2016 Vuelta a España

['Dale]

The first climb of the day is the Alto de San Isidro and it seems that the worse conditions predicted by Sanchez are true. It's very cold on the descent of the San Isidro and fog. The visibility isn't too bad, so they should be ok going down it.

['Dale]

????????????

As the riders begin the San Isidro we've got news of another abandon. Tony Hurel of Direct Energie has called it a day following a crash on stage 5.

['Dale]

Almost five minutes separate the breakaway and the peloton after 50km of racing.

['Dale]

News in from the finish line and it is much cooler down in Oviedo as the race heads towards the sea. There's some fog about too and a little bit of drizzle, but not too much.

['Dale]

Movistar is very much in control today and they've brought the gap back to 4:36. Perhaps they want to keep this red jersey today, unlike earlier in the week.

['Dale]

KOM jersey

 

 

And here we have it, De Gendt takes the full five points at the top with Geniez taking three. That means they are equal on points with 13 each.

['Dale]

With the fog and drops of rain, the leaders are picking their way down this descent. It's a long one and the riders are not taking any risks.

['Dale]

With the caution up front, the gap is shrinking slowly...

['Dale]

????????????

 

Third rider of the day to climb off and finish their Vuelta early is Yoann Bagot of Cofidis. There are a lot of riders suffering out there with a very tough opening week behind them.

['Dale]

 

The fog has cleared further down the climb and the rain has stopped, which means nice dry roads for the riders. It's still pretty cold in comparison to much of the opening week.

['Dale]

The gap has stabalised around 4:10. Movistar won't be happy to give this move too much space with de la Cruz up the road.

['Dale]

The gap has stabalised around 4:10. Movistar won't be happy to give this move too much space with de la Cruz up the road.

['Dale]

71km remaining from 164.5km

 

This is a very long descent off the San Isidiro. It's effectively a 70km descent from the top. They are past the steepest section though as the

[HappyMartin]

Lots of little hills in the next 50km. This is going to hurt.

[Gen]

10 kms in and there's a break!

 

So here it is, the list of riders out front: Simon Clarke. (Cannondale-Drapac), Dylan Teuns (BMC), Alexandre Geniez (FDJ), Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale), De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), David de la Cruz (Etixx-QuickStep), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Moreno Moser (Cannondale-Drapac), Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling), Dries Devenyns (IAM Cycling), Bartosz Huzarski (Bora Argon 18), Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural).

LLS getting a lot of air time during the Vuelta

[Gen]

That's a rare thing hey Gen

 

Prob some sniffles from all the flying

Yip, hope it isn't too serious.