As it happened: Bunch sprint decides stage 19 of the Vuelta a España as crosswind attacks come to nothing

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

And they're off!

OFFICIAL START

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

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

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.

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

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.

The four jersey wearers at the start.

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

150KM TO GO

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

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

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

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

140KM TO GO

Here were Guernalec and Otruba when they were still together.

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.

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

Guernalec has, at last, been caught.

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

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.

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

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

120KM TO GO

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.

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

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.

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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Just over three minutes for Otruba.

110KM TO GO

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

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

100KM TO GO

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 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.

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

Here is Otruba, surrounded by the empty countryside.

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.

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

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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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)

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

70KM TO GO

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.

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

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

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

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

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

60KM TO GO

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

Visma are right up there, with Vingeegaard poised.

Vingegaard is being led out, and takes the points.

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

Nobody even challenged Vingegaard, and he even beat Pedersen.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

50KM TO GO

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.

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

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

A couple of riders have attacked out of the peloton.

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

Mario Aparicio and Sergio Geovani Chumil are the two riders.

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

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

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

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

VINGEGAARD ATTACKS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

10KM TO GO

One by one UAE riders are dropping off from the peloton, first Novak and now Vine. They’re job for the day is done - despite fudging the intermediate sprint, they did partially redeem themselves by shutting down Visma’s attempted attack in the crosswinds.

Intermarche are the latest team to move to the front, working for their sprinter Marit.

And now Ineos take over again, 7km from the finish.

This is a big effort from Ineos, who have strung the bunch out single file.

It's now a Movistar rider leading the strung out peloton. That's a good sign for their sprinter Aular.

5KM TO GO

4m to go, which means just 1km to go until we're in the GC safety zone.

Bernal finishes a turn for Ineos, and now Movistar take over again.

Still no sign of the favourites Alpecin or Lidl at the front.

Movistar have 3 men at the front.

PicnicPost-NL take over from Movistar.

Here come Ineos again, with a long line of three riders at the front as they go under the 2km to go banner.

Ganna is the man leading, demonstrating the same power than saw him win the time trial yesterday.

Lidl have guided Pedersen up towards the front again.

Ineos lead into the final kilometre, the road going gently uphill.

Ganna's finally finished, and now Alpecin take over with Philipsen poised.

Pedersen sprints early.

But Philipsen passes him for the win!

PHILIPSEN WINS

Pedersen started the sprint from 5th wheel, but Philipsen was better positioned in 2nd wheel, and comfortably won the sprint.

Pedersen held on for 2nd, Auluar was 3rd.

So that’s three stage wins from this Vuelta for Jasper Philipsen. That’s some haul in a race where sprint opportunities have been so scarce - and he could yet add one more on the final stage in Madrid.

Philipsen’s Alpecin teammates did a great job in the finale. They moved to the front at just the right time, dominated the final kilometre, and set their man up perfectly for the sprint.

The uphill finish clearly suited Mads Pedersen, and he looked very sprightly in the finale. The problem for him was that he had several bikelengths to make up on Philipsen in the finish thanks to the lead-out, and that head start proved too much for him to overcome.

Aular did an OK job paying off Movistar's work in the final, sealing third place. That's his third podium finish of this Vuelta, but he can't quite match the fastest finishers in the sprints.

Ben Turner had Philipsen’s wheel in the sprint, but could not stay in his slipstream, and slipped down to finish 5th. There was to be no repeat of his stage victory from the first week, despite an exceptional turn from teammate Filippo Ganna in the final kilometres.

For all the work Lotto did early on in the day, their sprinter Elia Viviani was missing in action He finished down in 39th, well away from the action.

Aside from the 4 bonus seconds picked up Vingegaard at the intermediate sprint, there is no change in the GC, with all of the favourites finishing in the peloton.

As for the points classification, Pedersen's runner-up finish is enough to see him open up a lead of 100 points ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, with just 2 stages left to complete. The green jersey is surely his.

A shout out to Jenthe Biermans, who was the outsider in the top five today. He finished fourth place, equalling his personal best at Grand Tour level.

Thanks for joining us today, where we saw Jasper Philipsen make the most of a rare sprint opportunity by claiming his third stage of the Vuelta.

Tomorrow, the race returns to the mountains, for the big one - a massive day of climbing, culminating in the impossibly steep Bola del Mundo. The whole GC race has been building to this moment, and we expect an almighty duel between Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida (this time possibly with the help of his UAE teammates) as the fate of the red jersey is decided. You won’t want to miss this one, so be sure to return again tomorrow!