As it happened: Sprinters take their last chance on the Vuelta a España stage 17

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 17 of the Vuelta a España!

Here's a look at the official profile of stage 17.

And here's the stage 17 map.

40 minutes to go until the start of stage 17.

Yesterday brought a breakaway win on the Lagos de Covadonga as the race leader just about held onto his red jersey.

Vuelta a España: Marc Soler erupts for win on stage 16's Lagos de Covadonga summit while O'Connor clings to red jersey

Here's a look at the stage 16 results and updated GC standings.

The big news from yesterday's stage, however, was Wout van Aert's crash and abandon

Wout van Aert crashes on wet descent and abandons Vuelta a España

The riders will soon be rolling out to start the stage.

A 3.8km neutral zone to start the stage.

Michael Woods and Dries De Pestel are out of the race this morning. 141 starters today.

141.5km to go

Stage 17 is underway!

The early hill has provided a launchpad for the breakaway hopefuls.

Jonas Gregaard (Lotto Dstny), Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Thomas Champion (Cofidis) and Xabier Isasa (Euskatel-Euskadi) are on the move.

Those riders have a small gap and the attacks are continuing.

135km to go

Oier Lazkano was among the attackers behind that group but he has been brought back.

A look at the four men on the attack early on today.

They have 20 seconds currently.

20km of flat roads for the riders now.

126km to go

Almost a minute for the four breakaway riders now.

A 42kph average speed to start the day.

More riders try to attack from the peloton but they're quickly brought back.

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It's a wet day for the peloton.

113km to go

3:25 for the break currently.

Around 20km to go to the first climb of the day, the Alto de la Estranguada.

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The rain continues to fall on stage 17.

100km to go

42km covered in the first hour of racing.

3:15 for the break.

Isasa is struggling in the break as they tackle the climb.

He's 30 seconds off the back as they reach the top.

86km to go

Champion has a mechanical at the start of the descent and drops back.

4:45 for the break now.

Guernalec and Gregaard remain out front now.

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It's still wet out there for the riders today.

Isasa and Champion are back in the break.

The leaders now on the second and final climb of the day, the second-category Alto del Caracol.

Champion stops once again with a problem.

76km to go

4:20 for the break.

Kern Pharma and DSM are working in the peloton.

A shot of Guernalec and Champion in the break today.

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Champion is now back at the front.

2km to the top of the climb for the break.

66km to go

Gregaard leads the break over the top of the climb.

Still a 4:15 gap for the break.

 Now Isasa stops to get a bike change with a puncture.

He's back in the break after stopping.

Kern Pharma and DSM leading the way.

56km to go

4:10 for the break.

It's not all flat to the finish but there are no climbs left to tackle.

50km to go

3:55 for the breakaway riders.

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It's largely flat on the run to the finish now.

Alpecin-Deceuninck are now helping Kern Pharma at the head of the peloton.

44km to go

3:40 for the break.

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DSM also contributing in the chase.

20km to go to the intermediate sprint in Arce.

Red jersey Ben O'Connor in the peloton.

32km to go

2:30 for the breakaway as the gap keeps coming down.

The peloton is currently lined out at high speed.

The gap is under two minutes now.

Kern Pharma, DSM, and Alpecin are still leading the chase.

27km to go

The leaders are closing in on the intermediate sprint.

A 39kph average speed so far.

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24km to go

Champion leads the break through the intermediate sprint.

The quartet enjoy an advantage of just 1:35 over the peloton now.

Groves leads the peloton across in fifth place to grab 10 green jersey points.

The riders take on a small hill after the sprint.

20km to go

1:30 for the break now.

Another small, uncategorised hill coming up now.

The breakaway quartet still all together on the way up.

18km to go

1:05 now with the chasers still pushing.

All flat on the run to Santander now.

Victor Campenaerts attacks from the peloton!

15km to go

50 seconds up to the break.

Campenaerts hasn't managed to get away.

The TV director is only showing us the rear of the peloton which isn't exactly helpful.

12km to go

Now there's no time gap on screen either.

35 seconds is the gap now.

Champion has been dropped from the break.

Gregaard, Guernalec, and Isasa left out front.

Alpecin-Deceuninck still in the lead of the peloton.

10km to go

It's still 35 seconds for the break.

Champion is now back in the peloton.

9km to go

No change in the time gap.

It's still Alpecin-Deceuninck leading the chase.

8km to go

28 seconds for the break.

DSM and Kern also still with men at the front.

7km to go

20 seconds now.

Isasa, Guernalec and Gregaard still together at the front.

6km to go

15 seconds.

It looks like the break won't last much longer.

The 5km mark is the new 3km mark today for GC times.

5km to go

The riders have all passed through safely.

Still the lead trio battle on.

4km to go

The gap is still over 10 seconds.

The riders all well into Santander city now.

A small uphill run for the break.

3km to go

Guernalec leads the race up.

Just a few seconds back to the peloton.

Attacks fly from the peloton.

Gregaard and Isasa have given up the break.

Guernalec is also caught now.

Mauro Schmid is the man on the attack.

He has a DSM rider with him.

2km to go

Campenaerts also on the attack.

Schmid, Campenaerts and a DSM rider have a few seconds.

1km to go

The leading trio head under the flamme rouge.

Enzo Leijnse is the DSM rider.

Alpecin lead the chase.

Schmid on the front of the attacking group.

They're almost caught now.

Schmid launches the dash for the finish.

Alpecin bring the peloton across and Groves launches.

It's Groves with Bittner coming up behind him in the closing metres.

Finish

Kaden Groves wins stage 17 of the Vuelta a España!

Third stage win of the race for the Australian.

Here's the result from stage 17.

Groves celebrates his win.

It was Groves vs Bittner at the line.

Vuelta a España: Kaden Groves seizes third sprint victory on rain-soaked stage 17

Pavel Bittner second, Vito Braet third in Santander as O'Connor holds onto overall race lead

Alpecin-Deceuninck celebrate another stage win.

The current GC standings at the Vuelta a España

Flatter stage allows Ben O'Connor to continue to hold slim lead in overall standings

Here's what Groves said after his win.

“It was quite a tough day, starting dry but wet at the finish. It made it quite dangerous out there. My team was so strong that thankfully they had a super day, to control the break with Kern Pharma and DSM. It wasn’t easy, they were a super team.

“It was my last opportunity to win in this race and I had such a motivated team to control the breakaway. To repay them with win number three is pretty special."