As it happened: race for the red jersey climaxes in brutal stage 20 of the Vuelta a España

Vingegaard might have won the stage, but didn't take enough points in the KOM classification to dethrone Jay Vine as King of the Mountains.

You can read our full report of what happened today here.

Vuelta a España stage 20: Jonas Vingegaard smashes Queen stage solo win to seal overall race victory

João Almeida sounds stoical in his post-race interview, having been unable to take the red jersey from Jonas Vingegaard. “No regrets, we did what we could.” Second place overall will still be his career-best finish at Grand Tour level.

There are some changes further down the top ten. Riccitello swaps places with Pellizzari to move up to fifth, while Kuss’s second-place finish on the stage sees him swap places with Gall in seventh and eighth.

There's no change to the podium placings then, despite all the aspiration of Almeida and Hindley. Vingegaard extends his lead to 1:16 over Almeida in 2nd, and 3:11 over Pidcock in third. Hindley must settle for fourth, at 3:41.

Pidcock seems lost for words in his post-race interview, as he tries to articulate what he's achieved by sealing third place overall. “I’m a bit exhausted to be honest, I can’t really find the words,” he says.

Pellizzari arrives home, but he's lost too much time and will hand the white jersey he has held for so long to Riccitello.

Pidcock has also done it, finshing in the group to all but seal 3rd place on GC.

Correction - actually Kuss took second place, to seal a 1-2 for Visma. Almeida finished at the back of the group, in 5th.

Kuss takes third, finishing off a superb day for Visma-Lease a Bike.

Almeida finishes quickly for 2nd place, which is the same place on GC he will have to settle for.

The stage win goes to Vingegaard - and the Vuelta a España too.

VINGEGAARD WINS

Vingegaard is nearing the finish, he's looking behind him and seeing noone anywhere near him.

Riccitello is nearing the chase group and could be about to return to it.

Pidcock has managed to hang on. It seems he's going to seal his podium.

Hindley is leading the chase, with Kuss, Almeida and Pidcock with him. It seems Almeida doesn't have the legs to challenge.

It looks like Vingegaard is riding away for both the stage win, and the red jersey!

Vingegaard has a gap, of a few seconds.

Vingegaard makes a move, just over 1km from the top.

VINGEGAARD ATTACKS

Still its Hindley who leads.

Pidcock is really struggling, but just about managing to hang on.

It's still Hindley who leads on these horrible, uneven, rough roads.

Almeida drags himself, Kuss and Pidcock back to Vingegaard and Hindley.

Hindley and Vingegaard have a few bikelengths on Almeida and Kuss.

Pidcock is just about hanging on at 5th wheel. He needs to defend 39 seconds to keep his place on the podium.

It's more of an acceleration than an attack but he's putting the others under pressure.

HINDLEY ATTACKS

Almeida is using the same tactics as the Angliru, not attacking but setting a tempo to try and ride everyone - and most importantly Vingegaard - off his wheel.

Riccittelo has been dropped, but could still take over Pellizzari to take the young rider's jersey.

Vingegaard, Hindley, Pidcock and Kuss are the only riders still with Almeida.

Almeida now leads the race, Ciccone and Landa both caught and dropped.

Vine is finished, and Almeida takes over. This is his moment.

Ciccone and Landa are about to be caught.

The rider crest Alto de Navacerrada again, and swing on to the concrete road. The Bola del Mundo proper starts here!

Vingegaard, Kuss, Tullet, Almeida, Vine, Pidcock, Howson, Hindley, Riccitello, Traen, Pickering and Lecerf are the riders in the group of favourites.

Landa and Ciccone still lead by 25 seconds, but the gradient is about to ramp up to a much steeper gradient. This is where the mountain starts to get really hard.

5KM TO GO

Vine is Almeida's last man. When is he going to make his move?

Now Jorgenson has been dropped. Thankfully for Vingegaard, he still has both Kuss and Tulett to support him.

Felix Gall, who was 7th on GC, is the latest to be dropped by this turn from Vine.

Bernal's been caught.

Both Pellizzari's fifth place on GC and white jersey are now under threat.

Giulio Pellizzari's been dropped! That's a surprise given how well he looked to win a mountain stage a few days ago.

All of the riders in the top ten of GC are present.

Großschartner's finished, Vine takes over, and the group's down to about 20 riders.

You can read more about the protests that held up the race before the final climb here.

Queen stage of Vuelta comes close to stopping after protesters block route

There's still 8km to ride to get to the top.

The pace still isn’t that high from UAE, and the peloton still has about 25 riders left in it.

Van der Lee has been caught by the peloton, still being led by Großschartner.

Landa has dragged himself back to the wheel of Ciccone.

Ciccone's maintaining his lead for now, holding 10 seconds over Landa, and 1:13 over the peloton.

10KM TO GO

In the peloton, Großschartner has taken over, Ayuso's work done. Marc Soler has also gone.

Ciccone attack again and drops Landa. He leads the race - but only by 1:12 over the peloton.

Landa has been caught by Ciccone, who has also dropped Bernal.

Here we go then, they've began the final climb! Three weeks of racing all comes down to this.

BOLA DEL MUNDO

Van der Lee is dropped by Ciccone and Bernal, as the road goes up just before the official start of the mountain.

Landa is 12 seconds ahead of Bernal, Ciccone and Van der Lee, and 1:15 ahead of the peloton.

Armirail has been caught by the peloton.

UAE, preparing their assault on the red jersey as they approach the final climb.

Ciccone, Bernal and Van der Lee are together behind Landa.

Although the riders managed to get through the road block, their teams cars have been held up.

At some point Mikel Landa went clear from the rest of the break, and now leads the race.

Both the break and the peloton appear to have gone through the block.

There are some pro-Palestine protesters trying to block the road.

Ciccone has attacked and dropped the others.

Landa, Ciccone and Bernal are persevering. They still have 1 minute over the peloton - but all eyes are on the latter as we await the final showdown in the race for the red jersey.

20KM TO GO

Van der Lee and Amrirail have been dropped by Bernal, Ciccone and Landa.

The riders will start Bola del Mundo in about 10 kilometre’s time. It’s 12.2km long, but it’s the gradients that really make it difficult, averaging 8.6%, and with stretches much steeper than that. The final kilometres are especially agonising, when the road surface becomes concrete and thus even more difficult to drag yourself up.

There will be gaps here - but between who? And how big?

The riders in between who were dropped by the front five have sat up and are about to be caught.

The peloton has the break in sight now. With 25km left to ride, they’re just 45 seconds up the road.

This is what the top of the Bola del Mundo looks like. There are no spectators there, as they've been barred entry for environmental reasons.

Jonas Vingegaard, safely in the peloton. He has just one more climb to survive in the red jersey - but what a climb it is.

Ayuso led the peloton all the way to the top, meaning Almeida still has four riders with him, Vine, Soler and Großschartner. They have tried nay outside the box tactics today, but are well-positioned to ignite the race on the final climb.

There are only five riders left in the front group: Ciccone, Landa, Bernal, Amirail and Van der Lee. They lead the peloton by 1:05, with chasers dropped from the break in between.

40KM TO GO

The leaders are increasing their advantage a little on this descent, to 1:05, but that's not going to be enough to contest the stage win.

The peloton crest the climb about a minute later. Everyone is now plunging down this descent, after which it won't be long till theyre climbing back up the mountain again.

Van der Lee moves to the front of the lead group to take points at the top of the summit.

KOM - ALTO DE NAVACERRADA

Ayuso is still leading as they near the summit, and has brought the back to under one minute.

This work from UAE has seen the gap come down to 1:05. The break will make it to the top of the climb still at the front, but are very unlikely to survive the final climb.

50KM TO GO

Juan Ayuso is doing the work for UAE on this climb. Behind him, Vine, Soler and Großschartner are poised to take over. For once at this Vuelta, Almeida is surrounded by teammates.

Bernal, Landa, Tiberi, Dunbar and Fortunato are some of the riders still in the leading group. Bernard continues to set the pace, for Ciccone.

There are only about 12 riders from the day's break still left in it.

UAE and Red Bull, pulling the peloton.

In the break, Verona has finished his turn, and now Bernard takes over to work for Ciccone.

Zwiehoff is the Red Bull rider pacing the peloton.

Red Bull lead the peloton on the climb.

Riders are also being jettisoned out of the peloton as they start the climb. This has already been a very fatiguing day, and it’s just become even harder.

In fact, about ten riders have gone already, as Lidl set the pace.

The break as begun the climb, and already riders are being dropped out of it - Rivera and Vansevenant among them.

Still the gap remains at 1:30. The climbing will soon commence, and we can anticipate the first real moves from UAE as they seek to put Vingegaard under pressure.

60KM TO GO

The upcoming mountain, the Alto de Navacerrada, climbs for 6.9km at 7.6%. This is also the same climb they will return to for the finish, although that time they’ll climb even higher up to the Bola del Mundo.

The road is about to start tilting gradually uphill, as they approach the foothills of the Alto de Navacerrada. The break’s lead remains at just 1:30.

70KM TO GO

Here's the top of the Bola del Mundo, the concrete surface the riders will have to haul themselves up at the end of the stage.

Bjorn Koerdt is with the medical car, getting his wounds that he sustained in the crash earlier seen to.

The gap's remaining steady, at 1:20. There’s a sense of discouragement in the break, where all their efforts look set to be in vain.

80KM TO GO

Jonas Vingegaard revealed prior to the stage that he and his Visma team would take a back seat and wait for others to attack them today, and that’s been their approach so far, hiding in the peloton while UAE and Red Bull do all the work.

'We'll play it defensively' - Vuelta a España leader Jonas Vingegaard prefers conservative approach as stage 20 mountain showdown looms

The break aren't managing to extend their lead on this undulating section. They're being kept at 1:30 by the peloton, with Red Bull and UAE still doing the work.

90KM TO GO

Both are back up and riding.

A crash in the peloton, Brieuc Rolland and Bjorn Koerdt are the two riders down.

There’s a prolonged section of undulating roads before the penultimate of the day’s five climbs, the very hard Alto de Navacerrada. Brace yourself - it's on this category one mountains that the first big GC attacks are made.

1:20 is the break's lead, as they descend the climb. That's a very slender margin.

100KM TO GO

Nicolau might have been a contender for the King of the Mountains earlier in the Vuelta, but has run out of climbs to challenge Vine’s lead in the classification, with none on the menu tomorrow. The only man who can prevent Vine from winning that classification is Vingegaard, who is 20 points behind him.

Nicolau leads the peloton over the top of the climb to pick up a few points in the KOM classification.

Eddie Dunbar is one of the riders in the break, despite saying prior to the stage that he didn’t fancy their chances of holding off the peloton for the win today. So far, his prognosis appears likely to be correct.

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The break is all strung out in one line as the pace is increased in response to the peloton's chase. Some are struggling to hold on, with Rivera dropped.

The pace is high, but Jonas Vingegaard certainly looks untroubled. He waves and blows a kiss to the camera as the TV moto rides past him on this climb.

UAE and Red Bull’s work has seen the break’s lead come down to 1:20. It might be a strong group out front, but they’re not looking good to survive.

110KM TO GO

Red Bull and especially UAE are keeping this break very tightly controlled. For the first time all race, it seems the latter are all in for Almeida, and want to deliver him the stage win (and the bonus seconds available) as well as the red jersey.

The riders are on the third climb of the day, and it's hardest so far - the category two Alto del León.

Bahrain and Ineos are the two teams leading the break, for their respective men Buitrago and Bernal.

There are once again huge numbers of pro-Palestine protesters on the roadside.

Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe are also assisting UAE with the pace-setting. At some point their leader Jai Hindley is sure to go on the attack as he eyes up Pidcock's place on the podium.

The gap has gone up to 1:30, and some riders in the peloton are taking long-awaited comfort breaks. UAE haven't sat up, but the pace is slower than it was.

120KM TO GO

Pedersen has dropped out of the break and back into the peloton.

Carlos Verona leads the break. He's one of four Lidl riders in this group, along with Ciccone, Pedersen and Bernard.

Here's Mads Pedersen pulling along the brekaway a little earlier.

Some of the standout names in this lead group include: Bernal, Landa, Ciccone and Buitrago.

There are arund 35 riders in this lead group, and their lead is being held steady at just under a minute. UAE don't look happy with it, and continue to set a fierce pace.

130KM TO GO

The gap grows as the riders fly down this descent, to just under a minute.

The leaders go over the Puerto de la Paradilla summit, with nobody contesting the KOM points. The leader in that classification, Jay Vine, has not gotten into the break, instead sticking to his UAE leader Almeida.

PUERTO DE LA PARADILLA

UAE continue to set tempo in the peloton, at a slightly slower pace than the break, that has gradually increased its lead to 40 seconds.

140KM TO GO

No GC threats appear to be in this group, but there are plenty of quality climbers and therefore potential stage winners, including Bernal, Ciccone and Dunbar.

Kelland O'Brien has taken over from Pedersen, leading the group which now must have around 30 riders in it.

The leaders have 30 seconds on the peloton, but some in the latter aren’t content to let them go yet. A couple of Astana riders are the latest to attack from it.

In that lead group, it’s that man again, Mads Pedersen, who is setting the pace at the front.

Bernal has attacked out of the peloton, and is trying to bridge up to the lead group.

UAE are controlling the peloton, setting tempo. They don't appear to have anyone in the front group.

The peloton earlier, when Ineos were instigating the initial moves.

The riders are climbing again, up the second hill of the day - the category three Puerto de la Paradilla.

There looks to be more than 20 riders in this lead group.

Marit has had a crash.

The first chase group has caught the leaders, forming a big new lead group.

Actually, it's not the 'peloton' that's behind them, but rather a series of smaller groups that the peloton has fractured into.

There are eight riders in this lead group, including some big names, but their lead on the peloton is only a few seconds.

150KM TO GO

Buitrago leads this group over the top of the climb, with Landa and Ciccone also having joined it.

KOM - ALTO DE LA ESCONDIDA

Five riders join Buitrago, including Aular, Vansevenant and Dunbar.

Buitrago pushes on off the front to go solo, 1km from the summit.

The riders at the start.

This lead group keeps getting bigger and bigger as more riders join it from the peloton.

A group of about 10 has joined Ciconne and Rivera.

Ciccone has attacked, and got a gap with Ineos' Rivera.

That group's been brought back by the peloton.

Yet another Ineos rider, Langellotti, is at the front of the lead group, trying to push on.

About 12 more riders are about to join them, while the peloton is only seconds behind.

About 7 riders have done so, including a third Ineos rider, Kwiatkowski.

There are more attackers jumping out of the peloton trying to join the Ineos duo.

Egan Bernal has gone clear of the peloton, and joined his teammate Ganna.

There’s a flurry of attacks right from the flag, and Ganna has managed to get a small gap.

The race at last gets going, right at the foot of the first climb of the day, the category three Alto de la Escondida.

And we're off!

OFFICIAL START

Elia Viviani is the latest to get a bike change. He was one of the riders to go down in the crash.

Now an Arkea rider is getting a bike change. Still we wait to start.

The start’s been delayed some more as Bahrain-Victorious’s Mathijs Paasschens has a mechanical.

The official start has been delayed as they wait for those held up by that crash to return to the peloton.

The other major narrative playing out today is the race for the podium. Tom Pidcock still holds on to the place, but only by 39 seconds ahead of Jai Hindley, who is a third week specialist and tends to end Grand Tours strongly. Hindley’s bound to have his eye on that spot, and Pidcock may have to produce one of the climbing performances of his career to hold on to it.

UAE's Mikkel Bjerg is one of those riders.

There's been a minor incident in the peloton in the neutralised one. A few riders appear to have crashed at slow speed, but all seem OK.

João Almeida believes he can take the red jersey today. “It’s not much, to be honest,” he said in a pre-race interview of his deficit of 44 seconds. “I think everything is open.”

The riders have left the unofficial start and will be racing soon.

This is set to be a significant day in the career of Jonas Vingegaard. The supremacy of Tadej Pogačar means he hasn't actually won a Grand Tour since the 2023 Tour de France, since when he has made the podium three times. He will not want to extend that run to four podium finishes without a win by losing the red jersey today.

There is more than enough climbing today for Almeida to gain those 44 seconds. The five mountains today amount to a total of 4,226m elevation gain, including the feared Bola del Mundo, a horrible summit finish which could cause absolute carnage.

Vuelta a España stage 20 preview: 'Harder than the Angliru' - ultra-steep Bola del Mundo summit to provide definitive GC verdict

This is the penultimate stage of the race, and the last in the mountains - and the GC race remains on a knife edge. Just 44 seconds separate Jonas Vingegaard and João Almeida at the top of classification, and the latter will need to throw everything at gaining that time today.

Hello and welcome to stage 20 of the Vuelta a España!