Jay Vine wins Vuelta a Espana Stage 10 at Larra Belagua as Vingegaard takes red -

How the stage unfolded

The racing was ferocious from kilometre zero. The first hour covered more than 50 kilometres as attacks surged without sticking. A crash involving a dozen riders disrupted the rhythm, forcing Raul García Pierna out of the race, while Mads Pedersen, in the green jersey, was heavily involved in the breakaway fight. Time and again, small groups went clear only to be reeled back as Bahrain Victorious kept the tempo high in defence of Træen’s fragile 37-second lead.

A sizeable move eventually snapped the elastic after nearly 65 kilometres. It featured riders with intent: Jay Vine and Mikkel Bjerg for UAE, Javier Romo and Pablo Castrillo for Movistar, Julien Bernard for Lidl-Trek, Archie Ryan for EF Education-EasyPost, Nicola Conci for Astana, Michal Kwiatkowski for Ineos, Rudy Molard for Groupama-FDJ, and Alec Segaert for Lotto among others. Their margin never grew far beyond three minutes, but the composition promised a fight for the stage.

On the penultimate climb, the Alto de las Coronas, Romo went clear, cresting alone ahead of Vine and Castrillo. The Spaniard briefly held 20 seconds before being joined by a select chase group. Bernard, Ryan, Azparren and Conci contributed, but Vine always looked the calmest, controlling every surge and refusing to overextend. Castrillo meanwhile, showed ambition, explaining at the start that racing on home roads carried extra motivation: “Being at home, you want to do well. The team is from here. There’s pressure every day, but here it pushes you to do your best.”

Through the intermediate sprint in Isaba, Bernard collected maximum points, and immediately Segaert countered, his rouleur power buying him almost 40 seconds. With 20 kilometres to go he hit the lower slopes of the Puerto de Belagua alone, but the illusion did not last. The chase was disjointed until Vine put his foot down, reeling him in as gradients bit.

As the final 9.4-kilometre ascent began, riders peeled away under the pressure. Balderstone, Vermaerke and Azparren were first to go. Romo tried again with eight kilometres remaining, Vine glued to his wheel. Moments later, Castrillo countered, forcing the others onto the ropes. Yet when Vine struck with five to go, it was decisive. Castrillo hung within 20 seconds, body rocking side to side, but the gap refused to close. Vine never looked back, climbing in perfect rhythm to claim victory.

Behind, the general classification battle sparked. UAE fired first, Ayuso stringing the peloton before handing over to Almeida. His accelerations cut the group to fewer than 15. Ciccone, Hindley and Pellizzari faltered; Jorgenson tried to settle things, but Almeida kicked again and again. Vingegaard was always there, Pidcock sharp too, while Træen cracked definitively inside the final three kilometres. He crossed more than two minutes adrift, conceding the race lead to Vingegaard, who took La Roja without needing to attack himself.

As Vine zipped up his polka dot jersey in celebration, he confirmed himself as one of the finest climbers in this race. For UAE it marked a fourth stage victory of this Vuelta, and for Vine personally, a statement ride that combined patience in the break with ruthlessness on the final climb. Overall, the day underlined the growing dominance of Vingegaard, whose calm presence behind Almeida’s fireworks was enough to end Træen’s brave spell in red.