The first rest day at the Vuelta a España saw the entire caravan make the long transfer from Spain’s deep south all the way across the country to Galicia in its north-western corner, but there is no gentle reintroduction when the racing resumes on stage 10.
The pressure is high among the GC rivals and the 160km leg from Ponteareas to Baiona is a potentially explosive one. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) heads into the second week of racing in red, with a 3:53 lead on his nearest rival, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and the boost of having taken four bonus seconds in the sprint for fourth on stage 9.
However, it was also a stage which gave many more challengers hope, with big moves up the rankings from the likes of Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) who jumped from 18th to third while a stage-winning break from Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) set him charge from 27th place to seventh.
It's a lead in that in not only is that likely to inspire those who may have previously thought they were out of the overall running but the stage after a rest day always has the potential to be unpredictable. Some riders can flourish after the change of routine while others flounder and this time the course isn’t exactly kind to those on a bad day.
There are four classified climbs on the agenda, starting with the category 2 Alto de Fonfría. After something of a lull in the middle section of the stage, there is a decidedly rugged finale, with the Alto de Vilachán and the Alto de Mabia before the intermediate sprint at 128.5 km into the day of racing.
It is then onto the category 1 haul up the Alto de Mougás. There are all important time bonuses on offer at the summit, which comes 20km from the finish. After the descent, there is one more kick uphill before a largely flat run into the line in Baiona.
Stage 10 climbs
- Alto de Fonfria (15.4km at 4.2%) cat 2, km 27.4
- Alto de Vilachán (6.3km at 5.5%) cat 3, km 104.6
- Alto de Mabia (6km at 5.7%) cat 2, km 119.8
- Alto de Mougás (9.9km at 6%) cat 1, km 139.3
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