Vuelta a España stage 10 LIVE: In a post Pogačar world will the sprinters control or is it one for the breakaway?

We have six riders off the front, though they only have 10 seconds on the bunch.

Still the attacks come. It was much more relaxed just a few minutes ago.

And they're caught again.
It's another warm one out there, around 27º, with a slight wind. That wind will increase as the day goes on, though it's unlikely to cause too many problems unless we get more than is forecast.

It's all action out there, with a lone escapee getting a gap and being caught, now four, nope, make that six more are trying their luck.

Of course the big name missing from the race now is Tadej Pogačar. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider crashed out on Saturday, sustaining multiple injuries.

Luckily surgery on his broken collarbone went well.

We're racing! 184.7km to go.

Here we go. The day's first climb comes after 47km, will we have a breakaway before then? Let's find out.

We do have an intermediate sprint during today's stage, coming in Hellín with 59.7km to go. Wout van Aert leads the points classification and is sure to want to collect the maximum points there.

We've just learnt of another non-starter this morning, Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Picnic-PostNL) was forced to abandon after a crash on Sunday.

Lucas Hamilton looked pretty relaxed before the stage began, here's the Netcompany-Ineos rider preserving his energy at the sign on.

And away! The riders are rolling

We've got 6.2km of neutral riding before the racing get underway.

One of the things which might disrupt the fast men in today's final climb, the Puerto de Socovos, which tops out 21.4km from the finish. It’s 9.8km in length, though it only averages 3.5% gradient.

That could make it a day for Lidl-Trek’s Thibau Nys, seen here being interviewed before the stage.

One rider who won't be on the start line is New Zealand champion George Bennett (NSN) who has pulled out of the Vuelta after the rest day.

There might only be those three climbs, but It’s up hill from the flag, which could make for a chaotic start. Nevertheless, it may still be a day for the sprinters, but only if their teams can control a breakaway.

Today brings us yet another lumpy stage, with 2,669m of vertical ascent, though there are only three categorised climbs.

Sunday’s stage 9 was another brilliantly entertaining affair, it’s all in our report.

Race leader Enric Mas outsprints Oscar Onley to win stage 9 on Alto de Aitana.

On today’s menu is 184.7km between Alcaraz and Elche de la Sierra, rolling out at 12:45 local time, the race getting underway proper 14 minutes later.

It’s the first stage after the first rest day, something which can mess with some rider’s rhythm, so today we’ll see how they’ve recovered.

Good morning and welcome to stage 10 of the 2026 Vuelta a España. As usual we’ll have live updates and analysis throughout the stage, so stay with us all day.