Vuelta a España stage 19 LIVE: Enric Mas racing GC contenders up summit finish of Peñas Blancas

Dunbar is trying to chase Buitrago by himself, but still has ten seconds to make up as he goes under the flamme rouge.

In the peloton, EF’s Rodriguez has finished his long turn, but no attack has come yet from his teammate Carapaz.

Moments after that post, Buitrago attacked – and it’s a deadly one! He’s got a gap of ten seconds already, and looks very strong. Could this be the stage-winning move?

At the front, it’s still the same four riders together – Buitrago, Gloag, Berrade and Dunbar. None of them have attacked each other yet, but will have to soon as the summit nears.

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There are still about 20 riders in the peloton, but not among them is Skjelmose, who has just been dropped. He’s set to fall further down the GC, having dropped to eighth yesterday.

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Still no attacks from the peloton, but there is no a change at the front as EF take over. That suggests Carapaz is going to try something, having failed with an attack earlier.

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A change in the peloton, as Movistar take over from Red Bull. They still have two teammates (Garcia Pierna and Romeo) to work for Mas, with Castrillo also up the road in reserve.

Castrillo is also now losing ground to the leaders, and has been caught and passed by both Leknessund and Camprubí. His hopes of winning a stage are disappearing, so he may be called back by his team.

Red Bull still lead the peloton with numerous riders, but the pace isn’t especially high as reflected by the large number of riders still in the peloton.

The break is also managing to hold a big lead over them, with an advantage now over seven minutes. If it wasn’t already beyond doubt that they would contest the stage, it now surely is.

After a long turn from his teammate Miguel, Buitrago has attacked from the breakaway group. So far only two riders have gone with him – Gloag, and, a few bike-lengths behind, Dunbar.

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Molard has been brought back after his attack, and the break remains all together. That won’t last, once the gradient kicks up and the climb starts to get serious.

Meanwhile in the peloton, it’s still Red Bull leading, showing impressive strength in numbers.

The riders are onto the final climb of the day! It officially climbs at 6.5% for 18.8km, but that average gradient takes into account some much gentler segments – there actual climb is far harder than those stats make it sound. It’s long and enough and has sections that are steep enough to cause big time losses for anyone dropped early.

This is set to be a thrilling fight for the stage win, and a dramatic one in the race for GC.

The break have done a great job on this valley section, and increased their lead to over 6 and a half minutes. It does now look as though they will survive to fight for the stage win.

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The riders have reached the bottom of the downhill they’ve been descending, and now must ride about 20km of valley road before arriving at the foot of the final climb of Peñas Blancas.

The break’s lead has been held at 4:45, which is a healthy one, but not enough to guarantee that the stage winner will come from one of them.

Not fussed about the stage win, and instead focussed on defending the red jersey, Movistar are happy to set a light tempo and allow the break a big lead approaching five minutes.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Movistar have implemented the same plan that has served them so well since Enric Mas took the red jersey, putting Pablo Castrillo up the road as a satellite rider for later on. The remainder of their roster are setting the pace at the front of the peloton, with assistance from Onley’s Netompany Ineos team.

Mas and Movistar again look firmly in control, after a very successful time trial yesterday. Mas is clearly feeling very confident, and not holding back talking about what great shape he’s in.

Things have, at long last, settled down. Ever since bringing back the Carapaz chase group, the peloton has slowed down, allowing the lead group of 16 riders to build a lead of 2:30. We at last have a clear break of the day.

The problem is, they don’t have very long to build enough of a lead to hold off the chase from the peloton later on, with just 60km left to ride until arriving at the foot of the final climb. The break will have to work well to give themselves a chance of making it to the finish to contest for the stage win.

Richard Carapaz is at it again! The man in fourth-place on GC has used the descent of the climb to try and catch his rivals napping, and is part of small group that has a gap of a few seconds over the peloton. He’s 5:17 down on Mas, but not the kind of man he can afford to give too much leeway to.

Dunbar continues to lead the race over the top of the climb, and so takes the KOM points. Behind follows a chase group of about 20 riders, about 15 seconds behind, including Buitrago.

It’s looking more promising for that group to join up to Dunbar and (finally) form the break of the day, as the peloton is about a minute adrift. But things still haven’t settled, and more attacks come out of it as they near the summit.

We’re almost halfway into the stage, and the race has just all come back together! Numerous riders had joined the lead group, to swell it to about 20 riders, but Netcompany Ineos paced at the front of the peloton to bring it back. The peloton is much smaller now as a result of how high the pace has been, but as things stand, there is no breakaway group.

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This has been a truly relentless start to the stage, but there are signs, at last, that things might be about to calm down. For the first time all day, the peloton bunched up at the front, an indication that many are wanting to let the break go clear.

But there are still some unhappy and wanting to join the leaders up the road, and another flurry of attacks begins.

Leknessund led the lead group over the top of the climb, and since then they have been joined by a group of chasers. Briefly it looked as though Oscar Onley might be join, too, as he tried a cheeky attack, but the Brit (who is 5th on GC) did not manage to slip clear.

As they descend, the leaders are 20 seconds ahead of the peloton).

The constant action at the front of the peloton as more riders try to escape to join the break on the climb is keeping the lead group (picture below, although it’s now made up of seven riders, since Sütterlin was dropped) well within sight. They’re just a few seconds ahead, and the battle to form the break is far from over.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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The riders are on the Puerto de las Abejas, the first of the day’s three climbs. It’s not the hardest of the day, averaging just 4.3%, but its length of 14.6km will ensure that climbers who want to get into the break have a chance.

One such rider is Santiago Buitrago, who Pello Bilbao attempted to launch up the road, but he has managed to go clear of the peloton yet. As it stands, there are 30 seconds between them in the peloton and the seven leaders up the road.

This leading group of seven is working well together, and have built a lead of 47 – which must be the biggest gap any group has managed all day so far.

The action is still very on in the peloton, where the attacks keep coming, and promises to continue to do so when they reach the day’s first climb in just a few kilometres.

After 40km of attacking, this trio of Leknessund, Kruijswijk and Sütterlin is the first to manage to stay out for some time and build a promising lead. They’ve got 25 seconds as things stand.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Jasha Sütterlin, stage winner Andreas Leknessund and soon-to-retire Steven Kruijswijk are the latest to try an attack. It’s great to see the latter on the move and having some fun for himself, having done so much tireless work at the front of this Vuelta controlling the race for his Visma teammates Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan. What a story it would be if he could take a stage win on the last Grand Tour of his career.

Paul Double has abandoned the race. There’s been no crash we’re aware of, but the Brit has been struggling at this Vuelta, and was second-to-last at the bottom of the GC. Hard-going for a man whois primarily a climber.

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There have been plenty of attacks, but still nothing sticking, an 8-man group the latest to try to no avail. This looks set to go on for a while longer yet.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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Hannes Wilksch and Mats Wenzel were the latest to try a move, but, along with a flurry of poursuivants, have all be swept up back into the peloton.

The latter’s Equipo Kern Pharma is especially eager for some success today, given the doubt surrounding their future as they continue to seek a new sponsor.

And they’re off! The first third of this flat stage is flat, so it could take a while for a break to form. The riders best brace themselves for a long battle.

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The riders are in the neutralised zone, but one rider not among them is yesterday’s winner Stefan Küng. That victory made it mission accomplished at this Vuelta for the Swiss time trialist specialist, as well as delivering his Tudor team a second victory following Marco Brenner’s success – a fantastic return for one of the race’s smaller teams.