Hola and welcome to live coverage of Stage 10 of La Vuelta - a 164.5km ride from Caravaca Ano Jubilar to ElPozo Alimentacion. After a weekend of being entertained by Tom Owen, you have Felix Lowe - aka Blazin' Saddles - back in the hotseat for your live updates. My apologies about that (I know that Tom put me in the shade, to I'll have to up my game...). You can follow me on Twitter @saddleblaze to enhance your live interactive experience. Right, let's get going!

Vuelta a España

Stage 10 | Semi mountain | Men | 29.08.2017

Completed

Caravaca de la CruzAlhama de Murcia

J. Janse Van Rensburg

RSA

Live

Live Updates

ByThe Editorial Team

Updated 29/08/2017 at 15:09 GMT

All
Highlights

16:07

Confirmation that Nico Roche draws level with Estaban Chaves - both are now 36 seconds down on the race leader Chris Froome, with Vincenzo Nibali and Tejay Van Garderen completing the top five. A coup there for Roche, who puts 29 seconds into his rivals.

0km

Chris Froome and his main rivals come over the line in a large pack around 4:32 down on the stage winner. There will be no big change in the overall standings - although Nicolas Roche (BMC) did manage to open up a gap and take 29 seconds back, so the Irishman will consolidate his third place on GC while moving closer to Chaves.

0km

Geniez and Soler come home about 58 seconds down, while De Marchi and Sanchez cross the line 2:35 down - or around there.

0km

Second place for Jose Joaquin Rojas of Movistar, while Spain's Jaime Roson (Caja-Rural) bangs his handlebars in frustration when he passes over to take third place ahead of Jacques Janse van Rensberg of Dimension Data, some 16 seconds down.

0km

Victory for Matteo Trentin of Quick-Step Floors - his second of the race. The Italian was way too strong and Rojas didn't stand a chance.

1km

Under the banner for the two leaders, who will contest this win: both are second-tier sprinters, but Trentin's career is in the ascendency while Rojas is very much the grizzled veteran.

3km

The road flattens out for the two leaders, who have 25 seconds over Van Rensberg and Roson and 45 seconds over Geniez and Soler. The pack are still four minutes back.

4km

Rojas has finished third in a Vuelta stage before but never first or second; that could well change today. Geniez and Soler chase, with the Frenchman still unclipping on most of the corners - a tactic that is as disconcerting as it looks.

6km

The sun has really come out now as the leaders approach the finish of this descent and finally break through the trees and the monotony of those tightly packed bends. Trentin and Rojas have emerged as the leaders, so it looks like it's going to be a two-way sprint between them for the win.

9km

Nico Roche now rides on the front of the group of favourites on this interminable descent. They trail the leaders by 4:10.

11km

Van Rensberg is returning to the leaders after being dropped. Nibali has been caught by Chaves, Roche, Froome and some others.

13km

There are lots of patches of soggy dirt on this descent - and while it's not raining still, there are bits of wet road. Nibali is about to be joined by some others.

14km

Nibali has a small gap on Froome and his rivals, but there are so many hairpins that it's hard for him to open up any significant gap. Meanwhile, Trentin is with Rojas and Roson on a little kicker that breaks up this descent; behind, Soler and Geniez are in pursuit. No sign of Van Rensberg for now.

16km

It's hard to know what's going on in this descent because the motorbikes have to get out of the way on the narrow, twisting roads, while the trees obscure most of the action from above... Nibali is, however, throwing down the hammer, it seems.

18km

Matteo Trentin leads now, the Italian proving his descending skills. He could be en route to a second win on this Vuelta...

19km

Someone is going to come off on this descent: fact.

20km

Now Nibali attacks! The Sardinian ups the tempo from the pack and manages to whittle down the pack. But Froome, Contador and Chaves are all still there as they go over the top while picking up some of the remaining escapees...

21km

Pellizotti paces Nibali up the climb on the front ahead of a mass of Sky riders. Meanwhile, Geniez is forced to upclip his left foot to steady himself on a tight bend. The Frenchman is a former cyclocross rider and often uses this tactic when struggling to make a turn.

22.5km

Rojas takes maximum points ahead of Trentin, Roson and Van Rensberg. Geniez and Soler are the next to pass over, but the cameras may have missed De Marchi. They now begin this challenging descent.

23km

Matteo Trentin ups the tempo from the break as he zips up his green jersey ahead of the summit. He has Roson, Rojas and Van Rensberg with him and they still have 25 seconds to play with over De Marchi. The pack are at 4:45 now.

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