The first rest day at the Vuelta a España saw the entire caravan make the long transfer from Spain’s deep south all the way across the country to Galicia in its north-western corner, but there is no gentle reintroduction when the racing resumes on stage 10.
The pressure is high among the GC rivals and the 160km leg from Ponteareas to Baiona is a potentially explosive one. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) heads into the second week of racing in red, with a 3:53 lead on his nearest rival, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and the boost of having taken four bonus seconds in the sprint for fourth on stage 9.
It’s a lead in that in not only is that likely to inspire those who may have previously thought they were out of the overall running but the stage after a rest day always has the potential to be unpredictable. Some riders can flourish after the change of routine while others flounder and this time the course isn’t exactly kind to those on a bad day.
Stage 10 climbs
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