It was a hot, hot day. And the guys were out in the heat for a long, long time as a headwind and a slow speed in the main group meant that they were way behind schedule for finishing the stage. But the sprint finish happened and Elia Viviani brought yet another victory to Quick-Step Floors with a masterful sprint, leaving Giacomo Nizzoli (Trek-Segafredo) and the rainbow-striped Peter Sagan in his jet stream. No change in the GC placings.

Rider of the Race

It was Elia Viviani‘s first-ever stage win in the Vuelta and it was a lovely win for the Italian champion. If I counted it up right, this was his 13th individual win of the season. But I doubt that he’s done yet.

 

Tomorrow might hurt

It’s an uphill finish … Tomorrow’s stage has two mighty long climbs. The Alto de la Cabra Montes, 15.7km long with an average gradient of 5.9% and the 12.4km climb at the finish, with a average gradient of 5.4%. That average however is made up of a lot of sharp-shallow-sharp-shallow gradients, making it tricky to get a rhythm going.

 

Stage results

1 Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) 4:48:12

2 Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo) same time

3 Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) s/t

4 Nacer Bouhannni (Cofidis) s/t

5 Simone Consonni (UAE) s/t

GC standings

1 Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky) 9:10:52

2 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +0.14

3 Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) +0.25

4 Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) +0.28

5 Jon Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) +0.30

6 Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) +0.30

7 Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) +0.32

8 Tony Gallopin (Ag2r La Mondiale) +0.33

9 Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +0.33

10 Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) +0.35

All the jerseys

Leader’s jersey: Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky)

Points jersey: Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky)

Climber’s jersey: Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis)

Combined jersey: Michal Kwiatkowski (Sky)

Team classification: Team Sky 

Official Vuelta website is here;  Full stage review from cyclingnews