Hello welcome to coverage of stage nine of the Vuelta a Espana, a 187.7 km undulating ride from Calpe to Alcoy.

Overall standings: 1 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 37:56:42, 2 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha, 3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo 0:00:02, 4 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervélo Test Team 0:00:42, 5 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:52.

Stage result: 1 David Lopez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 5:20:50, 2 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:00:06, 3 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha 0:00:13, 4 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, le crédit en ligne 0:00:21, 5 Blel Kadri (Fra) Ag2R-La Mondiale 0:00:27, 6 Egoï Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:00:30, 7 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:00:55.

Rodriguez leads the peloton over the line at 7:02 from winner Lopez with Anton right on his wheel. No change in the overall standings - although Peraud will leap into the top five with his performance today.

It looks like Anton will hold onto the red jersey, although Joachim Rodriguez is trying his luck as the peloton heads home...

Jean-Christophe Peraud crosses the line 54 seconds down. Will it be enough to take the red jersey tonight?

David Lopez (Caisse d'Epargne) takes the victory with Roman Kreuziger taking second place seven seconds down. Gianpaolo Caruso takes third.

Caruso is leading the charge, but it won't be enough, surely...

Lopez crosses the one-to-go banner. Looks like victory is his.

Kreuziger now riding hard to catch Lopez. Caruso and Moncoutie are there too.

The lead is getting bigger as the four chasers struggle to peg back Lopez. It's 20 seconds now.

Lopez has a reasonable gap of 12 seconds now. He's looking very strong.

It's going to be an exciting finish. Lopez is out in front at the moment after digging deep. There's a rise at the finish today so that will make it tough.

Caruso takes the points at the summit of the Alto del Revolcat ahead of Moncoutie (who will top the mountains standings tonight) and Kreuziger.

CORRECTION: That time check was wrong: Peraud is just 34 seconds down and so, with the peloton at 8:17, he could still take the red jersey.

Peraud is now 2:31 back from the leaders so it looks like there's no chance he'll be in red tonight.

The Kreuziger trio has caught up with the two leaders.

Pujol and Peraud are behind the trio of Caruso, Martinez and Kreuziger. Moncoutie and Lopez are out in front. Each group is about 20 seconds apart. The peloton are at 8:20.

Moncoutie is in pursuit of Lopez with Martinez and Kreuziger in a trio behind.

Rabunel has been dropped right away as the leaders hit a small rise ahead of the third category Alto del Revolcat. Caisse d'Epargne's David Lopez has opened up a small gap.

The lead is down to 8:10 so it's going to be tricky for Peraud, who needs a 7:00 advantage to move into the red jersey.