Vuelta a España stage 17 – Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 17, the longest of the Vuelta.

We're just under half an hour from the start of today's stage.

It's Primož Roglič's seventh day in red. Here's the top ten on GC heading into today.

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 62:17:52

2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:48

3 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:42

4 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:03:59

5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:07:40

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:07:43

7 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis Solutions Credits 0:10:27

8 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:10:34

9 Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal 0:10:40

10 Hermann Pernsteiner (Aut) Bahrain-Merida 0:12:05

Quintana wears green despite being joint-third in that classification behind Roglič and Tadej Pogačar.

Pogačar is in the white jersey, 17 seconds up on Miguel Ángel López.

Finally, Geoffrey Bouchard wears the polka dot jersey, six points up on Ángel Madrazo.

The riders have rolled out in Aranda de Duero.

Here are the breakaway classification standings – probably the most relevant on today's stage.

1. Angel Madrazo (Burgos-BH), 692 km
2. Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), 435 km
3. Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo), 390 km
4. Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), 377 km
5. Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), 357 km

It probably won't be non-stop action out there today, on this 219km stage with no climbs and one sprint along the way. The wind should play a part, though.

Some pretty strong winds are forecast throughout the early stages of today. Here's Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida) on that.

"Today it is going to be a very hard stage. We have Hermann Pernsteiner in the top 10 of the GC, and we have to keep him up there. We are departing from a city, so it’s hard to say how strong the wind will blow out there.

"The weather forecast says it’s going to be 30 or 40 kph. If it is like that, the bunch will be shredded in pieces. It is a challenge, but we have to look at it as an opportunity to improve Hermann’s position on the GC."

Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) has quit the race today. The winner of stage 6 has fallen ill, reports his team.

The stage is underway and riders are on the attack.

216km remaining from 219km

A group of over 30 riders have split away from the peloton.

Nairo Quintana is up there. The group has around 15 seconds.

Vuelta stage winners Dylan Teuns, Nikias Arndt and Philippe Gilbert are also in the move.

200km remaining from 219km

Here's the makeup of the breakaway. They now had a gap of 1:30.

José Joaquín Rojas, Imanol Erviti, Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), Pierre Latour, Quentin Jauregui, Clément Venturini (AG2R La Mondiale), Luis León Sánchez (Astana), Heinrich Haussler, Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jonas Koch (CCC Team), Philippe Gilbert, Eros Capecchi, Fabio Jakobsen, James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Lawson Craddock, Mitchell Docker, Daniel Martínez (EF Education First), Thomas De Gendt, Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Sam Bewley, Damien Howson, Dion Smith (Mitchelton-Scott), Edvald Boasson Hagen, Ben King, Rasmus Tiler, Jaco Venter (Dimension Data), Wout Poels, Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos), Neilson Powless (Jumbo-Visma), Wilco Kelderman, Nikias Arndt, Casper Pedersen, Rob Power, Max Walscheid (Sunweb), John Degenkolb (Trek Segafredo), Marco Marcato, Juan Sebastian Molano, Oliviero Troia (UAE Team Emirates), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Gonzalo Serrano (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Aritz Bagües (Euskadi-Murias) 

Along with Quintana, Kelderman and Pernsteiner also lie in the top ten on GC.

Only five teams have missed this move – Bora-Hansgrohe, Groupama-FDJ, Katusha-Alpecin and Cofidis.

Astana, CCC, Jumbo-Visma, Trek-Segafredo, Burgos-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Euskadi-Murias each have one man in the move.

Bahrain-Merida, Lotto Soudal and Team Ineos have two.

Movistar, AG2R La Mondiale, EF Education First, Mitchelton-Scott, UAE Team Emirates and Deceuninck-QuickStep each have three riders up the road.

Dimension Data have four men in the break.

Team Sunweb have a massive five riders in this move and only two in the peloton.

189km remaining from 219km

1:50 between break and peloton now.

Ah, scratch that rundown I just made. More riders in the lead group have unveiled themselves.

Nelson Oliveira (Movistar Team), Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida), Rémi Cavagna, Tim Declercq, Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott, Alex Kirsch (Trek-Segafredo) are up there.

Seven men for QuickStep!

Number of riders in the lead group, by team...

7: Deceuninck-QuickStep

5: Team Sunweb

4: Movistar, Dimension Data, Mitchelton-Scott

3: AG2R La Mondiale, EF Education First, Bahrain-Merida, UAE Team Emirates

2: Lotto Soudal, Team Ineos, Trek-Segafredo

1: Astana, CCC, Jumbo-Visma, Burgos-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Euskadi-Murias

Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates are working at the front of the peloton for the Slovenian duo of Roglič and Pogačar.

There is, of course, a varied mix of riders in this break.

In Nairo Quintana (sixth overall at 7:43), Wilco Kelderman (eighth at 10:34), Hermann Pernsteiner (tenth at 12:05) and James Knox (11th at 13:26), there are a handful of riders looking to jump up on GC.

There are stage hunters such as Dylan Teuns, Luis León Sánchez, Rémi Cavagna, Philippe Gilbert, Thomas De Gendt, though everyone will be intersted in a win if they can get it, obviously.

And, along with the large number of domestiques out there, the group includes a number of climbers (Esteban Chaves, Pierre Latour, Wout Poels, Tao Geoghegan Hart) and sprinters (Sam Bennett, Fabio Jakobsen, Nikias Arndt, John Degenkolb, Edvald Boasson Hagen).

Astana are also working at the head of the peloton, 2:30 down.

165km remaining from 219km

The break's advantage is up to three minutes now.

Here's what Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) had to stay at the start of the stage.

"I think it’s going really well until now. It can be one of the hardest stages of La Vuelta with a long day and the wind. The legs are good. We have to go through today and then we’ll be back in the mountains.

"My teammates say it can be some racing like there was in Qatar, open roads and it can explode from the start. [Heinrich Haussler] is an expert for this kind of situations. I’m not afraid but the first 150km are always open, with crosswind, so we’ll see what happens."

147km remaining from 219km

The time gap is now four minutes.

And still, the composition of the front group is not final.

Gorka Izagirre (Astana), Nathan Van Hooydonck (CCC Team), Owen Doull, Ian Stannard (Team Ineos) are up there.

Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida), Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Mitchell Docker (EF Education First) and Jaco Venter (Dimension Data) are not.

So that makes the front group...

7: Deceuninck-QuickStep (Cavagna is actually there)

5: Team Sunweb

4: Movistar, Mitchelton-Scott, Team Ineos

3: AG2R La Mondiale, UAE Team Emirates, Dimension Data

2: Lotto Soudal, Trek-Segafredo, CCC Team, Astana, Bahrain-Merida, EF Education First

1: Jumbo-Visma, Burgos-BH, Caja Rural-Seguros RGA and Euskadi-Murias

Bora-Hansgrohe have pushed the pace in the peloton and there are splits.

Well here's Rémi Cavagna in the break, despite what race radio is telling us.

Our rider list should be mostly accurate at this point...

133km remaining from 219km

A number of riders have been dropped from the break. They are Pierre Latour, Quentin Jauregui, Clément Venturini (AG2R La Mondiale), Heinrich Haussler (Bahrain-Merida), Nathan Van Hooydonck (CCC Team), Daniel Martinez (EF Education First), Ben King (Dimension Data), John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Gonzalo Serrano (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Aritz Bagües (Euskadi-Murias).

Chaves, Howson and Tiller are dropped too.

After two hours, the average speed is 47.6kph. Pretty quick!

Bennett, Kelderman and Doull is the order at the intermediate sprint.

Oliveiro Troia has been called back from the break to help Pogačar. Marcato and Molano are still up there, though.

104km remaining from 219km

Five minutes between break and peloton.

Quintana is up to provisional second overall, still around 2:40 down on Roglič.

Now Marcato is dropping back to the peloton to help Pogačar.

89km remaining from 219km

5:45 between break and peloton now.

The riders in the break are having a discussion/arguing with one another. The gap drops to 5:45.

The gap is down to 5:20 now.

74km remaining from 219km

Astana and Jumbo lead the peloton.

The riders are back collaborating up front and the gap holds at 5:20.

54km remaining from 219km

5:40 now for the break. It's fluctuating in the mid-5 minute region.

The break hits 50km to go.

The break out on the road today.

The Deceuninck-QuickStep duo of Fabio Jakobsen and Eros Capecchi have been dropped on this uncategorised climb. Jakobsen has blown completely and sent Capecchi back up to the break.

Some classic Movistar tactics in action now, as the team takes to the front of the peloton to chase down the big GC threat in the break – Movistar's Nairo Quintana.

Or maybe there is some plan afoot. Maybe they're trying to slow the chase.

They might be trying to drop the Jumbo and UAE domestiques. The gap is coming down quite a bit though. It's 4:30 now.

And the peloton has shattered. Right now it's made up of Roglič, Pogačar, Majka, López, Valverde and Soler.

More riders, led by Mitchelton-Scott, are coming back.

39km remaining from 219km

4:30 is the gap right now.

Astana have three men working for López, and Sánchez drops back from the break to help out.

Here's the composition of the 'peloton'/chase group.

Alejandro Valverde, Antonio Pedrero, Marc Soler (Movistar Team),Miguel Ángel López, Dario Cataldo, Jakob Fuglsang, Ion Izagirre (Astana Pro Team),Rafal Majka, Pawel Poljanski (Bora-Hansgrohe),Tobias Ludvigsson (Groupama-FDJ),Carl Hagen (Lotto-Soudal), Esteban Chaves, Mikel Nieve, Nick Schultz (Mitchelton-Scott),Amanuel Ghebreizhabier (Dimension Data), Sebastián Henao (Team Ineos),Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma),Martijn Tusveld (Team Sunweb),Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates),Héctor Sáez (Euskadi-Murias)

Jakobsen drops back past the red jersey group.

50kph average speed so far for the stage. That is super fast.

A 54.5kph average speed for the last hour of racing.

18km remaining from 219km

Not far to the finish now as the break reaches the final 20km.

The gap is 4:45 now. It's growing a little but it's still less than it was before Movistar started working in the peloton...

It's up to five minutes now. 12km to race.

The speeds of the break and peloton in the last 30 minutes...

63.2kph for the break

61.9kph for the peloton

It's still Bora and Astana working at the head of the peloton.

8km remaining from 219km

It looks like there's fewer than 20 riders in the break now. Movistar lead it.

4km remaining from 219km

5:05 for the break.

3km remaining from 219km

Bennett is the favourite here. Walscheid and Boasson Hagen are there too.

2km remaining from 219km

Štybar attacks!

He's had a go but attacks are flying behind.

1km remaining from 219km

And he's almost caught as he heads into the final kilometre.

Štybar is caught inside the final 500 metres.

Bennett goes for a long attack! Gilbert is on his wheel.

And Bennett can't handle the slight ramp uphill to the finish! Gilbert comes off his wheel in the final 200 metres and takes the win!

Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-QuickStep) wins stage 17 of the Vuelta a España.

Now we wait for the peloton.

It'll be over five minutes...

López puts in a late attack to try and grab some seconds.

He leads Valverde, Roglič and Pogačar in 5:29 down on the break.

Gilbert won ahead of Bennett and Cavagna.

Stage result

1    Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep    4:20:15
2    Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:00:02
3    Rémi Cavagna (Fra) Deceuninck-QuickStep    
4    Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida    
5    Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb    
6    Jonas Koch (Ger) CCC Team    
7    Lawson Craddock (USA) EF Education First    
8    Tim Declercq (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep    
9    Silvan Dillier (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale    
10    James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep    0:00:06

Nelson Oliveira said that the Movistar's plan today was to go hard later in the race, and that Quintana making the break was a spur-of-the-moment action.

Here's the new top ten on GC. Quintana, Kelderman, Knox all jump up the rankings.

1    Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma    66:43:36
2    Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team    0:02:24
3    Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team    0:02:48
4    Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates    0:03:42
5    Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team    0:03:59
6    Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb    0:05:05
7    Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe    0:07:40
8    James Knox (GBr) Deceuninck-QuickStep    0:08:03
9    Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal    0:10:43
10    Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida    0:12:21

That's Gilbert's seventh Vuelta stage victory. He had two in 2010, two in 2012, one in 2013 and now two this year.

Gilbert crosses the line celebrating his second win of the 2019 Vuelta.

Image 1 of 1

That was the fastest stage or one-day race over 200km in length in history, apparently. A 50.6kph average speed for the day.

Gilbert speaks after the finish. 

"It was a very special one. I think it’s the kind of stage that will stay in the history, because of the way we rode. It was crazy from the gun.

"We went with a big group of more than 40 guys, with some guys there for GC, with Quintana and James Knox for us. We were like seven out of eight guys from Deceuninck-QuickStep and, honestly, we rode like crazy as a team, giving morale to each other – it was really nice to see. With the passing kilometres we dropped guys, on different difficulties – crosswinds or climbs.

"It was really fast. I think I had an average of 110 RPM on my power meter and an average of 54kph. Sometimes on the flat we even went at 75kph. Throughout my career I have never done this. And that after seventeen years."

Tomorrow the race heads back into the mountains for a stage which features four first-category climbs. It should be the toughest day left in the Vuelta.

That's all from our live coverage of stage 17 of the Vuelta a España. Be sure to check back throughout the evening for more news and reaction from the race.

Tomorrow we'll have full live coverage of stage 18.