La Vuelta a Espana 2024 Stage 10 as it happens: Wout van Aert completes hat-trick of wins after breakaway glory

A touching moment between the green jersey and his son at the finish in Baiona today.

Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) survives another day in the red jersey as he finishes safely in the main pack to preserve his 3'53" lead over Primoz Roglic (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the general classification.

It was Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) who led the pack home for seventh place, with Spain's Txomin Narvaez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) taking sixth place at 5'13". He must have put in a late attack to steal back a few seconds on the rest.

Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) opened up the sprint for third but he went too early and allowed Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) to power through and hold off William Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step) for third place.

In the end, Frenchman Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) doesn’t even attempt to take on Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) as the Belgian kicks clear on the home straight to secure his third win of the race. He’s extended his lead in the green jersey standings while drawing level with Adam Yates in the KOM standings. A good day in the office.

Behind, Soler has thrown in the towel… which is understandable. Quentin Pacher then puts in a short-lived attempt to catch Van Aert out with 1.5km remaining – but the Belgian has that covered.

They’re back together as Pacher leads them under the flamme rouge with an optimistic flick of the elbow. Van Aert’s not that generous and stays rooted to the Frenchman’s wheel before his inevitable kick.

The German Juri Hollmann has joined Spain's Marc Soler and Belgium's William Junior Lecerf in what is now a chasing trio. But they're 1'50" back and so it's merely a battle for third place.

The danger is not over yet today with our two leaders currently negotiating a narrow, twisting, rough road towards the coastline ahead of the flat run into Baiona. I wouldn't want to ride that surface or gradient in a pack or riders, so perhaps we could see some movement behind from the GC riders when they come along... It's definitely potential ambush territory.

The two leaders are on a small hill - the last test today - ahead of the flat run into the finish. They have 1'30" now and it's very much in the pocket, as they say. But whose pocket - Van Aert's or Pacher's?

He surely has to go early but that would than compromise any faint chances he has of competing with Van Aert in a sprint. You really feel for him. They have 1’15” over the chasers, Soler and Lecerf, with the main field in deadlock at 5’10”.

Soler and Lecerf are now over a minute back and they know they've lost out on the chance of competing for the win. Pacher will try to do the impossible but the odds are stacked against him with Van Aert in the form he has.

The Spaniard has battled back on Lecerf's wheel but the chasing duo still trail the leading pair by 40 seconds and they won't make any in-roads on this descent.

The Belgian pockets another 10pts over the summit and that puts his day's haul up to 22pts, which levels Adam Yates's tally at the top of the KOM standings. Given he'll be in green tomorrow, Yates will still be in polka dots on Wednesday. But it just goes to show what a monster ride it's been today by Van Aert.

The Frenchman, on paper, has a 50% chance of winning today, but it must be the most one-sided 50-50 possible. Sure, there's a chance Wout van Aert will feel magnanimous and let his fellow escapee take the win in Baiona - but not a big one. There's also a chance that the Belgian will have a mechanical or a mishap. But there's surely no chance that he will lost a two-up sprint with Quentin Pacher.

The Spaniard has hit the wall. Lecerf rides clear in pursuit of the two leaders but he has 33 seconds to close and will run out of road. The EF-led pack has been whittled down to 20-odd riders and now trails Van Aert and Pacher by 4'35".

It's the EF Education-EasyPost team of Richard Carapaz who now take up the tempo-setting on the front of the pack. As a result, they've strung things out and caused many riders to be shelled out the back. A select red jersey group has now formed as Jefferson Cepeda continues pacing hard for team-mate Richard Carapaz.

Sean Kelly thinks the winner will either be Wout van Aert or Quentin Pacher today after Marc Soler and William Lecerf left it too late to chase down the leaders. The gap is now 28 seconds for the pair ahead with 5km of this climb to go ahead of the descent and flat run into Baiona.

It looks like it’s going to be a day of attrition for the GC favourites with red jersey Ben O’Connor looking comfortable alongside two Decathlon team-mates on the front of the pack.

Meanwhile, Marc Soler looks to be getting in a rhythm now as he leads the chase with William Lecerf on Van Aert and Pacher. The gap is still 26 seconds with 6km of this climb to go, though, so he still has work to do.

That dig by Wout van Aert was unpredictable as it was effective. Not only has he ditched his big rival for the win - Marc Soler - he's also established a 25-second lead on this final climb. If he can get over the top in the lead, then he'll be favourite to win down in Baiona. Pacher is there with him, but the Belgian is a far faster finished. Soler now rides with Lecerf in pursuit, with Hollmann struggling to stay in touch.