Welcome to live coverage of stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana, the longest stage of the race with a 204.5km largely flat run from Aguilar de Campoo to Valladolid that has John Degenkolb's name written all over it.

"This win is for Wouter Weylandt, who last won here four years ago." Classy touch from Daniele Bennati there.

It was all in the bike throw - the Italian kept on pedalling and then pushed forward over the line. Experience wins the day as Swift is denied by the veteran sprinter. Allan Davis takes third.

From above it looks like Swift has it but then Bennati comes though fast at the end and takes the win!

Degenkolb is totally out of it, way off the pace. Swift looks strong but Bennati is coming back... PHOTO FINISH!

Ian Stannard, the British national champion, leads the peloton around the final tight 90-degree bend...

GreenEdge come forward for their man Allan Davis. We haven't had one of these bunch sprints for what seems like an eternity!

Still Sky setting the tempo with 2km to go. Argos are quite far back, but are easing their way up alongside Liquigas.

Daniele Bennati (RadioShack), Elia Viviani (Liquigas) and Ben Swift (Sky) are all without a win - as are their teams... They will do their best to beat John Degenkolb (Argos Shimano) today, who has already won four.

The peloton is strung out incredibly now: from above it's about 400m long! We just had the second intermediate sprint, which was won by Angel Vicioso of Katusha ahead of Robert Gesink of Rabobank. No change in the green jersey standings.

Sky are back on the front. This is a very fast approach to Valladolid.

To beat someone like Degenkolb, Swift really needs a strong lead out. Perhaps today's the day. Now Rabobank come forward - they have Lars Boom and Matti Breschel.

The peloton has split into two, with a group of around 30 riders strung out in pursuit of a densely-packed leading group. Team Sky are driving the pace. They want a win for Ben Swift and have six riders on the front.

These vast open desert-like plains are more reminiscent of the Vueltas we used to see. It has to be said, the organisers did a crackign job with the route this year - both with the challenging nature of the parcours, but also the scenary.

It looks fairly nervous on the front of the peloton as they pass under the 15-to-go banner. They're on a large exposed plain but wind is not an issue. Green jersey Joaquim Rodriguez was riding on the front just now, but has eased off, alllowing Rabobank through.

News has come in that RadioShack's Linus Gerdemann was forced to abandon after that crash.

Astana's Andrey Kashechkin is on the front of the pack for a slight rise - for no obvious reason. When he peels off, he almost takes out Uzbek champion Sergey Lagutin of Vacansoleil.

The five escapees seem to have sat up. RadioShack are fronting the peloton, with Movistar and Liquigas right there too. Keizer seems to be the last rider to give in: the Dutchman tries to pull out a lead in front, solo, but then calls it a day.

Gatis Smukulis is setting the pace for the five leaders, with Luis Angel Mate right in his wheel. Gustavo Cesar counter attacks from the back - but all this nervous attacking is very futile. The bunch is riding at 20 seconds and their time out ahead is coming to an end.

The breakaway riders are beginning to look at each other and put in attacks as their lead comes crashing down. It's less than 30 seconds now. Martijn Keizer responds to an acceleration by Bookwalter and has a pop off the front, but he's reeled in.

Team Sky are beginning to come to the fore. Remember, they have Ben Swift - and given Chris Froome's fall down the GC, they can put all their eggs in Swift's basket today. Sky are, of course, still looking for their first stage win in the 2012 Vuelta...