Hola and welcome to live coverage of Stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espana - and it's the first major mountaintop finale of the race. So far we've had some punchy hills to force a selection, but today's 187.5km ride from Lorca to Calar Alto culminates with two Cat.1 climbs and a finish at 2,120m that should sort out the red wheat from the chaff.

The peloton is around 30-strong now with numerous riders picking up some musettes and bidons ahead of the descent...

Atapuma has joined the leaders so we have five men out in front now - with a lead of 1'25" over the pack. Will it be enough? It's hard to tell. Someone like Bardet could add another minute on the descent, but will he be able to hold off the big-name riders once the floodgates open on the final climb? Doubtful, but not impossible.

Bardet's impetus is matched by Yates and the four leaders are back together - and combining stronger as a result. Their lead is up to 1'18" over the pack but Atapuma is closing in...

Luxembourg champion Bob Jungels is reeled in by the pack - how many times have I typed that sentence this month? Meanwhile, Bardet attacks on the front as Atapuma closes in...

The Manzana Postobon rider who edged ahead with Atapuma is Hernan Aguirre - so we have two Colombians in pursuit of the four leaders. And it is four, because Reyes and Anton have been dropped shortly after Visconti and Yates joined the party. The gap back to the pack is 55 seconds. Sky continue to regulate the pace.

Yates has picked up Visconti and the two riders are closing in on the four leaders. There's life in this break yet.

With the four leaders edging one minute ahead, Darwin Atapuma (UAE Team Emirates) attacks from the pack with one of the Manzana Postobon boys in pink.

Armee and Anton have managed to ride back onto the wheel of Bardet and Reyes, so we have four men out in front with 55 seconds over the pack. Visconti and Hofstede are about 25 seconds back, with Yates then riding between them and the peloton.

Team Sky are now on the front of the pack with four riders in black ahead of Froome in red. The pack is down to about 40 riders now. Meanwhile, on the front of the break, Bardet has ridden clear with Aldemar Reyes (Manzana Postobon), with Armee leading the chase and the others dropping back. The peloton is only 45 seconds behind the front of the race so it will probably come back together on this climb.

The first attack from the pack comes from Britain's Simon Yates of Orica-Scott, who zips clear. He had a bad couple of days over the weekend and is now more than 20 minutes down on GC. Orica starting to play out their plan...

Here's what the riders are tackling at the moment - and already we have loads of riders off the back of this break, which is down to just seven men now. Among those distanced are Matej Mohoric, winner in Stage 7 the other day.

The peloton is already splitting up on this climb as Orica-Scott continue to set a high tempo.

Right, we're onto the first categorised climb of the day, the Cat.1 Alto de Velefique (13.2km at 8.6%). Irishman Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport) is the first of the escapees to be distanced. At 6'8" he's the tallest rider in the pro peloton, I'll have you know, so it's no surprise he's struggling as the race heads up. The gap is down to 1'15" for the leaders, with Alessandro De Marchi chasing back on after picking up a puncture.

The road is already going uphill but the official start of this climb hasn't been triggered just yet...

Another image from the finish - this one 2km from the line, with the visibility low and the temperature down to 8C.

Some solid riders in this break beyond Messrs Anton and Bardet: Mohoric has already won a stage in this race, De Marchi and Pedrero have been on the offensive numerous times and Jungels is always an animator, albeit primarily during the month of May in the Giro. Despite the strong pedigree of this break, though, the gap is now down to 2'15". So it looks like it's curtains for them unless someone successfully counters on the first climb.

Things look pretty bleak at the finish at the Astronomical Observatory atop the Calar Alto - courtesy of this photo from a former Tour de France quasi-winner...

Some hefty pace-setting on the front of the pack from the Orica-Scott team of Estaban Chaves slashes the lead of the break by one minute. The Colombian is tied with Nico Roche (BMC) in second place in the general classifications, 36 seconds behind Froome.

The second-best placed rider in this break is Romain Bardet, who you may remember from his shocking time trial in Marseille last month in the Tour. The Frenchman held on to his place on the podium of the Tour by one slender second over Mikel Landa, and he rides two Grand Tours in the same season for the first time in his career. After a strong start, the Ag2R-La Mondiale climber fell off the radar towards the end of the opening week, and Bardet is currently 21'14" down on Froome on GC. Given his qualities as a rider and his unthreatening place to the red jersey, he's the out-and-out favourite for the win today, it seems.

The best placed rider in this break is Spaniard Igor Anton of Dimension Data, who is currently 5:54 down on red jersey Chris Froome. You may remember the Spanish veteran from the 2010 Vuelta when the Euskaltel rider was leading the race before crashing out in Stage 14 en route to Pena Carbaga. Anton, 34, has won four stages on the Vuelta but none since 2011.

So, that's it. Here we are now LIVE and the lead is 4'18" for the 14 leaders. A quick reminder of who they are: Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Antonio Pedrero (Movistar), Lennard Hofstede (Sunweb), Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale), Simon Clarke (Cannondale-Drapac), Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo), Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates), Sander Armée (Lotto Soudal), Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain-Merida), Igor Anton (Dimension Data), David Arroyo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport) and Aldemar Reyes (Manzana Postobon).