Vuelta a España stage 11 - Live coverage

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

Today's stage is the shortest road stage of the race at 133.6 kilometres, taking the riders from Antequera to Valdepeñas de Jaén as the race heads inland from the south of Spain.

The riders are currently signing on ahead of the start of the stage, which is in just over 15 minutes.

Today's stage is up and down all day, though there's only one categorised climb on the route – the Puerto de Locubín (8.8km at 5 per cent) at eight kilometres from the finish.

The finish, though, is a real challenge comparable to the Mur de Huy...

The finish was a regular fixture of the race in the early 2010s, featuring in 2010, 2011 and 2013 as Igor Antón, Joaquin Rodríguez and Daniel Moreno took stage victories.

Time gaps aren't usually very big at the top of the climb. In 2013, the top five were separated by five seconds. A total of 14, 16 and 16 riders have finished within 20 seconds of the winner on each stage.

A look at the map of today's stage...

There's no doubt that Primož Roglič will be looking to put more time between him and his main rivals, though it's extremely unlikely that he will be taking back the red jersey today given that he's 2:17 down on race leader Odd Christian Eiking and 1:19 down on second-placed man Guillaume Martin. 

The riders have set off from the start and are rolling through the neutral zone.

Two non-starters today. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Fenix) and Alex Aranburu (Astana-Premier Tech) have left the race. The Belgian has a fever and the Spaniard was injured in a crash yesterday.

Guillaume Martin aiming to stay in GC battle at Vuelta a España

Frenchman continues to eye stage win after moving up to second overall on stage 10

Primoz Roglic tears up script with surging late-race attack at Vuelta a España

Slovenian surprises with powerful climbing display despite late crash on final descent

A look at the riders rolling out but now the flag has dropped and they are racing for real.

Attacks fly right from the start of the stage.

Seven men go clear at the start of the stage.

Stan Dewulf (AG2R Citroën), Patrick Gamper (Bora-Hansgrohe), José Herrada (Cofidis), Tom Scully (EF Education-Nippo), Juan Jose Lobato (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Matthew Holmes (Lotto Soudal), Chris Hamilton (Team DSM) have a small gap.

125km to go / 8km done

Their advantage is only 15 seconds at the moment.

BikeExchange are working at the head of the peloton at the moment. The gap isn't going up.

118km to go / 15km done

It's all back together now.

Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) tries an attack.

He's quickly caught though.

Jasper Philipsen abandons Vuelta a España due to illness

Alpecin-Fenix sprinter heads home to avoid jeopardizing rest of his season

109m to go / 24km done

More attacks go but nobody is managing to get away from the peloton just yet.

Stage 9 winner Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) is among those on the move currently.

102km to go / 31km done

Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Fenix), Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo), Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal) are on the move now...

That group has a minute on the peloton now. Burgos-BH have tried to counter with Angel Madrazo.

92km to go / 41km done

The gap is two minutes and the break of the day is established.

Jumbo-Visma and BikeExchange are working at the head of the peloton.

Crash in the middle of the peloton as the riders tackle an uphill corner. Most are back up and running quickly but Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) has a problem with his rear wheel and has to wait.

It was a very fast first hour with a 47kph average speed.

82km to go / 51km done

The gap is hovering at just under the two-minute mark at the moment. The peloton is keeping the break on a tight leash.

Here's what race leader Odd Christian Eiking had to say before the stage...

"It feels like you can imagine, it feels really really nice. It’s unbelievable to be leader of such a big race as La Vuelta. For sure it’s one of the greatest moments of my career. It’s a responsibility, but it’s actually also just a bonus for us in the team.

"We’ve had much more than we could dream in La Vuelta with a stage win and two riders in the red jersey, but of course we’re gonna try to defend it as well as we can.

"[Guillaume Martin] was pretty close to me yesterday. He was also in the break so I knew it was gonna be dangerous in the last climb but I did a good job of marking him and in the end it worked out."

The gap is coming down already. 1:20 at the moment after the peloton upped the pace.

70km to go / 63km done

BikeExchange, Jumbo-Visma and Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert continue to share the work on the front.

The five men out front are still working well together.

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The riders have passed the midpoint of the stage. It's all up and down here but still no classified climbs until the finale.

A look at Joaquim Rodríguez's victory back in 2011.

Simon Carr (EF Education-Nippo) has abandoned the race.

42km to go / 91km done

The gap stands at 1:35 at the moment. The average speed so far is 43.5kph.

It's still the same squads at work at the head of the peloton – BikeExchange, Jumbo-Visma and Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert. 

There hasn't been much of a change in the race situation since the break went away.

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BikeExchange are really keen today – they have several riders working on the front.

Here's what Primož Roglič had to say before today's stage, where he's among the favourites for the win.

"For sure I feel it, that I crashed yesterday, but it should be fine without any problem, so I’m looking forward for the day.

"Hopefully [it’s a perfect finish for me]. We’ll see. You never know in cycling how it will go, what will happen, but definitely I’ll do my best. If I have the legs, we can do a nice day.

"First of all, it depends of what the situation will be. We don’t want to kill ourselves totally for today’s stage. If we have a chance, why not, we have to go for it."

1:20 for the break now as the riders head into the final 30 kilometres.

The riders already passed the intermediate sprint with Planckaert leading the breakaway across for 20 points. No sprint in the peloton with the same teams in control.

25km to go / 108km done

It's still up and down on the road and the riders will soon tackle a descent which takes them to the base of the day's only classified climb – the Puerto de Locubín.

The downhill run now and the peloton are still taking back time.

Movistar are on the front of the peloton now, along with riders from Astana-Premier Tech and Ineos Grenadiers.

20km to go / 113km done

The gap is under a minute now and coming down all the time.

Another look at the final climb.

The break hits the bottom of the climb and Magnus Cort pushes on at the front as the group fractures.

Cort is alone in front ahead of Vanhoucke,  then Planckaert and Lastra and Bou.

16km to go

Jumbo-Visma and Movistar work at the front of the peloton.

Still 45 seconds to Cort at the front.

Those dropped in the break are caught by the peloton. Vanhoucke and Cort remain out front.

BikeExchange move to the front now after Jumbo-Visma made little headway into Cort's advantage.

12km to go

Cort has under 40 seconds now. He's 3.5km from the top of the climb.

10km to go

Still BikeExchange and Movistar in charge at the front of the peloton.

Cort is 2km from the top now.

David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) has attacked from the peloton. He's in 13th overall at the moment.

23 seconds from Cort to De la Cruz and 30 seconds to the peloton.

8km to go

Cort crosses the top of the climb alone. He's 27 seconds up on the peloton now. 

De la Cruz is caught by the peloton just after the summit. Damiano Caruso pushes on in his polka dot jersey.

Red jersey Eiking was towards the back of the peloton but was still hanging in there.

6km to go

Cort has 25 seconds on the descent.

Caruso took three points at the top to extend his KOM lead. He has 31 points to Romain Bardet's 22.

Cort has pulled out a few more seconds on the way down. It's up to 28 now. Ineos lead the way in the peloton.

4km to go

Up to 30 seconds now as Van Baarle works for Bernal.

3km to go

No change in situation as the riders continue the descent.

1.5km to go

BikeExchange and Movistar move back to the front of the peloton now. 20 seconds to Cort.

Cort reaches the final kilometre and is about to hit the wall to the finish.

Cort has 15 seconds as he starts climbing.

Movistar and Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton onto the climb.

700m to go

Cort has 19 seconds now as he starts the steepest section.

Roglič and Mas push on the front!

500m to go

Mas and Roglič are close to Cort now.

Still a few seconds for Cort.

Mas goes again!

Roglič is right with him. They pass Cort.

Mas vs Roglič in the final 100 metres!

Roglič passes Mas in the closing 50 metres.

Primož Roglič wins stage 11 of the Vuelta a España!

More time bonuses for him and he may even have taken a second or two from Mas, too.

Odd Christian Eiking will still be in red – he wasn't far behind the leaders.

Roglič first, Mas three seconds back, López took third at five seconds.

Haig, Yates, Bardet, Großschartner, Vlasov were at seven seconds.

Bernal and Eiking rounded out the top 10 at 11 seconds just ahead of Guillaume Martin and Sergio Henao.

Roglič has now picked up 22 bonus seconds in this Vuelta. Mas has 10.

The Slovenian still lies third overall. He leads Mas by 35 seconds in the GC.

Cort ended up in 25th place, 49 seconds down. He was weaving across the road on the final run to the line.

Here's what Roglič had to say after his win.

"It was close again eh? It was a hard stage. It was short but super hot again. I was also suffering a lot but luckily at the end I had enough for a win.

"[Mas] is also really super strong and luckily I had a little more at the end.

"It's always nice to win. You never know when it's the last one. It was a nice finish with a steep uphill where i can normally do well. It was a nice challenge and the team did an amazing job pushing hard all day and keeping the breakaway at a distance so big thanks to them.

A shot of today's winner with Mas in the background.

Our short report for stage 11 is up now. Check it out here.

Primož Roglič celebrates his seventh Vuelta stage win in three years.

Meanwhile, Odd Christian Eiking is still in the red jersey.

We'll have news from Bernal, Roglič, Movistar, Magnus Cort and Mikel Landa coming later this afternoon/evening.

Tomorrow, the riders will be tackling another hilly stage which could suit another breakaway victory. Stage 12 takes in a 175km run from Jaén to Córdoba.

That's all from our live coverage for today, though. Look out for more news from the Vuelta throughout the evening and be sure to come back tomorrow for our live reporting of stage 12.