Vuelta a España stage 20 – Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the penultimate stage of the 2021 Vuelta a España.

Today's stage kicks off in just under half an hour.

At 202.2km, today's stage is among the longest of the Vuelta. It's a tough day out with five categorised climbs in the second half of the stage.

Today is Fabio Aru's final day riding in the peloton. He will retire from the sport following tomorrow's final stage time trial.

Meanwhile points classification leader and triple stage winner Fabio Jakobsen gets a special green bike. He just needs to get through today and tomorrow to secure the green jersey.

Here's the map of today's stage. The riders are in the far west of Spain in Galicia and will come close to the Portuguese border today.

Today's big news is that Dan Martin has announced his retirement from racing at the end of the season. The Irishman has called time on a 14-year career.

Read the full story here

The riders will be heading off to start the neutral zone in 15 minutes.

A reminder of the current GC top 10...

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 77:49:37
2 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 00:02:30
3 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team 00:02:53
4 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 00:04:36
5 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 00:04:43
6 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 00:05:44
7 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 00:06:02
8 Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious 00:07:48
9 Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis 00:08:31
10 David de la Cruz (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 00:09:24

A look back at yesterday's stage 19 which saw Magnus Cort take his third win of the race.

Vuelta a España: Cort takes his third stage win in Monforte de Lemos

The riders have started the neutral zone of stage 20.

Two non-starters today – Caja Rural's Oier Lazkano and Astana's Aleksandr Vlasov.

202km to go

The flag drops and the stage is underway!

As expected, plenty of attacks from the start today.

Romain Bardet (Team DSM) is among the riders attacking early on.

Bardet, of course, lies second in the KOM rankings behind his teammate Michael Storer. He's on 54 points to the Australian's 59 and there are five categorised climbs on today's route so the likes of Primož Roglič (48), Damiano Caruso (33) and Rafał Majka (33) could come into play for polka dots.

195km to go / 7km done

Lilian Calmejane (AG2R Citroën), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Fenix), Olivier Le Gac (Groupama-FDJ) and Nico Denz (Team DSM) currently on the move.

It's a very fast start as riders try to make the break for the final road stage of the race. No move has gone away yet.

185km to go / 17km done

The riders are starting an early hilly section after a largely flat opening to the stage.

Floris de Tier (Alpecin-Fenix), Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) and Stan Dewulf (AG2R Citroën) are the latest riders to try and get away.

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172km to go / 30km done

Dewulf is still among those trying to get away. He's up front with Matteo Trentin (UAE Team Emirates) at the moment.

Trentin and Dewulf have been joined by Clément Champoussin (AG2R Citroën), Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Nick Schultz (Team BikeExchange), Romain Bardet, Chris Hamilton, Michael Storer (Team DSM).

Floris de Tier (Alpecin-Fenix) and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal) are chasing, followed by Lilian Calmejane (AG2R Citroën), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH), Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel Euskadi) and Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates).

The peloton is 1:30 back at the moment.

De Tier and Moniquet are almost with the leaders.

160km to go / 52km done

The chasers continue to try and make it across. Meanwhile, the peloton is now over four minutes back.

Around an hour of racing done and the break is established. The chasers have made it across.

Matteo Trentin, Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates), Stan Dewulf, Clément Champoussin, Lilian Calmejane (AG2R Citroën), Mark Padun (Bahrain Victorious), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Jan Hirt (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert), Nick Schultz (Team BikeExchange), Romain Bardet, Chris Hamilton, Michael Storer (Team DSM), Floris de Tier (Alpecin-Fenix), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Soudal), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH), Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel Euskadi)

A 42.7kph average in the first hour.

150km to go / 52km done

Trentin suffers a mechanical as the break's advantage stretches out to seven minutes.

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An eight minute lead for the breakaway at the moment.

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Back in the Vuelta and Jumbo-Visma are the team in control at the front of the peloton.

Here's what Romain Bardet had to say before the start of today's stage...

"It looks like a nice parcours, even if I don’t know the roads. On paper, it looks like a pretty hard stage. The stage win [is my goal].

"The mountain jersey is on Michael [Storer]’s shoulders. It’s pretty good I guess, it’s a reward for all we have done. I’m not gonna race against Michael.

"I think everyone feels tired now so maybe if a good break can develop early in the race, it can go to the finish even if it will be super hard. But I think we will see what’s left in the tank in every team. On paper, it looks agonising, and maybe we can see some fireworks."

The riders still have around 35 kilometres to go before they start the first climb of the day, the Alto de Vilachán. They're traversing a mostly flat/rolling section of the stage at the moment.

130km to go / 72km done

8:30 between the break and peloton currently.

Pretty much...

Two hours down, a 40.5kph average speed, and now a 9:40 advantage for the breakaway.

117km to go / 85km done

10km to go until the first climb of the day as the riders edge towards the midpoint of the stage.

Some stats from race organisers Unipublic – this Vuelta is two stages away from being the second-ever edition (after 1996) to pass without a single home stage winner.

Spaniards can look to Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH) and Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel Euskadi) in the break today, though the chances of a Spanish rider winning Sunday's time trial look more or less non-existent.

David de la Cruz on today's stage. He lies 10th overall at the moment.

"I definitely like this stage. It is a very tough stage on paper. I also like Galicia and it is a good day to leave all the strength I have on the road.

"I have always tried as I demonstrated the other day at El Gamoniteiru and I will try more if I can. What Rafał Majka did was an inspiration, it gave us a lot of peace of mind and it would be very nice to do the same."

100km to go / 102km done

Just past the halfway mark of the stage now. The break has 11 minutes.

Jumbo-Visma lead the peloton with Movistar behind them.

The breakaway riders start the Alto de Vilachán. The third-category climb is 6.5km at 5.4 per cent.

The gap is up to 11:35 now.

Ineos Grenadiers are up front with two men ahead of Egan Bernal now.

Three KOM points for Storer at the top as he leads the way unchallenged.

Ineos have brought it back to 9:30 over the past few kilometres.

82km to go / 120km done

Another minute gone and the gap is down to 8:40 now.

The break is on the Alto de Mabia now. It's 6km at 5.7 per cent. The group is all together.

Jack Haig suffers a puncture in the peloton. His teammate Damiano Caruso waits for him.

Romain Bardet has spent some time at the race doctor's car. Not sure what problem he has yet.

7:20 for the break now and Ineos continue to work on the climb.

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6:30 now as Sivakov and Pidcock continue to work.

Storer leads the way over the top of the Alto de Mabia for more points. His polka dot jersey should be in the bag now.

72km to go / 130km done

5:30 between break and peloton on the way down the descent. Matteo Trentin jumps off the front of the break.

A short time in the valley after the descent and then the riders will be heading back uphill straight away for the first-category Alto de Mougás.

Trentin is joined by Gibbons, Bardet and Calmejane as the break starts the climb. They're 35 seconds up on the chasers as Mark Padun tries to bridge across alone.

Meanwhile, the peloton is down to around 30 riders and is 5:45 down.

The Alto de Mougás is 9.8km long at an average of 6.4 per cent.

Padun has caught the leaders and now the group has dropped Trentin on the climb. The chasers are 15 seconds down.

60km to go / 142km done

Ineos continue to work in the peloton and the gap is down to five minutes now.

Now Yates is up front and it's really just the GC men left.

Yates, Bernal, Kruijswijk, Roglič, López, Mas, Haig, Mäder remain.

Now Mäder is tailed off.

And now he's back with Felix Großschartner.

Kruijswijk takes the front as De la Cruz makes it back.

Storer and Champoussin have joined the lead break group now.

58km to go / 144km done

David de la Cruz jumps from the GC group and now Bernal is on the front pushing.

And now Yates attacks. Haig and Roglič chase.

Yates, Haig, Mas, Mäder, Roglič have a gap on López, Bernal, Kruijswijk, Poels, Majka, Großschartner, De la Cruz

Storer leads the break over the top, 4:20 up the road.

30 seconds between the two GC groups now.

Attackers: Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers), Jack Haig, Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious), Enric Mas (Movistar)

Chasers: Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Miguel Angel López (Movistar), Steven Kruijswijk (Jumo-Visma), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Rafał Majka, David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates), Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe)

52km to go / 150km done

Gibbons attacks at the front of the race.

Gibbons has 20 seconds. The GC groups are 4:05 and 4:40 down.

López is really the only man working in the chase group. His third place is in danger here with Haig up the road. The pair were separated by 1:43 at the start of the day.

The riders are almost in the valley at the bottom of the descent.

Gibbons has 40 seconds on the chasers from the break. Meanwhile, the gap between the two GC groups is now out to just over two minutes.

38km to go / 164km done

Now the Haig-Yates-Roglič-Mas-Mäder group has 2:40 on the chasers. López is dropping to fifth behind Yates here...

The chase group is knockcing it off now. More riders have made it across and they're over seven minutes away from the front of the race.

Meanwhile the lead GC group have picked up some riders from the break. Padun has dropped back to help Haig and Mäder.

The López-Bernal group is over four minutes down on the Haig-Mas-Yates-Roglič group now.

Gibbons is climbing but hasn't hit the next climb – the Alto de Prado – yet.

Now he starts the climb. 1:35 between Gibbons and the rest.  The climb is 5.5km at 6.3 per cent.

30km to go / 172km done

Three minutes between Gibbons and the Yates-Mas-Haig-Roglič group. López, Bernal etc are four minutes down.

4:30 between the two GC groups now. Bernal is losing the white jersey, not that he'll be overly worried about it.

The riders tackle a very steep section on the irregular climb. Roglič's group is 2:15 behind Gibbons.

Fractures in the breakaway chasers, who are 1:10 down on Gibbons now.

Trentin drops from the chase.

Storer is pushing on in that chase group. Hirt, Herrada, Bardet, Champoussin, Moniquet also there.

50 seconds between Gibbons and the chase. First GC group is two minutes down.

20km to go / 182km done

Now it's up to 1:15 back to the chase.

Gibbons crossed the top alone and is now on the descent. KOM leader Storer picked up three points in second.

Spanish television reports that López has stopped riding and that Movistar head of performance Patxi Vila is persuading him to continue.

We haven't seen that group for a while now. They're over four minutes behind the Mas-Haig-Yates-Roglič group.

López is back in the peloton, a further 1:30 down.

Another unclassified climb for Gibbons before a descent to the bottom of the final climb.

15km to go / 187km done

Gibbons has 1:35 now. Padun is still working in the first GC group another 30 seconds down.

Herrada and Champoussin push on and Trentin follows. A split in the second group on the road.

Storer, Hirt and Moniquet get back across.

20 seconds between the second and third groups on the road now. Padun still works for Haig.

Here's a look at the final climb, the Alto Castro de Herville, which Gibbons is about to start. Some tough sections in there.

Miguel Angel López has reportedly abandoned the Vuelta!

He was lying in third overall before today's stage but was falling behind Haig, Yates and Mäder.

Meanwhile Gibbons is still out front alone. He's 1:20 up on the chasers – the groups have merged at the bottom of the climb.

Bahrain continue to work on the front.

We've had no images at all of López during all of this.

López won the stage to the Alto d'El Gamoniteiru two days ago, and recently extended his contract with Movistar to the end of 2023.

Gibbons is 1:05 up on the chasers and 6:15 up on Bernal's group.

Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacks from the chase!

Now Yates attacks!

Haig, Roglič and Mas chase.

The four GC men are together on the steepest sections of the climb.

30 seconds to Gibbons...

6km to go

The chase group totally shattered after those attacks from Bizkarra and Yates.

Meanwhile, López might still be racing. Varying reports have him abandoning, or getting in the team car but resuming his race... Nothing definitive at this point.

Yates tries again but Mas and Roglič stick to him. Haig is having more trouble.

The four men have 18 seconds to make up on Gibbons. Brutal for the South African.

Roglič pushes on now.

The four men catch Gibbons just before the 5km to go mark.

Now Gibbons has a gap again on the mid-climb descent...

Bizkarra has come back and has attacked!

4km to go

Gibbons' time gap is up to 30 seconds again now!

Great ride from Bizkarra too, who was also in the early break. He's brought back now.

Yates, Roglič, Mas and Haig alone again now. 15 seconds down on Gibbons.

López is reportedly still racing having sat in his team car for several minutes. None of the news on the Colombian is confirmed yet, though.

Now Gibbons is caught by the GC men.

3km to go

Mas attacks and Gibbons counters!

This is all playing out on three per cent gradients now but the kick to the line is over nine per cent.

Bizkarra comes back and goes again!

2km to go

Now Yates goes and Mas, Roglič, Haig follow.

Roglič goes to the front now as the quartet work their way through the thick crowds.

Now Champoussin is back and tries an attack! This is a crazy finale.

1.5km to go

Champoussin has a gap! Bizkarra chases.

1km to go

Final kilometre from Champoussin!

The Frenchman suddenly has 20 seconds on Roglič's group.

Mas attacks behind Bizkarra.

Mas, Yates, Haig, Roglič catch Bizkarra again.

Clement Champoussin is 300 metres away from the win!

Clement Champoussin (AG2R Citroën) wins stage 20 of the Vuelta??!!

What a crazy finish to that stage.

Roglič takes second ahead of Yates, Mas and then Haig. 

Champoussin beat Roglič to the line by six seconds. Yates and Mas were a further two seconds back while Haig finished at 12 seconds.

Bizkarra and Gibbons came home in seventh and eighth.

That is 23-year-old Champoussin's first pro win. The Frenchman turned pro with AG2R last year.

A shot of Champoussin crossing the line.

We're still waiting to see what happened to López. He's not in the top 46 finishers so far.

Some images of him speaking on his phone and getting into his team car earlier. HE was reported as having left the race before reports came out that he had sat in the car before continuing...

Miguel Angel López storms out of Vuelta a España during penultimate stage

Colombian climbs off his bike in frustration after being ridden out of podium contention

Here's our report on stage 20 of the Vuelta

Here's what Champoussin had to say after his win today...

"To be honest, when we got caught at the bottom of the climbing, after being the whole day ahead, it was a bit tough, but the favorites were tired too I think. When they went in the steep part, it was going too fast for me. Afterwards, I was lucky, I ran into Gino Mäder, who brought us back into the group. I hung on, clocked up, and a little over a mile from the finish I was lucky they looked at each other.

"Since I'm not dangerous, I thought to myself that I had to try to pass a little faster. The last kilometre wasn't too hard and I was able to stay ahead until the end. It’s a bit unexpected because I’ve had some ups and downs over these three weeks. Yesterday I was really not well. Today I would have been happy to finish the stage. I was with Lilian [Calmejane] and Stan [Dewulf] up front. They helped me a lot all day. I couldn’t miss."

A shot of Champoussin's stage-winning attack today.

Primož Roglič remains in red after all the chaos today and will simply need to staty upright on Sunday's final stage. Here's what he said after the finish...

"I'm super happy with the place I finished in today with the way it went. I couldn't wish for more. I was mainly looking at Yates and Mas but at the end there were a lot more guys. We needed to be super strong to attack and to go away.

"I kept everything more or less under control. The first half of the stage was nice. We did the tempo then I expected that the guys went for it in the last mountain stage. Ineos rode hard and the race exploded. I'm looking forward to the time trial tomorrow. We've been waiting for this so finally here we are."

We'll have more news from the Vuelta coming through the evening, hopefully including something from Movistar or López about his situation. Stay tuned...

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