After the rest day comes a hilly stage through Castilla-La Mancha with a tough uphill finish.
Fresh legs after the rest day meet a rolling route through inland Castilla-La Mancha. The Puerto de Socovos, twenty kilometres from the finish, sharpens the remaining favourites early.
The finish in Elche de la Sierra tilts uphill, demanding perfect teamwork from the sprint trains — or opening the door for a strong attacker.
On his first day in red, Enric Mas did more than just defend it: he attacked twice on the Alto de Aitana, dropped Primož Roglič and outsprinted Oscar Onley — his first Grand Tour stage win in four years. Roglič finished third. With bonus seconds added, the Vuelta heads into the rest day with Mas 1:18 clear of Roglič and 1:39 clear of Felix Gall, while Santiago Buitrago, out of the early breakaway, takes over the mountains jersey. The full story of stage 9, plus a look ahead to the rest day and week 2.
After the shock of Pogačar's crash, the Vuelta heads into the Andalusian mountains for its first rest day on Sunday. Week 2 holds off on a summit finish until stage 12, but then delivers a one-two punch: the Alto de Velefique followed by the climb to the Calar Alto observatory, and three days later the feared Sierra de la Pandera. Everything you need to know about stages 10 through 15.
Stage 10's hilly finish in Elche de la Sierra turned into one of the most chaotic sprints of this Vuelta: the early breakaway was reeled in inside the final 35 kilometres, late attacks from Yevgeniy Fedorov and Xabier Mikel Azparren were caught with only metres to go, and it was Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ) who surged through for his first-ever Grand Tour stage win, ahead of Magnus Cort, Thibau Nys and a beaten Wout van Aert. Enric Mas came home safely in the bunch to keep his red jersey, still 1:18 clear of Primož Roglič and 1:39 clear of Felix Gall. The full story of stage 10, the GC after ten stages, and a look ahead to the sprinters' last chance in Lorca.