Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 16 of the Vuelta a España.
A look at the map for today's stage, which is largely flat for most of the day as the riders wind inland in Andalucía towards Tomares.
(Image credit: La Vuelta)
So far two more riders have left the race ahead of today's stage.
Lotto Soudal's Maxim Van Gils tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, while EF Education-EasyPost have just announced that Esteban Chaves is a DNS without stating a reason.
A reminder of the stage 15 results and the GC picture heading into today's stage.
Remco Evenepoel remains in the red jersey with a strong lead over Primož Roglič. The GC battle is unlikely to ignite on the closing hills of today's stage.
Evenepoel said yesterday that he's recovering from his crash injuries, though warned that 'danger lurks around every corner' in the final week
(Image credit: DAVID PINTENSBELGA MAGAFP via Getty Images)
On Sunday, Evenepoel shed 15 seconds to Roglič, having lost 48 seconds the previous day. Up the road, meanwhile, Thymen Arensman was on the way to a breakaway stage victory.
Belgian a strong leader, but the third week is still unknown territory as a GC contender
(Image credit: DAVID PINTENSBELGA MAGAFP via Getty Images)
A look at today's final. A couple of small hills that shouldn't put off the versatile fastmen like Pedersen, Coquard, Wright and Ackermann who contested the finish on stage 13.
There's another larger hill at 10km to go which might provide a springboard for a late attack or one last jump from the breakaway, too.
Youngest rider in Vuelta continues to punch above weight with fourth place overall
(Image credit: Getty Images)
The peloton has rolled to begin the neutral zone now. 15 minutes of that before the flag drops.
189km to go
The flag drops and stage 16 is underway!
Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) y Luis Angel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) are on the attack early on.
It looks like the peloton is letting this two-man breakaway go straight away.
180km to go
Yep, the pair have three minutes and counting. That was a thrilling start to the stage!
Trek-Segafredo control the peloton on behalf of green jersey Mads Pedersen.
We have four hours of this to go... No climbs on today's stage to liven things up.
The gap is now up to 3:45 as Maté and Okamika press on.
174km to go
Cofidis are also working at the front of the bunch along with Trek-Segafredo. The French team will be working for Bryan Coquard today.
An early mechanical problem for Mads Pedersen, who is back in the peloton in no time.
168km to go
Just under four minutes for the break now.
162km to go
A look at the breakaway riders, who now have 3:35 on the peloton.
(Image credit: Tim de WaeleGetty Images)
Today's stage is the first one in the break for 38-year-old Maté.
He's racing to plant trees in a natural park in Andalucía, with every kilometre he puts in the break equalling one tree planted. Vuelta organisers and his Euskaltel-Euskadi team are also backing the initiative.
