In another brutal mountain top finish, it was IAM rider Mathias Frank, the 29 year old Swiss, who took the stage win today. But the real action was happening further down the mountain as Chaves, Quintana and Contador broke away from Froome a couple of km from the finish.
Froome did what he does best: put his head down and paced himself back to join the trio that were threatening spoil his chances of winning the red jersey. He eventually recorded the same time as his main adversary...
Read MoreThe breakaway was caught in good time, there were lead out trains in the final kilometres, a recognised sprinter won the stage and there was no change to the GC standings. What? Unusually for this year's Vuelta we had a more conventional Grand Tour Stage today after some brutally hard climbing in the mountainous North of Spain and Southern France.
With temperatures as high as 45 degrees, the peloton still had to work hard to finish. The day began with some controversy after more than 90 riders who missed yesterday's time cut were allowed to continue...
Read MoreJeremy Vine, the Radio 2 and Crimewatch presenter, took to Twitter and Facebook last week with a video he recorded of a driver who threatened him while he cycled into work through the streets of Kensington. The Evening Standard reported today that the woman who tailgated and shouted abuse at him has been arrested on suspicion of common assault.
While many of us have been in a similar situation with aggressive drivers on the streets of London, it seems that this driver picked on the wrong cyclist.
Read MoreIn a dramatic day of racing at the Vuelta Nairo Quintana stretched his lead over Chris Froome to over three and a half minutes today. In a Movistar masterstroke, the little Colombian broke away with his team mates from the peloton early in the stage with the help of Gianluca Brambilla and Alberto Contador who also gained valuable time at the end of the day.
Froome was left floundering as his Sky domestiques were nowhere to be seen. Isolated, and in the chasing group, Froome was never going to catch up the red jersey and his old adversary,..
Read MoreDutchman Robert Gesink of Lotto Jumbo rode with grit and determination to win on the Aubisque today. A large, gangly frame didn't deter him from sticking it out on the long climb to the finish.
Simon Yates rode a blinder of a race with the help of his Orica Bike Exchange team mates who had put 3 men in the breakaway. Yates used them brilliantly to bridge the gap between the peloton and the front end of the race...
Read MoreOn the longest stage of this year's Vuelta, some 213 km, the peloton sat back and let the breakaway escape. Tired legs and the prospect of a weekend of brutal climbing ahead meant the GC contenders were happy to stay back while the real bike racing went on nearly 35 minutes up the road.
The lack of action in the main field led many commentators' thoughts turn to their stomachs. Our favourites, Carlton Kirby and Sean Kelly spent some time reflecting on last night's cheese and wine dinner, ruminating on the French habit of combining ham, cheese and jam into the same sandwich and urging Juan Antonio Flecha to fire up the BBQ to prepare the crew's tapas.
Read MoreYou'd be forgiven for thinking that today's stage was an easy one for the GC riders: at the end of the day the top ten remain exactly the same. But this is La Vuelta, remember? And those Vuelta organisers love chucking in a cheeky climb at the end of a stage to spice things up. That and the fact that a strong breakaway including the likes of Simon Yates involved, meant the big boys had to work hard to reel it in.
The finish was actually a flat one, but not before a steep climb on the outskirts of Bilbao smashed apart the organisation of most of the big teams...
Read MoreChris Froome put in another fabulous ride up the Pena Cabarga to snatch the stage victory away from Nairo Quintana today. The Colombian who still retains the red jersey made an attack a couple of km from the summit. The select group he broke away from, most notably Valverde and Contador, were unable to follow, apart from Froome who was able to hold onto the Movistar rider's wheel.
Froome launched an attack of his own which Quintana followed. There ensued a bit of cat and mouse as the pair vied for position a few hundred metres from the finish...
Read MoreThe climb to Lagos de Covadonga has a special place in La Vuelta's history. Famously, in 1985, a group of Spanish riders teamed up against Robert Millar on this deceptive mountain with steep sections mixed up with flatter gradients that make for a tactical race to its peak. That year Pedro Delgado was the winner, but Millar came back to grab a stage victory here the following year. The Covadonga is to the Spanish, their Tourmalet or Alpe d'Huez.
This year it was Nairo Quintana who showed great form...
Read MoreAnother day and yet another wearer of the red jersey! The excitement continued at the Vuelta on a tough stage with several climbs and another steep finish. Spanish rider David De la Cruz found himself in the breakaway and went for it on the final climb. He looked surprised that his final effort dropped Belgian, Devenyns, the only man who had been able to stay with him.
The main GC field came in over two and half minutes behind the Etixx Quickstep rider, meaning that we have a Spaniard wearing the red jersey again today. De la Cruz’s stage and overall lead in the GC was against all predictions.
Read MoreThe Mirador: it was always going to be a big test with an average gradient of 20% and some of the hairpin turns even steeper than that. It had looked likely that the GC placings would be different at the end of the day. But before they got to this crazy climb the peloton had to endure 170km of pan flat roads across the Spanish countryside.
Someone tweeted last week that this Vuelta is a bit like putting a group of adolescent teenagers in charge of a Grand Tour. The result has been some dramatic stages with breakaway wins and the red jersey passed round a number of riders already. We’re loving it!
Read MoreMore drama at the Vuelta yesterday as Alberto Contador crashed in the last few hundred metres leaving him with injuries down the left side of his body, including on his calf. Visibly angry, he complained that he had been cut off by a rider in front, despite being well placed.
With few sprinters in the race the GC contenders are skittish in these sprint finishes, desperate not to lose any time. Unlike the Tour de France they’re positioning themselves near the front when normally they would hold back and let the lead out trains and their sprinters take over.
Read MoreAt Ride Velo we thought we’d covered most activities to do with cycling: vintage events, track cycling, cyclo cross, city crits, bike polo and the Grand Tours to name but a few. But this is the first time we’d come across Bicycle Ballet!
The Bicycle Ballet company creates exhilarating outdoor dance performances on bikes, exploring the joyful highs and gritty lows of cycling. The choreographies fuse dance and physical theatre with visual spectacle, comedy and striking soundtracks. But, at its heart, its all about the bike.
Read MoreIt was a tough day for the peloton with some aggressive riding over undulating terrain and some decent climbs. The weather has taken a turn for the better after yesterday's rain and chilly temperatures.The overall GC standings remain unchanged with Darwin Atapuma retaining the red jersey. Three British riders are in the top 10 for GC at this year's Vuelta.
Yates's victory was clearly a popular one among his teammates with Esteban Chaves being one of the first to congratulate him. Yates has felt hard done by for having to serve a ban after his team, Orica Bike Exchange failed to provide a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for taking the drug that led to his earlier disqualification.
Read MoreAfter the sweltering heat of the first few days, rain and cooler temperatures saw the riders donning rain jackets and arm warmers on Stage 5. A half-hearted breakaway of only two riders, Tiago Machado and Julien Morice, was caught 14 km from the finish by the peloton looking for a sprint finish.
But the main talking point of the day was a big crash caused by a metre high pole on the left hand side of the road 2.5km from the finish. It took out luckless Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk who suffered a broken collarbone as result, putting him out of the race. Earlier this year he crashed in the Giro and off the podium with a disappointing fourth place.
Read MoreThis year's Vuelta continues to entertain, surprise and wow spectators and audiences. The peloton rolled through more spectacular Spanish countryside in the verdant north. Congratulations to Lilian Calmejane for pulling off his first stage win in a Grand Tour. He rode with great strength as well tactical nous, again highlighting the strength and depth of young talent emerging from France.
Movistar played a cool game today. Although they lost the red jersey, they seemed content to play it out for the long game. They're looking to take the red to Madrid rather than hustle over it in these early stages. Darwin Atapuma takes the honour of being race leader over Valverde by 29 seconds. He's one of three Colombians in the top five, along with Esteban Chaves and Nairo Quintana - surely one of the top nations in road cycling at the moment.
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French rider Alexandre Geniez of FDJ won today's stage, an absolute classic full of suffering, a brutal climb at the finish, a breakaway win and a Spaniard, Ruben Fernandez of Movistar, in the red jersey. That, and time gaps opening up between some of the GC contenders. Yes, the Vuelta is in full swing already - the sprinters had their chance yesterday, but now we're into the fun stuff already.
The climb to the top of the Mirador de Ézaro provided the drama we were all hoping for. It's only a couple of km long but with sections reportedly as steep as 30% it sorted out the men from the boys. At the steepest section the organisers had laid the road with concrete instead of tarmac to give the riders more grip. Crowds, up to 10 deep, lined the narrow road to the top.
Read MoreWe've enjoyed a fantastic couple of Olympic cycling weeks. But there's been a noticeable absence to date - the Slovakian World Champion, Peter Sagan.
One of the peloton's more colourful characters, Peter Sagan surprised some by announcing that he would not be competing on the road or the track in Rio. Instead, he's going back to his roots to race on a mountain bike.
Read MoreEmily Chappell - adventurer, author and ex-London cycle courier, was the first woman to finish the gruelling Transcontinental Bike Race No.4 after riding unsupported for 13 days 10 hours and 28 minutes.
Chappell had previously attempted the race in 2015 but had to pull out due to health issues. The route changes annually but is always a huge physical challenge with this year's course covering approximately 3,400 km with about 50,000 metres of climbing.
Incredibly, Chappell finished nearly two days ahead of her nearest female rival, Johanna Josten-Van Duinkerken. In last year's race only one woman made the finish line.
Read MoreMark Cavendish will be desperate to join his medal winning teammates on the GB track cycling team with a medal of his own in the second day of the Omnium today, a discipline consisting of six events held over two days.
Day one saw him achieve mixed and, at times, frustrating results. First up was the scratch race where all 18 riders line up for a 15km, straight up, first over the line event. Cav came a creditable sixth.
Next up was the individual pursuit where he recorded a blistering 4min 14.982sec, the second fastest time, and marking him out as a strong medal contender.
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