That’s it from me on a thrilling day of racing. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. William Fotheringham’s race report from Angliru will be dropping shortly.
Updated
at 5.24pm BST
The (virtually) final Vuelta podium
Zakarin pipped Contador and Kelderman with that late surge to finish third as Nibali hung on.
What shouldn’t be overlooked in that was the ride by Froome. Everyone was gunning for him today but he ends the stage pulling away from his rivals and adding to his lead. Bear in mind that no one has done this double since the Vuelta was moved to post-Tour in 1995.
Contador wins on the Angliru!
Froome all-but secures the Tour-Vuelta double as he comes in 20-odd second down. What a stage!
Amazing stuff from Contador, who just misses out on the podium, but put on a fabulous show on his last grand tour mountain stage. A fitting way to end his career.
Updated
at 5.00pm BST
Contador digs deep. He’s put the gap back out to 30 seconds with 600m to go.
The gap to Contador is coming down. It’s 26 seconds between him and Froome now. Can the red jersey deny the home favourite?
Updated
at 4.53pm BST
Froome is pulling away from Nibali!
Poels and Froome distance the GC group and with them Nibali. Sky taking a firm grip on the red jersey but Zakarin is chasing, 1.5km to go. Wow, this is breathless.
Here’s the situation on the road:
- Contador
- Soler +30secs
- Kruijswijk +59secs
- GC group 1.15secs
You can barely see Contador as he comes through the crowds. You hope no one gets a flag caught in a spoke as they roar their man up the road. He looks like riding himself on to the podium, he needs to get one minute and seven seconds at the line to pip Kelderman to third.
Nibali doesn’t look to have it in him to do much more than hang on. The Shark, Froome and the favourites are all together as Contador powers up the steepest 20% gradients of the mountain. Just 2.7km to go now.
Updated
at 4.43pm BST
Contador surely has this sewn up now. El Pistolero has shot out to a minute and 16 seconds over GC group. Zakarin has attacked in a bid to dislodge Kelderman from the podium and the Sunweb man has to mark the move himself. Wout Poels is now controlling the Froome group. In the excitement Steven Kruijswijk has attacked but he’s no threat to the ref jersey.
Updated
at 4.40pm BST
Meanwhile back in the main group… Franco Pellizotti is setting the pace for Bahrain and Nibali but Froome is there with Mikel Nieve for company and doesn’t looking like cracking. Less than 5km to go now.
Bertie goes it alone!
Soler has gone pop and now Contador has a famous farewell in his sights, this is stunning stuff. The Angliru has delivered.
Updated
at 4.33pm BST
Soler and Contador juking it out now. Two Spaniards left now at the head of the race and Contador almost comes into some trouble as a fan gets too close but he stays on the bike.
Marczynski has been passed! Contador takes the leads on the road with 6.6km to go in a group with Bardet, Soler and Mas. Sky are now on the front of the bunch behind at about 40 seconds down, no real danger for Froome though.
Updated
at 4.27pm BST
This is fabulous from Contador. Whatever your thoughts on his doping past it is this kind of attacking that will be sorely missed when he’s gone. He’s closing fast on Marczynski and has a train of hangers-on following his wheel through the throngs on the side of the road.
Updated
at 4.22pm BST
This is playing into the hands of Froome. Just under 10km to go and unless Contador’s lead on the GC group reaches three and a half minutes the Sky riders won’t mind the others doing the work. Marczynski’s lead is being eaten into by Contador as the Spaniard powers past the remains of the breakaway.
Updated
at 4.21pm BST
Contador has attacked!
The cameras cut to Bertie and he’s being paced away from the main group by faithful lieutenant Jarlinson Pantano. No one will be surprised to see him gone up the road and Sunweb are having to set the pace to protect Kelderman’s place on the podium.
Updated
at 4.52pm BST
It’s not such good news for David de la Cruz. The Quick-Step Floors rider, who was up in the top five on GC earlier in the race, was seen also tumbling into a ditch on that descent. Marczynski has hit the Angliru and had an advantage of one minute and 44 seconds with all the drama going on behind him.
Nibali’s gone down! The man most likely to topple Froome slid out but has now reached the back of the GC group again.
Updated
at 4.08pm BST
Oh dear, we’ve had a spill. It was the man out front, Soler, who has hit the deck. It’s tough to speculate but the way he came off suggested he’ll be alright. The Movistar man slid out towards a soft verge.
Updated
at 4.04pm BST
Bardet and Soler are now leading the remains of the break. The Yates brothers, Marczynski and Andersen are hanging on. Or a least they were, Soler has gone off on his own again down the descent.
Updated
at 4.00pm BST
The breakaway gap is way down now. It’s tumbled to nearly half a minute with 1.5km to the summit of the Alto del Cordal and the elite peloton group are picking up the pace. Froome, Nibali and Kelderman are all there, as is Contador.
Updated
at 3.56pm BST
It’s starting to kick off. With 23.2km to go Marc Soler has gone off the front of the breakaway and at the back of the GC group Aru and Zakarin have popped.
Updated
at 3.52pm BST
Absolutely Ravi(?). Congratulations, Guy. I trust your newborn will be indoctrinated into the cycling fold.
Nibali is giving it a go as the peloton nears the bottom of the descent and starts climbing up again. His Bahrain team are pushing the pace but it seems Astana are missing. Ángel López appears to have been distanced on the downhill. The rest of the GC crew are all together.
They’re taking this descent at no great pace. I write that relatively, the Eurosport speedo is still showing the peloton coming down at 90kph. With little more than a lightweight helmet and a few millimetres of skinsuit to protect them it’s days like today where it takes a little bit of crazy to be a professional cyclist. No spills so far, mercifully.
We’ve got a group of 11 going over the top now. Bardet and both Yates brothers amongst them. The peloton is a minute and a half down with Nibali’s Bahrain team pushing the pace.
Little over 1,200m before we get the first brave descenders. Be careful, guys.
Guy Hornsby emails: “Afternoon Tom. What a stage we should have in store today. I don’t seriously think Froome will lose enough time, but his form hasn’t been perfect either. There are so many in the mix for the top places on the classifications it should be a really frenetic end to proceedings. The Angliru is one of those climbs that seems to need a category all of it’s own, such is its brutality. I fancy Zakarin here as he needs to attack Kelderman, and Contador must have a dig, but it’ll be Sky trying to eliminate any threat. In summary: an absolute bunfight.”
Couldn’t agree more Guy. So much intrigue, you’ve got to doff your cap to ASO for designing a route that’s left so much on the table.
We might well see some GC action when the peloton reaches the top of this climb. The break are about 2.3km off the crest and the 10km that follows are bound to be dramatic, especially with the streams of rain running down the tarmac. Hopefully they can all make it down in one piece, it would be a shame to see this decided by a crash.
Updated
at 3.41pm BST
The leaders have got about 20 seconds on the rest of the initial break now. It’s Mas, Polanc, Marc Soler (Movistar), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto Soudal), Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb) up the road at the moment.
This looks like a thoroughly miserable day to be on your bike. The rain is all over the TV camera lens and the backdrop is essentially just a big grey blur as the two riders off the front are joined by a few others to create a mini-group. More are trying to bridge over and frankly it’s a bit of a mess.
We’ve got a couple of darters off the front of break. Looks like Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) and Jan Polanc (Lotto Soudal) are having a go.
Updated
at 3.14pm BST
The hurt begins soon for the breakaway. In about three kilometres they’ll hit the steeper 18% gradients of the Cobertoria and we’ll start to see who has the legs. For now the peloton are being held at one minute and 20 seconds but that is bound to change.
Updated
at 3.04pm BST
If you’re a lat arrival to this year’s Vuelta don’t worry. Here is a little bit context in terms of what this stage means for Froome and, more generally, the race from William Fotheringham:
The first group are starting to hit the incline of the Alto de la Cobertoria. It starts off relatively gently before kicking up (don’t they all?) but let’s be honest this is merely a starter for what is to come later. The great shame of this year’s Vuelta has been the dreary weather, what should be a stunning backdrop has instead been just a bit soggy. Half the joy of a day plonked on the sofa watching a mountain stage is the visual feast on display. Sadly today is following that damp pattern.
Updated
at 3.11pm BST
There is more than just the GC up in the air today. Astana have jumped to the front of the peloton and it is not because Fabio Aru thinks he can overhaul his six-minute deficit on Froome. Miguel Ángel López trails Davide Villella (Cannondale–Drapac) in the king of mountains classification by 20 points and there are more than enough on offer today to see that change.
Updated
at 2.35pm BST
Trek are clearly not happy with the strength of this break. Contador’s boys are beavering away to reel in the group out in front to bring it back. The gap is less than a minute now and they are barely halfway to Alto de la Cobertoria, that’s the first climb of the day – a casual category one at 8.6%.
That break is now over a minute and looks a little more settled. Per the updated list below both Yates brothers are in the 18, as is Nicolas Roche and Romain Bardet. With Alberto Contador seeking to delight the home fans with a final stage win Trek-Segafredo are currently doing Froome’s work for him on the front of the main bunch.
Here’s that full list of breakaway riders: Julian Alaphilippe, Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors), Nicolas Roche (BMC), Adam Yates, Simon Yates (Orica-Scott), Nelson Oliveira, Marc Soler (Movistar), Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Rui Costa, Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto-Soudal), Tobias Ludvigsson (FDJ), Igor Antón (Dimension Data), Lluis Mas, Jaime Roson (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport).
Updated
at 2.19pm BST
Dimension Data have helpfully shared today’s stage profile so you can try and get an idea of the peloton is dealing with. The Angliru tops out at 23.5%, rather them than me.
We have a breakaway but it’s struggling to get clear. It’s a strong group but they have not yet established a decisive gap, just 53 seconds, and others are still trying to jump across. So far the company is: Enric Mas (Quick Step), Simon Yates (Orica-Scott), Marc Soler (Movistar Team), Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb), Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Tomasz Marczynski (Lotto-Soudal), Tobias Ludvigsson (FDJ), Lluis Mas (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA).
Updated
at 2.18pm BST
Preamble
So this is it for Chris Froome. A six year wait to get over the Alto de l’Angliru and shed the mental baggage of the great missed opportunity of 2011. Survive this day with his lead intact and Froome becomes the first man since Bernard Hinault in 1978 to win a Tour-Vuelta double.
It would be some feat for a cyclist who has already achieved so much to secure the Vuelta title on the Angliru. This cruel mountain was the site of one trough in what has largely been a succession of peaks in Froome’s career. Six years ago Froome arrived at the Vuelta as an unknown domestique riding in support of Bradley Wiggins and although Team Sky’s leader that year would go on to win the 2012 Tour, Froome should have been the first grand tour winner for Dave Brailsford’s bold new vision of professional cycling. Held on the leash by Wiggins for too long, Froome emerged as Sky’s leader on the road in 2011 and was frustrated at having to watch Juan José Cobo disappear up the hill and take the red jersey with him.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Madrid procession, now it is in Froome’s hands. With one minute and 37 seconds on Vincenzo Nibali and over two on Wilco Kelderman in third surely only an implosion can deny the Sky rider now.
The race has been underway for little under half an hour but no break is yet to stick so all the action is in front of us. Let’s see what unfolds, it should be fun.
Here is the general classification top 10 ahead of stage 20:
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 75:51:51
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida +0:01:37
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb +0:02:17
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin +0:02:29
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo +0:03:34
6 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team +0:05:16
7 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac +0:06:33
8 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team same time
9 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky +0:06:47
10 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo +0:10:26
Updated
at 1.57pm BST