Vuelta a Espana stage 10 Live - Evenepoel dominates 30km time trial

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 10 TT of the 2022 Vuelta a España.

Today's 30.9km TT is from Elche Alicante not far from the Mediterranean coast. 

The riders and race caravan traveled from northern spain on Sunday night and monday almost 1000km to begin the second week of racing.

This is the stage profile. It's a flat and fast time trial. 

These are the TT start times. 

As is traditional, the riders will set off in reverse order, beginning with the last placed rider on general classification, Alpecin-Deceuninck's Floris De Tier, at 13:52 local time. 

Almost exactly three hours later, overall leader Remco Evenepoel of QuickStep-AlphaVinyl will look to defend the red jersey, as the last rider off the start ramp.

Riders will set off at one-minute intervals up until the final 20, who will be sent off at two-minute intervals.

Vuelta a España stage 10 time trial - Start times

The momentum was already with Remco Evenepoel at this Vuelta a España and today he gets something like a home-field advantage and chance to gain more time. 

When he rolls down the start ramp in Elche for Tuesday’s stage 10 time trial, the race leader’s aptitude in the discipline will be matched by his knowledge of the roads.

To understand exactly why, read Barry Ryan's excellent time trial preview: 

Vuelta a España 2022 stage 10 preview - Momentum with Evenepoel in race of truth

Floris De Tier (Alpecin-Fenix) is the first rider off but we're expecting Ryan Mullen (Trek-Segafredo) to set the early fastest time. 

This is an interesting stat from our friends at Fuoriclasse.

10 riders have started in Elche but we're waiting for the first to pass the intermediate  time check after 10.4km. 

The second time check is done after 21km. 

The time trial is 30.9km long.  

It's another warm and sunny day at the Vuelta. 

Temperatures are around 31ºC at the beginning of the stage, staying above 29ºC until the last stretch where it will drop to 26ºC. 

The wind will blow from the east-southeast with speeds around 18 km/h decreasing towards the end of the stage. 

Boy van Poppel was the first to the time check in 12:32 but as expected, Mullen is faster and sets 12:10. 

This is the expected wind direction today, adding speed to the already fast course.

Well, this is interesting.

Sam Bennett (Bora) did not start the TT in his scheduled slot of 2:09 local time. 

The Irishman won stages 2 and 3 but is out of the Vuelta. 

As you may have seen, there have been a number of riders hit by COVID-19 during the rest day tests and afterwards.

COVID-19 is still circulating in the peloton and the Vuelta race bubble. 

Rider who tested positive included Ineos Grenadiers' Ethan Hayter. Click below to learn more.

Ethan Hayter out of Vuelta a España with COVID-19

A warm-up is vital before a time trial.

Kelland O'Brien (BikeExchange - Jayco) is the first to go below 12:00 at the time check. 

He sets 11:55.

Julius Johansen (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert) is also pretty fast. He set 24:34 at the second time check. 

We will soon see if O'Brien can better that.

He does, setting 23:59. 

Sam Bennett is the eighth rider to withdraw from the Vuelta between the end of Sunday's ninth stage and the start of the time trial. 

Click below to read more on this breaking news:

Sam Bennett withdraws from the Vuelta a España

As expected, Mullen set a fast time of 37:43. But he's been beaten already.

Johansen finishes and sets 37:22.

He goes into the hot seat.

New fast time! 

Kelland O'Brien (BikeExchange-Jayco) stops the clock in 36:14.

That's a significant 1:08 faster than Johansen.

The 30.9km TT course is now packed with riders. 

Chris Froome is also out there but is not a threat so far. He will perhaps be hoping to go in a break later in the Vuelta.  

Well, Kelland O'Brien is in the hot seat but riders are beating his split times.

Rémi Cavagna set a new fastest time after 10.4km with 11:26. 

Mads Pedersen is also fast with 11:32 

Michael Hepburn (BikeExchange - Jayco) is also fast. 

He sets 23:20 at the second split. But Cavanga is much faster in 22:47.

Cavagna will finish very soon and should set the fastest time. 

Hepburn sets 35:11.

Froome sets a time of 38:12. He clearly wasn't going full gas. 

We've updated our story about Sam Bennett being hit by COVID-19. 

Cyclingnews' Barry Ryan was at the finish when Ryan Mullen ended his ride and confirmed his withdrawal. 

"It’s shame for the team. Sam is a great guy and he came back to his best form and unfortunately Covid has caught up to him along. It’s a massive shame. 

"Sam is gonna be disappointed. He deserves to be here, he’s put the work in and he’s showed he’s back to his best. I’m sure he would have won the green jersey."  

Here is Cavagna. He sets 34:18. Wow!

That's fastest by 53 seconds and the time to beat today. 

Cavagna stops and asks for team staff to pour cold water over his head. 

Cavagna raced at an average speed of 54.031 km/h. That shows how fast the flat 30.9km course is.

Pedersen was fast in the opening 10km but has faded, setting 23:41 after 21km of the TT. 

Next off is Rohan Dennis. 

He is surely a contender today, even with Evenepoel and Roglic in action.

Pedersen finished in a time of 36:31. Fast but only sixth fastest. 

It's hot and humid at the finish in Alicante, with temperatures close to 30C and high humidity. 

Dennis sets 11:30 at the 10.5km time split. 

That's 2nd, 5 seconds slower than Cavagna but the former world time trial champion is probably riding a negative split and will try to go faster now. 

The USA national TT champion Lawson Craddock is next off. 

He stands out in his stars and stripes skinsuit. 

Here's Rohan Dennis at speed. 

Bob Jungels is fast at time check 2 but not fast enough. He is over a minute down on Cavagna.  

Rohan Dennis is also down on Cavagna after the wind time split. 

He reached 20km some 39 seconds down on the Frenchman. That surely ends his chances of the stage win.

Craddock is faster after 10.4km. He is only 8 seconds slower than Cavagna. 

The Vuelta is the centre of attention at the moment but transfer news for 2023 is also making waves. 

Big names such as Dylan van Baarle, Richard Carapaz, Dylan Teuns, and Tim Merlier all have their future destinations sorted, but Mark Cavendish – has yet to finalise his next destination.

The British champion is set to leave QuickStep-AlphaVinyl and he has been linked to French ProTeam B&B Hotels-KTM, which is set to undergo a rebranding with the city of Paris for next year. 

Team boss Jérôme Pineau has said that the chances of the Manxman joining the team are currently "50-50". 

Click below for the full story.

Mark Cavendish '50-50' for B&B Hotels move, says team boss

Rohan Dennis sets a time of 35:59. 

That is 1:21 behind Cavagna and so he seems to have eased up in the final kilometres.

Craddock sets a time of 23:07 at split 2. 

He is only 20 seconds down on Cavagna. 

Fred Wright was again aggressive and well placed. He sets a time of 35:11 to go third fastest.

We're entering the final hour of rider starts now, with the final 30 riders, the GC contenders about to race.

Of course, all eyes will be on Remco Evenepoel and how much time he can perhaps gain on his rivals. 

Many will be hoping to stay in contact in the GC to then attack in the mountain stages.

Vincenzo Nibali finishes in a time of 38:35 in his final Grand Tour time trial of his career. 

Enric Mas is warming up for his ride.

Hugh Carthy of EF starts his TT. He looks determined but will likely lose a chunk of time today.  

We can also see Remco Evenepoel warm up on the rollers.

He is wearing his race leader's red skinsuit and an ice-vest to try to stay cool.  

Alejandro Valverde also starts his final Grand Tour TT. 

He will finally end his career this year. Some say that's a pity.

Next off is Ben O'Connor of AG2R. He is 13th overall at 5:53 but in a group fighting for a place in the top ten.  

Tao Geoghegan Hart is next off. The Giro winner can do a decent time trial but will probable pace his ride today to be strong in the final 120 days for best-placed Carlos Rodriguez.

Primoz Roglic is also warming up, with an impressive set-up.  

Roglic starts in 10 minutes, with Mas 2:00 later and then Evenepoel 2 minutes after the Spaniard.

Click below for the start times. 

Vuelta a España stage 10 time trial start times

Joao Almeida is off and likely to be one of the GC contenders to limit his losses to Evenepoel. Indeed, he is likely to move up overall, passing several poorer TT riders. 

Carlos Rodriguez starts his TT. It will be fascinating to see what the young Spaniard can do today and in this Vuelta.

Click below to read a special feature by Alasdair Fotheringham from the Vuelta on Rodriguez and Ayuso. 

Rodríguez and Ayuso lead Spain's next generation of Vuelta a España contenders

Here we go! Roglic starts his TT. 

He has never lost a pro TT in Spain. 

Will that end today? We think so.

3-2-1 and Mas rolls down the start ramp in Elche.

The crowd shout Vamos!

Here we go! 

It's Remco time. The race leader is on the start ramp.

Sweat is dripping off him as the clock counts down. 

He's off, wearing the new Specialized aero helmet that includes an aero head sock.

That could be hot in this 30C weather but perhaps offers an aero benefit. 

Meanwhile, Remi Cavagni remains in the hot seat with the fastest time of 34:11 for the 30.9km course.

It's mano-a-mano out on the road from Elche to Alicante.

Sivakov is only 15 seconds down on Cavagna at split 2. 

He is in the game.

Roglic sets 11:26 at time split 1.  

That's fast but Evenepoel seems to be faster.

Everyone else is the GC battle is slower.

Mas and Yates are close to Roglic. 

Ben O'connor finishes fast, in 35:11. That should lift him in the GC.

Evenepoel smashes the time split 1 time, setting 11:05! 

That's 21 seconds faster!  

Evenepole is ticked super low over his bars as he fights to gain more and more seconds.

With 16km to go, virtually the half-way point, Evenepoel is 25 seconds faster.

Sivakov finishes in a time of 34:45. 

That's a good ride from the young Ineos rider.

Rodriguez reaches split 2 in 23:07. That's also a good ride. 

Roglic is at split 2. He sets 22:48, just 1 second slower than Cavagna.

He's fast but Evenepoel is chasing him and gaining time.

Mas has 10km to go and gets some help from a tail wind as drops of rain fall on the road.  

Meanwhile Miguel-Angel Lopez catches Jai Hindley. 

That's the 5th fastest so far. He's on form, while Hindley disappoints.

Evenepoel blasts to time split 2 and is 36 seconds faster than Cavagna. 

He's flying and holding off the rain.

Here is Almeida but he goes the wrong way down the deviation! 

He managed to hit the brakes quickly and turn around but lost about 30 seconds there.

Almeida set a time of 35:31, 1:13 down on Cavagna.

Yates is faster and sets 35:00. 

That's a good ride by the BikeExchange rider. He is still a podium contender.

Next in young super talent Juan Ayuso. 

Ayuso sets 35:35. 

That's good for the young Spaniard on his Vuelta debut.

Next up are Rodriguez, Roglic and Mas.  

Rodriguez is better than Ayuso, setting 34:40.

That's 2nd fastest by the young talent and perhaps now the Ineos protected leader.

Roglic is fast and fastest so far. 

He sets 34:06 but here comes Evenepoel.

Enric Mas will finish soon but Evenepoel can see him!  

Mas stops the clock in 35:09. 

Virtual timings show that Evenepoel is 45 seconds faster than Roglic and so set to win the stage.

Evenepoel finishes and sets 33:18!

Wow! Evenepoel is a superb time trialist and used his skills to gain 48 seconds on Roglic. 

Everyone else lost even more. 

How fast was Evenepoel? 

Consider this: Only 13 rider finished within 2:00 of the young Belgian.

Evenepoel set an average speed of 55.658km/h.  

Evenepoel beat Roglic by 48 seconds, Cavagna was third in the TT at 1:00, with Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos) at 1:22 and Pavel Sivakov (Ineos) at 1:27. 

USA national champion Lawson Craddock was 6th at 1:37. 

Roglic couldn't continue his amazing run of Spanish time trial supremacy. 

The Slovenian finished in second with a time of 24:06, bringing to an end his five-year unbroken run of four wins apiece at Itzulia and the Vuelta.

Here's a shot of Evenepoel in action. 

In the GC, Evenepoel now leads  Roglic by 2:41, with mas third overall at 3:03.

"Now we're going to fight to try to win this Vuelta," says Evenepoel.   

Evenepoel didn't know the time gaps as he warmed down. He was happy to hear his winning advantage. 

"48? That's a big surprise," Evenepoel said. 

"I saw that my teammate Rémi did very well. It was perfect that he did such a good time trial for me to know the good times because when I was still sitting in the bus I could see that everybody was slowing down in the second part compared to his times."

Evenepoel's TT tactics were simple. 

"I knew I had to push one power all the time because it was flat with a super-hard finish. My legs were so heavy on the last bump. It was actually really hard, but super nice to win this time trial in the red jersey. It's a nice feeling," he said.

Evenepoel was rightly bullish about his GC hopes now.

"I'm just so happy to take a stage win. I achieved my dream and now we're going to fight to try and win this Vuelta," he said. 

"The pressure is off. I won a stage. Now the whole team is super confident, I think. Everybody is performing so well and now we just have to fight to keep this jersey and take it home to Wevelgem."

Wevelgem is the home of the QuickStep-AlphaVinyl team in Belgium. 

Evenepoel was congratulated by his parents in the podium area.

Evenepoel rightly wears the Belgian national time trial jersey on the podium. 

This is how Evenepoel celebrated on the podium.

To read our full stage report and see our 45-photo photo gallery and full results, click below. 

Evenepoel smashes stage 10 time trial to increase overall lead at Vuelta a España

Here's Evenepoel on the podium.

And here he is in the red leader's jersey. 

These are the classifications from our friends at First Cycling. 

It was hot out there but Remco Evenepoel knew how to keep his cool and extend his race lead.

Thanks for joining us for our full live coverage of the time trial, we'll be back on Wednesday for full live coverage of stage 11 from the El Pozo Alimentación factory in Alhama de Murcia to Cabo de Gata down the coast. 

It is a chance for the sprinters but cross winds on the exposed finish could be a factor. 

Hasta luego!