Vuelta a España 2015: Stage 10

Hello and welcome to the Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 10 of the Vuelta a Espana. 

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 As we join the race, the riders have covered 30km of the 146km stage between Valencia and Castellón. 

Today's stage is expected to end in a sprint finish but the riders face a late climb that could hurt some riders.  

Riders are also trying to get in the break of the day in case the right moves foes clear and the peloton lets them go.  

There are currently 37 riders in a front group, which should arguably described as a split in the peloton.   

Three other riders are chasing at 50 seconds with the peloton at 1:50. 

The Alto del Desierto de la Palmas is 7km long and comes just 16km from the finish. 

The opening 70km are in the hills, making the racing even harder. There are reports that Caleb Ewan (Orica - GreenEdge) has been suffering at the back of the peloton.

The three chasers have caught the 37, making for a 40-rider front group. There are only 182 riders in the race. 

Almost every team has at least one rider in the break, making it difficult to see who will lead the chase.  

According to race radio, the 40 riders include: Dario Cataldo, Matteo Montaguti, Sergio Henao, Carlos Verona, Riccardo Zoidl, Tiago Machado, Daniel Navarro, Peter Velits, Lawson Craddock, Rubén Plaza, Martijn Keizer, Luis León Sánchez, Larry Warbasse, Imanol Erviti, David Arroyo, Natnael Berhane, Jurgen Van den Broeck, Romain Hardy, Tsgabu Grmay, Andrey Amador, Pello Bilbao, Eduard Vorganov, Carlos Quintero, Maxime Monfort, Ian Boswell, Salvatore Puccio, Benjamin King, Kenny Elissonde, Stephen Cummings, Cameron Meyer, Amael Moinard, George Bennett, Darwin Atapuma, Ángel Madrazo, Mickael Cherel, Davide Villella and Rodolfo Torres.

Johannes Frohlinger, Jérôme Cousin and Jay McCarthy where the three to get across and get the last 3 tickets to freedom. 

 With Lawson Craddock and Johannes Frohlinger in the split, the race leader Tom Dumoulin may have decided to give up his race lead. 

Race radio has announced that Caleb Ewan (Orica - GreenEdge) has abandoned the Veulta. He was suffering earlier in the stage. 

It has been confirmed that all the teams have rider in the 40-rider split. This move could stay away and gain a lot of time.   

89km remaining from 146km

The peloton is chasing but is 1:10 behind.  

86km remaining from 146km

With 60km covered the riders are about to reach the top of the last climb of this opening section.They can then enjoy a long descent and so may open their lead.

Two riders have opened a slight gap on the front group now. Carlos Verona (Etixx - Quick Step) and Riccardo Zoidl (Trek Factory) have 45 seconds near the top of the climb.

 At last, its official. Rigoberto Uran will ride with Cannondale-Garmin in 2016.

Click here to read about the Colombian's move to the US-registered team.  

The riders in the split are riding hard but so is the peloton and is at 1:10.  

@Cyclingnewsfeed Mon, 31st Aug 2015 13:44:42

68km remaining from 146km

As expected the 40-rider group has split after a series of attacks. 

Race radio says that Cameron Meyer, George Bennett, Riccardo Zoidl, Amael Moinard, Kenny Elissonde, Jerome Cousin, Luis León Sánchez, Ian Boswell, Rodolfo Torres and Pello Bilbao have all lost contact with the split.   

76km remaining from 146km

The peloton is still chasing but the gap is up to 1:20.

The situation is still very fluid with six riders now of the front, with 24 chasers. The peloton is only 50 seconds behind. 

Giant and Trek are leading the peloton.

The pack is chasing down the move, with the gap down to 35 seconds now. 

Gruppo compatto as they say in Italian. The peloton has caught the attackers after a fast, aggressive opening 80km. 

@katushacycling Mon, 31st Aug 2015 14:12:53

Nico Roche (Team Sky) goes down in a crash but seems okay and is up chasing.

Roche gets some help from Puccio, who was in the front split until recently. 

50km remaining from 146km

The Movistar team has hit the front and lined out the peloton.

Roche visits the race doctor for some treatment on his elbow. It seems that Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin) also went down in the spill.    

Roche is coming back up through the team cars as riders go on the attack up front. 

Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep) fired off the attack. 

Roche also stops for a service from his team car. He seems to have changed bikes and so needs to change chase again.

A series of roundabouts is making it hard for the peloton to chase.

A group of riders are trying to get across to Terpstra.

Etixx are blocking any attacks from the peloton, defending Tersptra's attack.

Movistar and Tinkoff-Saxo are trying to control the peloton.

36km remaining from 146km

Tersptra is riding at 44km/h but the chasers are closing the gap. 

@Cyclingnewsfeed Mon, 31st Aug 2015 14:32:58

The riders are passing near the beach but will start the climb in 10km.

Movistar and Tinkoff are riding to bring back Terpstra. They have already caught the six riders who tried a second attack. 

32km remaining from 146km

The races passes through Benicasim and sweep up Terpstra.

The riders will pass through the sprint with 25km yo go and then reach the top of the 7km climb with 17km to go.  

28km remaining from 146km

The pace is steady at 54km/h before the climb. 

The average speed for the first two hours was a leg burning 44.5km/h.

The big teams are lined out in formation as the climb approaches.

The peloton surged through the sprit without contesting the prizes or bonus seconds. 

The climb starts to kick up but it is constant at 5.6%. 

We have some adventurers: Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) tries his hand.  

Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) tries too. 

Sicard (Europcar) is going across to De Marchi. 

They have a gap on the twisting roads but will need a big gap to stay until the finish.

The duo have 40 seconds.

Elissonde makes it across to the duo and attacks them. 

The peloton is at 30 seconds with them lined out at speed. This is a fast climb.

Giant-Alpecin are riding tempo on the front, for both Dumoulin and perhaps even for Degenkolb for the sprint. Both are in the front group.

Lawson Craddock is on the front doing the hard work for Giant.

Click here to read about his Vuelta. 

Dumoulin steps in and goes to the front, trying to control the peloton. But Brambilla (Etixx) goes clear alone. 

We're on the descent now. And is fast!

Dumoulin leads the peloton and is catching Brambilla.

Crash! Two Team Sky riders seem to have slid out on a fast corner.

10km remaining from 146km

Henao will lose time overall after his spill. 

The trio have 25 seconds as the descent ends but the peloton is chasing them. 

8km remaining from 146km

It will be fascinating to see which sprinters have survived the climb. Degenkolb is there, in a chase group of 30 riders. 

He has two teammates riding for him.  

Other riders are also chasing to get back up to the front group.  

Elissonde, De Marchi and Sicard lead by just 10 seconds. 

5km remaining from 146km

The road to the finish is long and straight, with only roundabouts to split the routine.   

Movistar is also riding at the front of the peloton. Perhaps Valverde will try his hand in the sprint. 

The trio sit up. It's going to be a sprint finish.

Can anyone beat Degenkolb in a sprint finish? It is his stage to lose. Unless an attack gets away in the finale. 

Hansen makes an attack but Dumoulin chases him down. 

The race leader is also riding for Degenkolb today. 

With Ewan, Sagan and Bouhanni out of the race, Degenkolb is the big favourite to win.

Last Km! Sprint time!

Riders bump for position. 

That was close!

Kristian Sbaragli (MTN - Qhubeka) hit out first and put his arms up but Degenkolb could have got him on the line. 

Degenkolb was far to back when the sprint started. He came up fast but not fast enough it seems. 

Sbaragli is celebrating. 

Provisional results confirm that the Italian from MTN-Qhubeka won it.  

Giant-Alpecin can take heart from the fact that Dumoulin kept the race lead.

Results show that Sbaragli beat Degenkolb, Rojas (Movistar) and van der Sande (Lotto Soudal). 

It's another Grand Tour stage win for the MTN-Qhubeka team after Steve Cummings took a stage at the Tour de France. 

@SadhbhOS Mon, 31st Aug 2015 15:27:40

@TeamMTNQhubeka Mon, 31st Aug 2015 15:27:34

The stage was Sbaragli's first ever professional win after a long run  of placing this season. 

@TeamMTNQhubeka Mon, 31st Aug 2015 15:31:43

The overall classification remains unchanged with Rodriguez (Katusha) second at 57 seconds and Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) third at 59 seconds.  

Sbaragli celebrated on the podium, punching the air and with a big smile on his face. 

He reveals he had extra motivation because his girlfriend and family was at the finish. 

The riders get to enjoy the first rest day of this year's Vuelta on Tuesday. But they will need it because they face the terrible mountain stage in Andorra on Wednesday.  

The stage includes six climbs, four of which are first category, and then a mountain finish. It is all in 138km. 

Race director Javier Guillén has suggested it is the toughest ever stage in the history of the Vuelta.  

For more info and the nasty race profile, check out the stage preview by clicking here. 

@TeamMTNQhubeka Mon, 31st Aug 2015 15:46:05

Sbaragli has confirmed that this is in fact his second career win. He also won the opening stage at the 2013 Tour of Korea in his debut season with MTN. 

Sbaragli was a little emotional as he spoke to Eurosport post-stage.  

"It is a dream come true for me because it's been four times in this Vuelta that I've tried to do my sprint and today when I crossed the finish line, I still cannot believe it," Sbaragli said.

"It is a dream for me and a dream for MTN-Qhubeka."

Thank you for following our live coverage of stage 10 of the Vuelta a Espana!