As it happened: A photo finish sprint showdown at the Vuelta a España stage 5 in Seville

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 5 of the Vuelta a España!

Today's stage is set to start in around 45 minutes.

A look at the profile of today's stage 5.

Yesterday's stage 4 brought the first summit finish of the Vuelta and with it a win for Primož Roglič.

Vuelta a España: Primož Roglič wins stage 4 to seize race lead

A look at the stage 4 result and the GC picture.

Here's our look ahead to today's stage, which should be one for the sprinters.

Vuelta a España 2024 stage 5 preview - Sprinters take aim at Sevilla

Just under quarter of an hour to the stage start.

Stage 5 is underway!

There will be 7.7km of the neutral zone before the flag drops.

The riders have passed through quickly and now racing is underway.

177km to go

The first attacks fly on stage 5.

Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ibon Ruiz (Kern Pharma) are on the move.

There are no climbs on today's stage and little chance of a break lasting to the finish so it's not a massive battle to get into the breakaway.

170km to go

Juaristi and Ruiz have a minute on the peloton already.

No other riders have joined them in the move. It's a two-man break of the day.

Lotto-Dstny are taking control of the peloton for now.

156km to go

4:30 for the two men in the break now.

The peloton out on the route south from Extremadura to Andalucía today.

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Alpecin-Deceuninck also working at the front of the peloton at the moment.

He may not be racing at this Vuelta, but Edvald Boasson Hagen has today announced that he'll be retiring at the end of the season.

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137km to go

5:15 for the breakaway duo currently.

A 37.9kph average speed so far today.

Vuelta leader Primož Roglič in the peloton.

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Visma-Lease A Bike among the teams working up front in the peloton.

Alpecin-Deceuninck and Bahrain Victorious also up there.

126km to go

Four minutes up to the breakaway.

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114km to go

Not much change in the overall situation yet as the riders race towards the 100km to go mark.

One of the many cooling measures employed out on the road today.

3:25 for the breakaway at the moment.

100km to go

Our two-man break out up the road today.

A 36.1kph average speed so far.

Defending Vuelta a España champion Sepp Kuss determined to battle on despite first summit finish time loss

US rider cedes 28 seconds on daunting Pico Villuercas climb

88km to go

Just under three minutes for the break now with the gap coming down slightly.

We're over halfway through the stage now.

Around 55km to go until the riders reach the day's intermediate sprint.

Here's what stage 3 winner Wout van Aert had to say about today's stage...

"It's definitely a stage I have my eyes on so we want to go for it again. The first two sprints were both slightly uphill so the long straight and completely flat will bring on more speed. It will be a different sprint for sure.

"I have the [green] jersey on my shoulder and so far it’s quite a battle with Kaden Groves and I think today normally that will continue. It's nice."

Visma-Lease A Bike leading the peloton.

67km to go

Still three minutes between break and peloton.

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It's still Alpecin-Deceuninck up front in the peloton along with Visma-Lease A Bike.

59km to go

2:25 for the breakaway at the moment.

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The riders currently on an uphill kick, though it's uncategorised.

It's the biggest uphill of the day but the riders will soon be heading on a gradual downhill to the flat run to the line.

Here's what stage 2 winner Kaden Groves had to say about today's stage...

"Today is more of a pure bunch sprint so I think the fastest will win. We’ll see also more sprinters from the other teams, like DSM and Bittner. I think I [have the best train]. We’ve got the strongest team. We focus more on the sprint so there will be a lot of eyes towards us I believe.

"I think I prefer curves [in the finale], at least with corners it's a lot more actually straightforward of where you need to be in terms of positioning so today's finale is really quite difficult because timing is super important obviously. It's a finish where you can sit back and we go as one with the team but you really can’t be too early."

The peloton is over the climb and down the other side and now things are speeding up at the front. 

44km to go

The gap to the front has come way down to just 50 seconds now.

The break's advantage is only coming down more and more.

Around 15km to go until the riders hit the intermediate sprint.

Just 15 seconds for Juaristi and Ruiz now.

EF and Red Bull among the teams leading the charge.

38km to go

Juaristi and Ruiz shake hands with their time out front almost at an end.

Breakaway over and the peloton is all together again.

A flat run to the finish in Seville now.

More cooling for the Vuelta peloton.

A mix of teams up front as the peloton races towards the intermediate sprint.

UAE, Ineos, Red Bull, Visma, Decathlon, Alpecin all up there.

27km to go

Louis Vervaeke stops to get a rear wheel change.

2km to go to the sprint.

Kaden Groves and Wout van Aert burst out of the peloton in the final metres before the line!

It was a very close one but it looks like Groves just about edged that sprint.

Ibon Ruiz wins the combativity prize today.

22km to go

All together again now after that brief sprint burst.

Groves took 20 points to Van Aert's 17 at that sprint.

The Belgian now holds the green jersey lead by 128 points to the Australian's 125.

EF, Euskaltel, Red Bull, and Bahrain lined up at the front now.

16km to go

Full speed to the finish now.

GC teams mixing it with the sprint squads pushing a high pace up front.

12km to go

Still all together as the riders pull a 180 around a roundabout.

A crash in the peloton and two EF riders go down at the front of the group. Rui Costa is one of the two victims.

Owain Doull also went down.

10km to go

Into Seville proper now.

Bahrain Victorious lead the peloton.

A mix of other teams also up there with Bahrain.

UAE, EF, Lotto among them.

Rui Costa still hasn't got going again yet. He's still talking to EF team staff.

It looks like his race may be over.

A left-hander coming up now and then a long straight down to a 180 turn back onto the finishing straight.

7km to go

Rui Costa has abandoned the Vuelta.

Bahrain Victorious joined up front by Victor Campenaerts.

Wide city roads here.

Just the sharp right-hand hairpin – made up of two right-hand turns – left for the peloton.

5km to go

High speeds on this run to the final bend.

Ineos, Movistar, DSM also up front.

The riders take on that sharp two-part bend and now they're onto the final straight.

It's 3.7km to the line.

Red Bull leading the way.

It's a six-lane road so very wide.

3km to go

DSM up there with Red Bull.

Arkéa and Visma moving up too.

Mikel Landa stops with a puncture inside the final 3km.

2km to go

All the sprint squads to the front now.

Red Bull peel off and now Alpecin-Deceuninck move up.

1km to go

Alpecin leading the way en masse.

It's a very well-organised lead-out train.

Van Aert is on Groves' wheel.

The Belgian strikes out first!

Van Aert battles against Pavel Bittner in the dash for the line.

Dreadful camera work at the finish.

It looks like Groves got boxed in as Van Aert jumped.

The camera zoomed out as the sprinters closed in on the line so who knows who won...

Groves was caught napping in that sprint as Van Aert launched early.

He was stuck behind Van Aert and Bittner as the pair duelled over the win.

Finish

Pavel Bittner (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) has been declared as the winner of stage 5!

Bittner beat Van Aert at the line.

Groves beat Coquard and Stefan Küng to round out the podium.

21-year-old Pavel Bittner wins a stage on his Grand Tour debut.

A look at the photo finish. It was a close one!

The shot of the sprint for the line with Bittner coming out on top.

Here's the stage 5 result...

Bittner only took his first professional wins earlier this month with two stages at the Vuelta a Burgos.

Vuelta a España: Pavel Bittner swipes stage 5 victory ahead of Van Aert and Groves

Successful bike throw gives edge to young Czechia rider in Seville

Van Aert finishing ahead of Groves at the finish means he extends his green jersey lead. He now lies on 158 points to Groves' 145.

The Vuelta's GC standings remain the same, however. Primož Roglič continues in the red jersey tonight.

We'll have more news coming in from the race this evening, while tomorrow we'll be back with more live coverage from stage 6!