As it happened: João Almeida eats into Jonas Vingegaard’s lead on shortened stage 18 time of the Vuelta a España

Hello and welcome to stage 18 of the Vuelta a España!

Today is the all-important individual time trials stage, the only stage of its kind in this Vuelta. With the margins still tight at the top of the classification, the time won and lost here could make all the difference.

Initially, the plan was for it to be a 27.2km course, but that distance has now been halved due to concerns that pro Palestine protesters will affect the race.

Vuelta a España organisers shorten Valladolid time trial to 12.2 kilometres due to expected protests

The protesters continue to protest against the presence of Israel Premier Tech at the Vuelta, in the contest of the ongoing destruction of Gaza. Spain's Minister of Sport and Education has called for the team to be removed from the race.

Spanish Minister of Sport also calls for withdrawal of Israel-Premier Tech from Vuelta a España, but backs continuity of race

The first rider to set off today will be Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Oscar Riesebeek, in about ten minute’s time.

In terms of the GC fight, this is a crucial day in Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida’s battle for the red jersey. Vingegaard currently leads the latter by the slender margin of 50 seconds; depending on how today’s stage goes, that could look a lot more comfortable by the end of the day, or be brought back to within touching distance.

Vingagaard and Almeida were inseparable on the final summit finish yesterday, both showing signs of fatigue. The fate of the red jersey could depend on which of them tires the least in these final days.

'Jonas wasn't super, but neither was I' - stalemate on Vuelta a España summit finish as neither João Almeida nor leader Vingegaard attack

And we're off! Oscar Riesebeek roll off the start ramp to get stage 18 underway.

OFFICIAL START

The riders will be setting off at one minute intervals.

It's a sunny day in Valladolid, with no sign of any wind shaping the day's times.

Daan Hoole has just become the fifth rider to start, and the first who stands a real chance of winning this stage. The Dutch national champion won a Grand Tour stage as recently as last May, at the Giro d’Italia stage in Pisa.

Jasper Philipsen begins his ride. He’s been quietly in survival mode for the past stages having picked up two wins earlier, and will be wanting to add to that tally in the coming flat stages on stages 19 and 21 - but not today, where he’ll want to take it as easy as possible.

Here was Oscar Riesebeek getting the stage started.

Unsurprisingly, Hoole is quickest through the first time check, 4 seconds quicker than Patrick Eddy.

Hoole has a nearly rival, however - Ethan Vernon, who's just gone through the check a second faster.

As a powerful sprinter, Vernon is one of the riders who could benefit from the shortening of the course.

Hoole doesn’t look happy about something. He’s thrown his hands up in frustration with something, although it’s unclear what.

Whatever ails him, he’s still gone through the second time check with comfortably the fastest time so far - though Vernon will be posting is time soon.

A big moment now in today’s stage as Filippo Ganna begins his ride. He’s the favourite for the win today.

Hoole's finished the course in 13:19, 28 seconds quicker than Eddy. He'll go to the hotseat - for now.

NEW FASTEST TIME - HOOLE

Vernon's still flying, and is a fraction of a second up on Hoole at the first time check. This could come down to the wire.

Ganna is looking as smooth as ever, resplendent in the tricolore of the Italian national champion's jersey.

Vernon arrives...and he's short of Hoole. The Dutchman retains the lead by two seconds.

Ganna’s through the first check, and he’s a second slower than Hoole.

Ganna's speeding up - he's 4 seconds up on Hoole at the 3nd check.

Ganna’s flying, storming past his minute man Timo Roosen.

Dan Hoole, setting the fast time.

Hoole’s time looks like it’s about to be beaten, as Gana enters the finishing straight.

Wow! Ganna has absolutely smashed Hoole's time, by a whole 19 seconds. That's an enormous margin to put it into him in those final kilometres of the course. That time is going to take some beating.

NEW FASTEST TIME - GANNA

One rider who could challenge Ganna is his Italian compatriot Matteo Sobrero, who has just begun his ride.

Another is Mads Pedersen, especially now that the stage has been shortened. He’s looked so powerful throughout this race that you can’t write him off.

Hoole explains at the post-ride interview that his hand gesture was a response to his making a mistake, at not knowing which way round a corner to go. Whatever happened, there was no way he was beating Ganna today given how fast the Italian's time was.

Another time trial specialist, Rémi Cavagna, is off the start ramp.

Pedersen's up for this - he's the fastest at the first check!

Pedersen's again quickest at the 2nd check, by a fraction of a section.

The final third of the course was where Ganna really sped up, so this is still going to be hard for the Dane.

Cavagna's also going well, setting the third best time at the 2nd check, 3 seconds slower than Pedersen.

Pedersen has slowed down considerably in this second half.

He arrives home, 20 seconds slower than Ganna. The Italian's time is safe.

In fact, Pedersen also failed to beat Hoole’s time, so is the 3rd fastest in the clubhouse. The Dane looked much more laboured on the bike in that final stretch than Ganna, moving his shoulders from side to side while the Italian was perfectly aero.

Cavagna arrives home now, and he also has lost a lot of ground to Ganna in the final third. He’s third fastest, slower than Hoole but quicker than Pedersen.

Mads Pedersen, setting what is now the day's fourth fastest time.

Pier-André Côté is going well, fourth fastest at the 2nd check, just a second slower than Ganna.

Ivo Oliveira has just posted the 2nd fastest time, having really sped up in the final third of the course. Whereas the likes of Hoole and Pedersen all faded away during that section, Oliveira is the only rider other than Ganna to pace himself for a negative split.

Oliveira was a whole 8 seconds faster than Hoole, but still 11 seconds down on Ganna.

Pier-André Côté has finished, with the fourth best time.

Some in the Ineos ranks may be nervous about the prospect of Ganna’s time ending up being the winning time - if it does, one will be obliged to have their head shaved. That’s what the team has been doing for the previous stage wins at this Vuelta, from Ben Turner and Egan Bernal.

Ineos Grenadiers riders shave their heads in celebration of Egan Bernal's first Grand Tour win since life-threatening crash

Kelland O’Brien finished his ride very quickly, and is third fastest at the finish. Like Oliveira, he’s another to have stormed to the finish after a relatively slow start.

A good ride also by Alec Segaert, who is the fourth fastest at the finish.

There is again a very strong pro-Palestine presence on the roadside today. Here's a sample of the protesters at the start of the course.

Nobody out on the course now is threatening any of the top times, but a couple of big names are set to begin their rides in a few minutes time - Juan Ayuso followed by Stefan Küng.

Ivo Oliveira, on his way to setting the second fastest time of the day.

Juan Ayuso has set off, and he looks up for it. His targeting for stage wins over helping Almeida’s red jersey bid has been controversial all race - and, as a strong time trialist, it looks like he’s after another one today.

Next off is Stefan Küng, who was the last man to win an individual time trial at the Vuelta, from the final stage of last year’s race.

Ayuso was the closest challenger to Filippo Ganna at the similarly short and flat time trial of Tirreno-Adriatico this year - albeit a whole 22 seconds slower.

Ayuso is 7th fastest at the first check, less than a second slower than Ganna. He’s in the mix.

Küng is also well in contention, as the third quickest through the first time check. This is going to be an interesting few kilometres as both contenders complete their rides.

Küng is looking great! He's gone quickest at the 2nd time check, three seconds up on Ganna.

Ayuso is slowing down, however, a distant 8 seconds down at the same point.

Küng is looking very aero and controlled as he rides the wider, flat final sector of the course.

Ayuso finishes, down in 10th place.

Here comes Küng...

He's fallen short! He's slowed down in this finale, missing out not only to Ganna, but also Oliveira, for the 3rd best time.

Sander De Pestel has just set the fastest time at the first time check. He wasn't among the pre-stage favourites - could he be set to cause an upset?

De Pestel has slowed down already, 8 seconds down at the 2nd check.

Antonio Tiberi is off. He's a very good time trialist and could be in contention for the stage at his best - but he's been well short of that level in thie Vuelta.

Here's Juan Ayuso out on the course earlier.

Magnus Sheffield has finished slower than he might have hoped for, down in 17th place.

Stefan Küng, who, as you can tell from his expression, went hard for his third place finish.

Tiberi is not pushing hard for this time trial. He’s visibly taking it easy, and posting times well down from the contenders.

Neither is Bob Jungels. He’s 45 fastest at the 2nd check, much slower than the kind of times he’d post in his heyday.

Only 20 minutes until Junior Lecerf begins his ride, after which the riders in the top ten on GC will set off at two minute intervals. Not long until the focus moves away from the stage win, and towards the GC.

For now, the stage win is still the focus, and another contender has just started his ride - Jay Vine.

He might be King of the Mountains, but Vine is also quality against the clock, and was third and sixth at the two time trials at the Giro d’Italia this year.

Another image of Ganna, who looks increasingly like he'll be the day's winner - unless any of the GC men are feeling especially strong.

There's some traffic ahead of Vine as he continues his ride, which should give him a considerable aero advantage.

That helped slingshot Vine to pass his minute man, Finlay Pickering - though he nearly grazed each other as he went past.

Vine’s the quickest at the 2nd time check, by 6 whole seconds. Ganna’s time is suddenly looking under threat…

That’s 6 seconds quicker than Küng, and 9 over Ganna. The Italian finished his ride so fast, but that’s a lot of time Vine has as leeway.

Bruno Armirail is off. He's another quality time trialist who will hope to be right up there in contention for the top places.

Here comes Vine...

Vine misses out, but only by the barest of margins. He's under a second slower than Ganna!

Egan Bernal starts his ride, to a big cheer from the crowd. We're getting near the GC top ten.

Armirail doesn't look set to challenge today, already having lost 7 seconds at the first time check.

Elsewhere, make sure to catch up on the other races that have come to a conclusion today, the Coppi Sabatini and Tour Féminin de l'Ardeche.

Matteo Jorgenson starts his ride, the first of those in the top ten to do so. We're into the top GC territory.

A slightly worrying moment for Jorgenson as he loses control of his bike a little round one of the many corners at the start of the route. He seems to be going hard, in defence of his tenth place.

Jay Vine, who came so close to setting the fastest time.

Bruno Armirail has just finished his ride, and he rode a huge final third of the stage, setting the 3rd fastest time. That’s perhaps the most notable negative split of the day so far, considering he looked out of contention at the first time checks.

Jorgenson’s going well, the 6th fastest at the first time check. He’s one of the best time trialists among the GC men.

Riccitello starts his ride. He's one of the men who stands to gain today, with only 2 seconds to make up on Felix Gall to take his place of 6th on GC.

Felix Gall is off. He's struggled in time trials in the past, and hasn't looked great on recent stages, so could stand to fall down the GC today.

Yesterday's winner Giulio Pellizzari is the next to start. He's clearly in great shape, but how is his time trialling legs?

Now Jai Hindley begins. He’s been in the ascendency at this Vuelta, and will hope to challenge Pidcock’s place on the podium. At the moment, he’s 36 seconds behind him.

Jorgenson finishes with the 10th best time, 21 seconds slower than Ganna.

That realistically leaves only Vingegaard and Almeida as riders who could challenge Ganna for the stage win.

Tom Pidcock is off. This is a big challenge for the Brit, as someone who is not renowned for his time trialling, or for competing for GC this deep into a Grand Tour.

João Almeida sets off, his face a picture of concentration.

A reminder that Almeida is 50 seconds down on Vingegaard on GC - not a realistic amount of time for him to make back today, but he could take some of it.

And now, with a deep intake of breath, Vingegaard is off, sporting one of the notorious Visma-Lease a Bike time trial helmets.

VINGEGAARD STARTS

Riccitello finishes with the 24th best time, 36 seconds slower than Ganna’s. That’s OK, but will it be enough to leapfrog Gall on GC?

Almeida's through the first time check, 1 second down the fastest time. That's solid, but we won't get a real idea of how he's going until later.

Gall loses 41 seconds, which isn't too much of a loss, but he loses his 6th place on GC to Riccitello.

Hindley is 25 seconds down at the 2nd check. The big question in the race for the podium is how will that compare with Pidcock's time.

Pidcock's going very well - he's up on Hindley by several seconds.

Giulio Pellizzari finishes with the 32nd fastest time. That's enough to hold on to his 5th place, but he's lost some ground to both Gall and Riccitello.

Vingegaard is 2 seconds down on Almieda at the first check. There's little between them for now.

Hindley's finished, with the 20th fastest time. He'll say in 4th place.

Almeida and Vingegaard are both through the 2nd check - and there's a mere 3 seconds between them, Almeida the slightly faster rider.

Pidcock finishes, with the 20th fastest time - putting a couple of seconds into Hindley. That's an excellent job from the Brit, whose podium remains safe for now.

There's only two riders left to finish - Vingegaard and Almieda. It seems Ganna's stage win is secure.

Almeida nears the finish...

...and it's the 3rd best time for him, only 8 seconds slower than Ganna.

At this rate it seems Vingegaard will lose some time to Almeida, but not much.

Vingegaard's looking smooth as he goes under the 1km to go banner.

Vingegaard arrives home, 18 seconds down on Ganna.

GANNA WINS THE STAGE

That's 10 seconds lost from Vingegaard on Almeida. Nothing decisive, but a confidence booster for Almeida, who must believe he can take the red jersey from him in the stages to come.

Today's winner, Filippo Ganna.

Vingegaard's lead on Almeida is down to just 40 seconds, with 3 stages left. Everything is set up for a barstoming finale - specifcally, the final mountain stage to Bola del Mundo o Saturday.

As for Ganna, that’s the 9th Grand Tour stage win of his career, and 2nd at the Vuelta (which was also a time trial in Valladolid, two years ago). He’s had a relatively quiet season having been so strong in the spring, but has saved himself for a huge performance today.

Vingegaard had to go deep for that finish, and does look like he’s getting tired this final week. He posted the 9th best time - a strong time, but we know him to be one of the best in the world against the clock when at his best.

Almeida is philosophical at the finish, but does say he wishes the stage had been the full length so he could have maximised his time gains. Still, there's more than enough road in the final mountain stage for him to have a chance of regaining those 40 seconds he needs to win the red jersey.

It was another good day for Tom Pidcock, who strengthened his hold on the podium by a few seconds. Time trialling might have been a particular weakness for the Brit, and by coming though today’s so well, he now looks like a complete Grand Tour contender.

Here's our report of the stage today.

Vuelta a España stage 18: Filippo Ganna prevails over Jay Vine for victory in Valladolid time trial

Thanks for joining us today, for another close, tense battle in the race for the red jersey.

That contest will likely take a pause tomorrow, when the race at long last returns to some flat terrain to give the sprinters a go. It’s been a long time since the last bunch sprint, and so the sprinters will be raring to go - make sure to come back tomorrow to follow along with all the action.