Welcome to live coverage of stage 20 of the Vuelta a Espana - a second day in the Basque Country with a 185km lumpy ride from Bilbao to Vitoria.

The gap is down to just under a minute with the final climb approaching.

Jan Bakelants tries to break clear of his fellow escapees after the second intermediate sprint, but the Belgian is not let off the leash. Results of that sprint: coming up.

The leaders are approaching the second intermediate sprint. /// "kjellerikselen" thinks that Amets Txurruka is the man to watch today - what a story that would make: two wins in two for Euskaltel over the Basque roads.

Order over the Alto de Kanpazar: 1. Manuele Mori, 2. Keon de Kort, 3. Amets Txurruka. So, that's a clean sweep so far for Lampre's Mori - the Italian has clearly set himself some targets today. Although it won't be enough for him to feature in the KOM competition: unless something rather drastic happens over the next 30km, Frenchman David Moncoutie is assured a fourth consecutive KOM title.

The 26 leaders are onto the Cat.3 Alto de Kanpazar with a lead of 2:05 and in stiffling temperatures of 35 degrees.

Chris Froome spoke out of his admiration for the Basque fans yesterday: "I love the support and the passion in the Basque Country. It is very good for cycling and it would be nice to see more races here." Regarding his hopes of taking the red jersey, he didn't seem to confident: "I'll try not to have any problems and see if there is a chance to win, but I doubt it."

The riders pass through the feeding zone. The gap is still around two minutes.

Juan Jose Cobo is in touching distance of winning this Vuelta, but there's still a lot to be done. "Froome is my big rival," the Spaniard said, "but he's not the only one. And 13 seconds is hardly a huge margin. A technical problem at the wrong moment could cause everything to go wrong. We'll have to see how Sky plan the last two stages, I imagine they will go on fighting. The [Cat.1] Urkiola is very tough and I am sure that will be a key moment. I won't breathe easy till Madrid."

So, who do you think will win today's stage? Will this break stick? Will there be a counter attack? Do Sky have any chance whatsoever of getting their man Chris Froome into the red jersey? Have your say below in the comment box...

The lead has dropped below the two-minute mark. HTC's Leigh Howard is struggling to keep up with the other escapees on this long uphill drag towards the feeding zone. RadioShack have joined Omega Pharma-Lotto on the front of the bunch: both teams are without a win in this year's race, although Lotto do have one rider in the break - Jan Bakelants.

The second hour of racing today had an average speed of 40.7km/h. If you thought yesterday's crowds in Bilbao were extraordinary, just wait until tonight, when the stage finishes in the Basque capital of Vitoria. The Vuelta hasn't come here since 1972... the same year as the Watergate Scandal in the USA!

Lastras and Carrera pull out a little gap on the front during the descent - the Movistar veteran has no fear whatsoever on this type of terrain. The gap is up to 4:10 as Slovakian sensation Peter Sagan (Liquigas) picks up a puncture in the peloton.

It's hard to imagine just how stage 19 of the Vuelta could have gone any better for the Basque Country on its return to the race after a 33-year exile. Save Miguel Indurain coming out of retirement to take second-place in front of a traditional txistu ensemble fronted by Iban Mayo, Joseba Beloki and David Etxeberria, while Vuelta director Abraham Olano performed a dance wearing nothing but a black Basque-style beret on hearing news of the quashing of all on-going cases against Igor Astarloa...

Order over the top of the Aldo de Elosua: 1. Mori, 2. Righu, 3. Lastras, 4. Barredo, 5. Txurruka. So, it's a Lampre one-two over the top, with the peloton 3:30 down on the leaders. It's getting hotter too: almost 34 degrees now.

Cataldo was swept up by the peloton just before this Cat.1 climb. The lead has dropped to 2:30.

After a quick descent, the leaders are now onto the next climb: the Cat.1 Alto de Elosua (7.3km at 7.6%). Omega Pharma-Lotto are on the front of the bunch, with the gap standing at 3:10.

Dario Cataldo is dropped on the Cat.2 climb and trails the leading 26-man group by 50 seconds over the summit of the climb, which is crossed by Manuele Mori, Koen de Kort and Amets Txurruka in that order. The peloton is three minutes down and the temperature is up to 31 degrees.

The leading group of 27 riders has a gap of 1:40 as they start the first climb of the day, the Cat.2 Alto de Karabieta.

At the first intermediate sprint, Nicolas Roche picks up maximum points ahead of Lastras and Txurukka. It's largely uncontested though.

A reminder that Spain's Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) leads the green jersey competition by a slender two points ahead of Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Rabobank). While in the KOM standings, David Moncoutie (Cofidis) leads Matteo Montaguti (Ag2R) by seven points. There are 28 points up for grabs today, but with that group out ahead, things look good for the veteran Frenchman, who should win a fourth successive polka dot jersey in Madrid now.

Irish rider Nicolas Roche (Ag2R) is the best-placed rider of the group, 10:31 down on red jersey Juan Jose Cobo in the GC.