As it happened: Kuss holds red as Dainese lands Vuelta a España stage 19

Welcome to live coverage of stage 19 of the Vuelta a España, a flat 177km run from La Bañeza to Íscar. A bunch sprint looks likely, but in the third week of racing, with a tired peloton, an upset is still possible.

The peloton rolls out of La Bañeza at 13.15 CET, with the race scheduled to hit kilometre zero at 13.29.

General classification after stage 18

1          Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma        65:31:27

2          Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma          00:00:17

3          Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma     00:01:08

4          Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates          00:04:00

5          Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain Victorious          00:04:19

6          Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar Team        00:04:30

7          Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe      00:07:37

8          Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe    00:08:35

9          João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates      00:10:20

10        Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious  00:12:20

After some hesitation, Sepp Kuss seems to be the anointed one at Jumbo-Visma, whose dominance of this Vuelta has been so striking and so total. Kuss began this race in his usual role as deluxe domestique for Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard and yesterday he confessed to a degree of imposter syndrome earlier in his tenure in red. "I didn’t know whether it was my place to say how things should be. But every day I believe more in myself,  that I completely deserved to be in this jersey and to have the support of the team," Kuss said. As ever, Alasdair Fotheringham has the full story, read it here.

The peloton is currently navigating the long neutralised zone ahead of the official start.

There has been plenty of noise this past week over the leadership debate at Jumbo-Visma, but, as ever, Philippa York cuts through it with her cogent analysis of the lie of the land. "If you took out the human elements involved then one team dominating proceedings would always have a happy result. For them at least," Philippa writes. "However, time and time again the multiple leaders option is a recipe for a disaster and this is exactly what we are seeing now." Read the full piece here. 

Remco Evenepoel, who won his third stage yesterday, has been immortalised by local artist Artes Prada in today's start town of La Baneza. Before the off, Evenepoel added his signature to the work. Jumbo-Visma will sweep the podium on Sunday and yet so much of this Vuelta undoubtedly belongs to Evenepoel. 

-177km

The flag drops and stage 19 is formally underway.

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic) is the day's first attacker. The Frenchman opens a small gap and now two more riders - Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen) and Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) - are giving chase.

Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) has bridged up to the escapees and it looks as though we have our early break. The gap to the peloton is edging out towards a minute.

-163km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 1:10

-160km

Burgos-BH briefly looked minded to shut down the break but the intensity of their effort has waned somewhat and the escapees are now two minutes clear.

-156km

Alpecin-Deceuninck now take up the reins in the peloton on behalf of Kaden Groves. They'll be happy with the composition of this break and they're content with their current advantage of 2:50. 

-152km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 2:35

After reaching a maximum of 2:50, the break's lead is being steadily pared away by Alpecin-Deceuninck, and the gap now stands at 1:55.

Remco Evenepoel claimed his third stage win of the Vuelta yesterday and sealed the king of the mountains title in the process. The Belgian tapped his head as he approached the line. "I made that sign to show to everybody that mentally I’m kind of unbreakable. It’s always easy to pull somebody down but I  showed my head is pretty strong, I have a super-strong team and a super-strong wife, and they help me be unbreakable,” he said. Alasdair Fotheringham has more here.

-136km

UAE Team Emirates have joined Alpecin-Deceuninck at the head of the bunch and the break's lead has contracted to 1:20.

-129km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 1:30

Precious little by way of drama to report as UAE Team Emirates and Alpecin-Deceuninck maintain the status quo at the head of the bunch. Juan Ayuso was briefly halted by a mechanical issue, but the Spaniard is quickly back in the peloton.

-117km

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) have nudged their lead out past two minutes once again. 

-108km

The peloton is strung out in a long line and the average speed was a brisk 44.7kph in the first hour of racing. 1:55 the gap to the four escapees.

Alpecin-Deceuninck and UAE Team Emirates continue to share the workload in the peloton on behalf of Kaden Groves and Juan Sebastián Molano. The situation is under control at the moment and there looks to be little to disrupt the sprinters today. The flat course is very exposed but there is precious little wind blowing this afternoon. 

-98km

Into the final 100km for the four leaders, who have 1:22 in hand on the peloton.

Kaden Groves is chasing his third stage win of this Vuelta and the Australian is also on the cusp of winning the points classification. Sophie Smith caught up with Groves on the rest day to discuss his Vuelta. “It's been a tough week for points for me because I’ve really tried to get in the breakaways, but unfortunately, the parcours, it’s been, I would say, almost impossible for me to climb with these guys some days,” Groves said. “But physically, I’m doing really well. I think a lot of the team is. The fatigue would maybe just be the stress, pressure and mental side of really trying to hang in there, but we’re doing well.” Read the full story here. 

-89km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 1:24

-82km

The peloton trundles through Castromonte 1:46 down on the four leaders. The gap is under control, the road is flat and the wind is non-existent - it's hard to envisage anything other than a bunch sprint this afternoon.

-77km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 1:37

UAE Team Emirates and Alpecin-Deceuninck continue to lead the peloton at an average speed in excess of 45kph. A delegation from Jumbo-Visma is tucked in behind them and the atmosphere is relaxed despite the brisk pace.

-67km

Jimmy Janssens and Jason Osborne have been performing the bulk of the chasing for Alpecin-Deceuninck, and the break's lead is now at 1:16.

-60km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 1:10

Away from the Vuelta, Astana Qazaqstan have confirmed that Davide Ballerini will rejoin the team next season after a four-year spell at Soudal-QuickStep. The Belgian squad, meanwhile, have tied Mauri Vansevenant to a three-year contract and announced that Jordi Warlop will be promoted to their WorldTour roster in 2024. There has been no white smoke, meanwhile, from Astana regarding the future of Mark Cavendish. The Manxman announced in May that he would retire at season's end but it remains to be seen if his crash at the Tour de France has changed those intentions. Astana manager Alexandr Vinokourov has made no secret of his desire to retain Cavendish's services for another season.  

-54km

The break carries a lead just shy of a minute through Tordesillas, site of the 1494 treaty between Portugal and Spain that effectively saw them divide the newly-colonised Americas between them. The treaty's effects can be seen to this day in the language barrier between Portuguese-speaking Brazil and its Hispanophone neighbours. 

-50km

The four leaders continue to swap turns smoothly but their advantage is beginning to shrink. The gap is down to 41 seconds.

-45km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 0:22

-42km

Alpecin-Deceuninck and UAE Team Emirates remain parked at the head of the bunch, and the break's lead is continuing to contract slightly. 24 seconds the gap.

There's an intermediate sprint to come in Mojados with 19.3km to go, and it will be interesting to see if Kaden Groves makes a big effort there in a bid to keep Remco Evenepoel's hands off his green jersey, or whether he holds fire for the inevitable bunch sprint. 

-38km

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) are still raging against the dying of the light out in front as their lead flickers between 20 and 30 seconds.

-35km

Things are getting ready to happen, but not yet. The peloton is content to let the four escapees linger out there a little longer, and the gap sits at 21 seconds. 

-30km

The break hasn't quite resigned itself to its fate, but the bunch is closing in inexorably. 17 seconds the gap.

-27km

Break:

Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Paul Lapeira (AG2R-Citroen), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ)

Peloton at 0:10

-25km

The bunch is effectively within touching distance of the break. Lapeira attacks in a bid to breathe some life into the effort - or, more accurately, in a bid to be the last man standing.

-22km

The flurry of attack and counter-attack sees the escapees push their advantage out to 13 seconds once again.

-21km

The break fragments once again as Davy and Schlegel attack in search of the prime on offer at the intermediate sprint. Alpecin-Deceuninck look set to shut this down just in time for Groves..

-19km

A fine effort from Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ), who hangs on to win the intermediate sprint, while Groves appeared to come through and claim second place with relative ease - though the television pictures left something to be desired...

-18.5km

Davy is caught by the peloton after his late effort. After he comes back, a rider from Astana-Qazaqstan decides to take a flyer and opens a small gap over the bunch.

-16km

Samuele Battistella (Astana-Qazaqstan) is the man in front. The Italian has a handful of seconds in hand on the peloton, but this move surely won't net him stage victory.

-13km

This is a decent solo effort from Battistella as Astana battle to salvage something from a non-descript Vuelta, but it seems unlikely in the extreme that he will fend off the peloton, where Alpecin-Deceuninck are beginning to regroup.

-11.5km

Ineos have moved up in the peloton on behalf of Filippo Ganna, who does a neat sideline in bunch sprints, as his efforts at the Vuelta a San Juan hinted and his performances on this Vuelta have confirmed...

-10km

Samuele Battistella's cameo comes to an end and the slow drumbeat towards a bunch sprint continues relentlessly.

-8km

Delegations from Ineos, Jumbo-Visma and Soudal-QuickStep are all present at the head of the peloton as the pace continues to ratchet upwards. 

-7km

Alpecin-Deceuninck are happy to yield the real estate at the front to Ineos, Movistar and EF for the time being. 

Ineos and Movistar continue to set the tempo on this rapid run-in to the finish. Alpecin will hope to move up inside the final 3km once the GC teams begin to recede from the front.

-5km

Spanish champion Oier Lazkano sets a fierce tempo at the head of the bunch for Movistar.

-4km

It's still Ineos and Movistar who lead the way on this very straight and uncomplicated run-in towards the finish. The high speed means any speculative late attack is pointless at this juncture, though one wonders if the irrepressible Evenepoel might be tempted to take a flyer a little closer to the line.

-3km

Geraint Thomas and Lazkano lead the peloton into the final 3km, while a delegation from Lidl-Trek moves up. UAE and Alpecin-Deceuninck are conspicuous by their absence for the time being, but this finale seems to offer a chance to move up...

-2km

This has been a mammoth turn from Thomas, who has Omair Fraile, Kim Heiduk and Ganna lined up behind him...

Fraile takes over with a mile or so to go. Delegations from Alpecin-Deceuninck and DSM have both moved up well over the last kilometre or so...

-1km

A crash just outside the flamme rouge sees Kaden Groves among the fallers. The Australian is quickly on his feet but his hopes of stage victory are obviously gone.

EF lead out the sprint for Merijn van den Berg, but now Heiduk hits the front for Ganna...

Filippo Ganna opens his effort from distance but Alberto Dainese is closing...

Alberto Dainese (DSM) wins stage 19 of the Vuelta a España.

Filippo Ganna (Ineos) held on for second place with Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) taking third.

The crash seemed to caused by a touch of wheels from an Alpecin-Deceuninck rider and his fall broke down the unfortunate Groves and several more, though mercifully nobody looks to be seriously hurt. Indeed, DSM faller Max Poole was pictured bloodied but smiling as news filtered through of his teammate Dainese's win. 

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) came home safely in the peloton to retain the red jersey of race leader.

Result

1          Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM – Firmenich          3:42:09

2          Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers

3          Marijn Van Den Berg (Ned) Ef Education-Easypost

4          Davide Cimolai (Ita) Cofidis

5          Ivan García Cortina (Spa) Movistar Team

6          Maruic Ballerstedt (Ger) Alpecin-Deceuninck

7          Lewis Askey (GBr) Groupama - FDJ

8          Hugo Hofstetter (Fra) Team Arkéa Samsic

9          Fernando Barceló (Spa) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA

10        Jonas Koch (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

That's the sixth win of Alberto Dainese's career and his third in a Grand Tour after he won in Reggio Emilia midway through last year's Giro d'Italia and in Caorle in the final week of this year's corsa rosa. The Italian will leave DSM for Tudor Pro Cycling in 2024.

General classification

1          Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma        69:14:04

2          Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma          00:00:17

3          Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma     00:01:08

4          Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates          00:04:00

5          Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain Victorious          00:04:19

6          Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar Team        00:04:30

7          Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe      00:07:37

8          Aleksandr Vlasov Bora-Hansgrohe    00:08:35

9          João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates      00:10:34

10        Santiago Buitrago (Col) Bahrain Victorious  00:12:34

Alberto Dainese on his win: "It was really unlucky to lose a couple of guys in the crash but until that point I was in the perfect position, I was where I wanted to be. I knew there was a bit of a headwind so I just let Ganna and the other guys go a bit early and then I was waiting for my moment to go in the wind. I’m super happy to finish a hard Vuelta in this way. It’s really nice, for sure. I really wanted to end the season in a good way and also to end my adventure with DSM in a good way, so this feels really special. Today there was a bit of pressure but I knew this was kind of the last opportunity for a sprint and I really want to say thanks to the team, they did a really good job."

Filippo Ganna finishes second in a bunch sprint for the second time on this Vuelta: "I think today the guys did fantastic, they took the head of the job and did a perfect job. It’s unlucky I’m not a sprinter."

Kaden Groves avoided hitting the ground but the crash prevented him from sprinting. The Australian is still a step closer to winning the point classification: "In the end I had to stop and jump off my bike so I was unable to sprint today. I’ll need to watch it back but I was super lucky, I ended up unclipping and running off the bike almost. Unfortunately it was a hard crash for two DSM and my teammate Tobias. I don’t know exactly what happened yet but I know there was a crash just before a kilometre to go. It was pretty close to the front I believe, probably a rider coming back from doing a turn on the front, I’m guessing. In the end I was caught behind the crash and couldn’t sprint. I was still second in the intermediate I think, so that’s still 17 points. All in all I was unlucky in the finish today. My team did a great job today."

Sepp Kuss moves closer to final overall victory: “These days are more stressful now because normally I just sit at the back and go to the finish line, but now there's a bit more to lose. The guys helped me out really well today and we were always up front and the other day down.

“There was always kind of annoying wind from the side so it wasn't too too easy. But yeah, there's no easy day especially in the third week.

“It look like quite a few [climbs tomorrow] but we I think the most important part for tomorrow is that we have a really strong team and we can go into tomorrow with a lot of confidence, but for sure it's gonna be a really hard day. I think everyone's going to go all in.”