralised zone for some time now, but the official start has been delayed as Jan Hirt makes his way back to the group following a mechanical. They will be racing shortly.
It’s another scorcher of a day at the Vuelta, with temperatures once again exceeding 30 degrees, but riders were making light of the situation by playing with water pistols at the start.
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Yesterday was another win for Matthew Brennan, as most of the bunch sprints at this Vuelta have been. The British parody profited off an exceptional lead out from Wout van Aert to hold off Bryan Coquard in Palos de la Frontera.
Following yesterday’s bunch sprint finish, today is set to be an even more nailed-on bunch sprint. It’s the flattest road stage of the entire race, with not a single climb to be taken on all day.
