As it happened: Another sprint finish on Vuelta a España stage 11 in Lorca

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 11 of the Vuelta a España.

It should be a thrilling stage today with 1,200 metres of climbing and one classified climb filling the 153.8km stage.

Here's a look at the stage profile.

And here's the map of the day.

Tuesday's stage 10 ended with a sprint finish in Elche de la Sierra.

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Will there be another sprint today? Matthew Brennan has won two of them so far this Vuelta, Bryan Coquard has taken another, and then Tronchon won yesterday.

Ben Turner, who won a sprint stage last year and was fourth in Xeraco, won't be competing for the win. He left the Vuelta on yesterday's stage.

Former world champion Mads Pedersen is also out of the race.

Mads Pedersen abandons the Vuelta a España

Today's stage starts in 20 minutes.

Check out our preview of stage 11 here.

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A 6.5km neutral zone to start the stage.

154km to go

The flag is waved and now the stage is underway!

Attack by David de la Cruz, Ethan Hayter, and Domen Novak early on.

Sinuhé Fernández also on the move.

148km to go

The first trio have a minute on the peloton already.

Now Fernández has made it across to make it four out front.

Visma-Lease a Bike take it up at the front of the peloton.

It's actually Alessandro Covi, not David de la Cruz in the break.

135km to go

1:10 between break and peloton.

The Vuelta peloton at the start of today's stage.

130km to go

Visma aren't giving the break much time. The gap is at 1:15 currently.

Of the breakaway riders, Ethan Hayter is the standout performer of the Vuelta. He finished second in the opening time trial and briefly wore the green jersey.

Novak and Covi have had quiet races, though Fernández is doing well, racing his fourth day in the break so far.

Cofidis have joined Visma-Lease a Bike in working at the head of the peloton.

Cofidis' man Bryan Coquard is their pick again for today. He's already a stage winner this Vuelta and will be aiming for another today.

117km to go

A look at today's break – Covi, Fernández, Hayter, Novak.

1:20 for them.

That gap is. coming down now, though. 50 seconds.

Cofidis leading the way with Visma-Lease a Bike lined out behind.

103km to go

Not much else to report at the moment. The riders are on a long flat run towards the day's only climb.

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95km to go

40 seconds for the break currently.

Now the pace is well up and there are splits in the group.

Just 15 seconds for the break now.

90km to go

The breakaway quartet are caught.

35 seconds between the front split and those dropped.

Lidl-Trek and EF Education-EasyPost also working on the front.

Jarno Widar is the notable name caught out behind.

36km to go

A hard pace up front.

It's all back together now. No split in the peloton and no breakaway.

77km to go

No further breakaway attempts yet.

Cofidis and Visma continue to lead it on the front.

Hayter now on the move at the front once more. He's joined by American racer Larry Warbasse.

25 seconds for. the new breakaway duo.

68km to go

Into the final 70km of the stage and it's still Visma and Cofidis leading the peloton.

Read our report on stage 1 of the men's Tour of Britain here.

The sprint squads are holding the gap to the two leaders.

46km to go

4.5km to the intermediate sprint.

The peloton have the leaders in their sights on a long, straight stretch of road.

Warbasse and Hayter lead it into the sprint.

Visma leading the peloton.

Hayter leads Warbasse across the line.

Van Aert leads Coquard and Alessandro Romele for 15 points and two bonus seconds.

The Belgian extends his green jersey lead.

A crash in the peloton as Kevin Vermaerke and Hamish McKenzie go down.

Vermaerke has been racing with a cracked rib.

39km to go

The peloton is closing in on the two breakaway riders.

The riders have hit the only climb of the day, the Alto de Aledo (9.5km at 4.2%).

Asbjorn Hellemose is at the doctor's car after seemingly getting a sting on his face.

Warbasse is caught by the peloton.

Now Hayter drops back, too.

Now Pinarello-36.5 hit the front of the peloton.

3.5km from the top of the climb now.

158 points to Van Aert in the green jersey battle now. Romele is second on 86.

Riders are dropping off the rear of the peloton.

The sprinters like Brennan, Van Aert, Coquard remain up front though.

34km to go

Now Eddie Dunbar makes a move off the front.

Van Aert follows.

Van Aert leads the race over the top of the climb.

It's pretty much all downhill from here and all the major contenders are still in the peloton.

30km to go

Several riders attack on the front, led by Tudor.

Visma leading it on the front earlier on.

Now Visma are back on the front after that brief attacking move.

24km to go

We're almost there.

Alberto Dainese is out the back.

Visma, Pinarello, and Uno-X are all working at the front.

17km to go

The situation remains the same.

A shot of Van Aert in the peloton.

Ineos now joining in at the front.

Ineos and Visma lead the peloton on each side of the road.

10km to go

No change in the situation.

Ineos now up front.

Bahrain, Tudor, Visma, Movistar up front too.

6km to go

Now Visma take over again.

Into Lorca now and smaller streets.

Bruno Armirail leads the way.

5km to go

Ethan Hayter is the day's most aggressive rider.

Red Bull now lined up behind Visma.

Armirail, Laporte and Van Aert lined up ahead of Brennan.

3km to go

Coquard moves up to the front.

Now Uno-X are taking over.

Uno-X with three ahead of Magnus Cort.

FDJ move up with stage 10 winner Bastien Tronchon.

Visma still have Laporte up front but Brennan and Van Aert are further back.

1km to go

Finally we reach the final kilometre of the stage.

Uno-X continue to lead but Pinarello and NSN are shifting up.

Now they race to the hairpin bend which the organisers wisely placed at 400 metres to go.

Visma hit the front before the bend.

Van Aert on the front ahead of Brennan and Coquard.

Brennan starts the sprint.

Finish

Brennan easily holds off Coquard to win stage 11.

Jordi Meeus grabbed third ahead of Magnus Cort.

Van Aert was fifth ahead of Hugo Hofstetter.

No surprise that the team leading it around the final bend easily won the sprint. Well worth the three-hour wait, that.

Brennan celebrates the win.

Coming out of the final corner Brennan moved across to get back onto Van Aert's wheel. He cut off Coquard which meant the Frenchman briefly stopped pedalling. We'll see if the commissaires take a look at that.

Celebrations for Visma.

Here's the stage top 10.

And the GC top 10.

Here's what Brennan said after his stage win.

"We took the initiative today again, and the boys pulled as hard as they could. Even after a tough day in the legs yesterday, we still went full gas. Coming into the final, we really held our own place and knew that we were all strong enough to get to where we want to be. The boys did a fantastic job within that last 10km to really keep us in the right place, in the right position, out of trouble. And we crossed the line first, so we're super happy.

"I'm with a team full of massive champions. You've got guys who have been on podiums in Grand Tours and won them as well, and you've also got guys who have won big classics in some huge races. The fact that they go for me each time is an amazing opportunity, and I'm really thankful that they go full gas for me."

Vuelta a España: Matthew Brennan nets hat-trick with victory on stage 11 using lead by Wout van Aert

Bryan Coquard and Jordi Meeus earn podium spots in Lorca

Brennan celebrates win number three on the podium.

Another day in red for Enric Mas.

Van Aert remains in green.

Oscar Onley again in white.

And Santiago Buitrago remains in the mountain classification lead.

We're heading back to the mountains tomorrow for stage 12, a 166.6km race to Calar Alto.

Head here for information on how to watch stage 12 of the Vuelta a España.

And be sure to check back here throughout the evening for more Vuelta news and tomorrow for stage 12 live coverage.