Vuelta a España stage 19 LIVE - Vingegaard earns bonus seconds on crosswind-affected day

Groupama are now getting involved, but no single team has taken firm control as they enter the final 10km.

10KM TO GO

Now the GC teams come back, with Visma and Red Bull taking over agan from Ineos.

Ineos take over at the front for the first time in a while.

As well as UAE and Visma, EF are prominant at the front. That suggests Madis Mihkels fancies his chances in the sprint.

Soler moves to the front of the peloton and starts distributing them to his teammates. The pace is slow, allowing him to do so with relative ease.

Soler is at the UAE car picking up a bidons for teammates, having returned from being dropped out of the peloton earlier.

It's calmed down again in the peloton For now Visma and UAE remain at the front, but it won't be long until the sprinter teams start taking over.

20KM TO GO

Here was the peloton earlier during the crosswind activity, with Vingegaard right up there trying to help force some splits.

Louis Meintjes has gone down in a crash. He's back up, but is having to wait for a new bike.

Ciccone has had a puncture and will have a hard time getting back into the peloton.

Red Bull is the latest team to take over at the front and push on the pace. We could yet have more splits.

30KM TO GO

The two Burgos riders were caught amid this upping of the pace.

It's settled down again, but both UAE and Visma remain right at the front of the peloton.

Riders are being dropped out the back of the peloton, including UAE's Soler.

Now UAE are on the offensive, pushing on at the front of the peloton.

Almeida wasn't among them, and his UAE team have shut that move down.

About half a dozen riders have a gap of a few seconds.

There's a split in the bunch, with Vingegaard one of a few riders to take off out the front!

VINGEGAARD ATTACKS

Aparicio and Chumil, the two new leaders of the race.

Philipsen's Alpecin team has resumed control at the front of the peloton, having taken a back seat during the wind action.

That duo has been allowed 10 seconds. The pace in the peloton has been knocked off completely, after the wind-related tension died down.

40KM TO GO

Mario Aparicio and Sergio Geovani Chumil are the two riders.

They’re both from Burgos-BH. Without a rider up the road, they spy an opportunity to form a new breakaway.

A couple of riders have attacked out of the peloton.

It’s calm enough for Ciccone to drop back and pick up some bottles for his Lidl leader, Mads Pedersen.

It’s calmed down, and some of the riders dropped have managed to get back into the peloton.

The only splits to have occurred so far are nearer the back of the peloton. The wind doesn’t appear to be quite high enough to cause real damage.

Otruba has been caught, his long day alone out front at an end.

50KM TO GO

UAE are more attentive than they were during the intermediate sprint, riding right at the front.

Tensions are high. There’s a little contact between Pedersen and another rider at the front.

Lidl are the most prominent team at the front, with Pederen himself taking turn.

Some gaps are opening up towards the back of the pelton.

Lidl-Trek have taken over from Ineos, and are trying to split the peloton.

Otruba is now in sight. He’s just 13 seconds ahead, and about to be caught.

Ineos lead the peloton onto the exposed section. The wind isn’t blowing much, though, so it’s going to be difficult to cause splits.

Ineos are now riding at the front, on a small uphill. We're still in town, so they're sheltered for now.

Ineos' Kwiatkowski is speaking into his radio. What do they have planned?

The pace hasn’t slowed down in the peloton yet. They’re still vying for position as they approach another change of direction into exposed roads.

As for Almeida and UAE, they were caught napping. The team was caught adrift in the peloton, and not only prevented Vingegaard from taking the seconds but didn’t get any for Almeida.

Vingegaard takes four seconds as a result, meaning he grows his lead on GC over Almeida to 44 seconds.

Nobody even challenged Vingegaard, and he even beat Pedersen.

Vingegaard is being led out, and takes the points.

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

Visma are right up there, with Vingeegaard poised.

Some GC teams are among those fighting for position. There are bonus seconds avilabale here as well as points - could they be after them?

Otruba's lead has come down as a result, to 1:30.

60KM TO GO

There’s a fight for position at the front of the peloton as they approach this sprint.

Will anybody bother challenging Pedersen? He holds a huge lead of 79 points in the green jersey classification.

With only one rider up the road there are 17 points on offer for the first rider in the peloton over the line.

The riders are heading towards Salamanca, where an intermediate sprint awaits them in about 5km.

Mads Pedersen already has more Grand Tour stages than anyone else this year, having added one here to the four-stage haul he picked up at the Giro, and is a favourite to add a sixth today. While he has been adrift from the fastest sprinters in the pure bunch finishes, the uphill nature of this one plays beautifully to his strengths.

Otruba's lead has gone up, as the peloton continues to take it easy. He now has 2:45.

70KM TO GO

Based on who’s been doing the work in the peloton today, Elia Viviani is a top contender for the win, despite not having won a Grand Tour stage since 2019.

The Italian has looked like his old self at this race, picking up a fourth place finish on the opening day, and crossing the line second the last time a stage finished in a bunch sprint on stage 8 (before being DQed for dangerous sprinting)

The last time a Vuelta stage finished with a similar slight uphill, Philipsen was edged out of the win and into second place by one Ben Turner. With that in mind, Turner may be eying up the finish today - a win that would be a third in four days for Ineos Grenadiers.

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No single team is leading the chase in the peloton, which is stretched out horizontally across the road. The gap to Otruba is remaining stable, at two minutes.

80KM TO GO

So, a bunch sprint seems virtually inevitable today - but who will win that sprint is far harder to determine.

Jasper Philipsen seems like the favourite, given that he’s the fastest finisher on paper, and has the form with two stage wins to his name already. But this isn’t the kind of pure sprint that he prefers, with a slight uphill incline to the line that could complicate matters for him.

Here is Otruba, surrounded by the empty countryside.

Otruba's lead has come down in the last 10km, to 2:14. The peloton won't want to make the catch too soon, so might slow down again.

90KM TO GO

Otruba has a brief respite from his loneliness up the road, in the shape of a horse and rider galloping alongside him. As well as a lack of other riders in the break, there’s barely anything or anyone on the roadside, in this remote landscape, so he might be grateful for the company.

Away from the Vuelta, Biniam Girmay has announced that he will ride the World Championships after all, having initially stated his intention to miss it. That’s big news for the hosts, with the Eritrean being the continent’s major cycling star.

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Otruba soldiers on, his lead having come down a little, to 2:45.

100KM TO GO

In the race for the podium, Tom Pidcock also survived another day in third-place yesterday, putting another three seconds into Jai Hindley. He’s coming ever closer to a first ever Grand Tour podium finish.

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Though Vine missed out on the stage win yesterday, his UAE teammate João Almeida did succeed in reducing his deficit to Jonas Vingegaard on the GC to just 40 seconds. He’s unlikely to seek that time today (unless echelon chaos does materialise later), but has the opportunity to do so tomorrow.

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These are the kind of exposed roads the riders are currently having to navigate.

Just over three minutes for Otruba.

110KM TO GO

Jay Vine came a mere second away from getting the better of Ganna, for what would have been an 8th stage win for UAE Team Emirates XRG.

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While it remains quiet out on the road, let’s reflect on some of yesterday’s action.

Filippo Ganna was the stage winner, adding a third stage win to what has been a very successful Vuelta for Ineos Grenadiers following the successes of Ben Turner and Egan Bernal earlier.

It's still Lotto and Alpecin doing all the work at the front of the peloton.

The riders are visibly labouring in the wind. There could have been echelon had it been blowing from a different direction - and could yet be later on today, when the road changes direction.

Otruba is 3:50 ahead of the peloton, as they combat this difficult headwind.

120KM TO GO

Worse still, he’s riding on exposed directly into a headwind.

Poor Otruba. He's in a position that nobody envies, obliged to spend the day alone with his nose to the wind, away from the comfort and slipstreaming all of his colleagues are enjoying in the peloton. At least the combativity award should be in the bag.

Otruba's lead has grown some more, to four minutes. The peloton are very relaxed about the situation, knowing they should have no problem bringing him back later.

130KM TO GO

Guernalec has, at last, been caught.

The riders are up against a headwind, which is keeping the pace slow.

It’s unclear what exactly happened to Guernalec. He’s still stranded between Otruba and the peloton, and still hasn’t dropped back inside the latter.

Here were Guernalec and Otruba when they were still together.

Otruba is pressing on regardless, and holds a lead of about 3 minutes.

140KM TO GO

Presumably Guernalec has deemed spending the day in a two man’s break with so little chance of succeeding as not worth the effort.

Victor Guernalec has had enough! He’s sat up and allowed himself to be dropped by Jakub Otruba.

The peloton passing along one of the many vineyards that frequent this part of Spain.

Alpecin-Deceuncink have taken control at the front of the peloton unsurprisingly as they have two-time stage winner Jasper Philipsen in their ranks. But they’re also joined by Lotto, which must mean Elia Viviani rates his chances in a bunch sprint today.

The duo's lead is up to three minutes now, in what's been a very relaxed start to the day.

150KM TO GO

The four jersey wearers at the start.

The fact that only two riders have made it into the break puts the advantage well and truly on the peloton to bring this back for a bunch sprint. Things might have got complicated with a group of, say, four or five, especially this deep into a Grand Tour, but you’d imagine the peloton will be able to control two riders simply enough.

Two minutes now for the two leaders. It seems we do indeed have our break of the day.

It seems it may well be - there’s no interest in the peloton for anyone else to jump clear, and they’re running out of time to do so, the gap now having risen to over a minute.

That pair have been allowed a lead of 45 seconds. Could this be the break of the day already?

Jakub Otruba and Victor Guernalec are the first riders to make a move.

And they're off!

OFFICIAL START

Although there isn’t a categorised climb all day, the terrain is still a little undulating rather than completely flat. That might encourage some to try and get into the break, once the flag is waved.

The riders have begun moving and are waiting for the flag. They won't have to wait long - this neutralised section is only a few kilometres.

Today, however, is more about the green jersey, which Mads Pedersen now leads by a virtually unassailable margin. He’s one of the favourites for the stage win today - especially as the gently uphill finish suits him.

Jonas Vingegaard remains in red, after limiting his losses to João Almeida to ten seconds yesterday.

The riders have assembled in Rueda, a town famous for its wines, and will start riding through the neutralised zone in ten minutes.

Vuelta a España 2025 stage 19 preview: Mainly flat terrain deliver palatable territory for sprinters

You join us for that rarest of occasions - a flat stage at the Vuelta a España. The sprinters have been waiting for this since the last bunch finish on stage 8, almost two weeks ago.

Hello and welcome to stage 19 of the Vuelta a España!