Aru finished 2nd and takes the leaders jersey

Froome finished 8 minutes down and his podium chance is gone.........radio 5 reporting that Froome is in hospital for x-rays after having problems with one of his feet after the early crash today

Froome was limping badly in the post stage ITV interview. The clip on YouTube shows he would not put his weight on his right leg, going round the bike to mount it: https://youtu.be/OwXPP9yafL8

Landa apparently was told to wait for teammate Aru but chose to take the win. Reportedly off to Sky at the end of season so palmares before team orders.

Anyone else think today was one mountain too long, even for a dedicated TV viewer? I don't recall such a late finish for years.

Yeah.......it's a difficult one to get right

because the stage was so tough it ending up being fairly boring because they didn't really race until the last few kilometres

It was a bit of a processional ride most of the way

I had it on all day but my attention was wandering and I had a longish nap and missed most of the last descent and final climb

Hah. I watched all day until 5pm when I switched over to have a look at the new Chaser. With five uphill kilometres still to go I thought I could catch the end at the first break, only to find Flecha and House grinning at me. Hey ho.

Chris Froome is on crutches and unlikely to start today, probably ending his season. Always thought this was a bit of a poor idea.

Confirmed that Froome has pulled out

The Tour/Vuelta double was always unlikely, but British Cycling would certainly have welcomed the UCI points he'd have earned in top-5 stage finishes and top-20 in the GC.*

They may already have just enough points for a 5-man squad in Rio, but they'll be sweating a bit after Froome's abandon and are hoping that the other Brits (particularly Thomas and the Yates twins) can earn some from the remainder of this year's WorldTour.

Looking elsewhere, it appears that Dumoulin is riding very well so far - in fact, his style is not dissimilar to Wiggo. There's still 10 stages to go (including an ITT!) and what impact this will have on his quest for an ITT rainbow jersey remains to be seen.

[* He earned 8 points for his 2nd place in Stage 9]

Sky and British Cycling teams announced for the Tour of Britain starting at the weekend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/34129233

Think I'll be giving up the Vuelta for this one.

Stage one of the Tour of Britain is on ITV1 because ITV4 are showing live Touring Cars. Should get a bigger audience on the main ITV channel

Eurosport are not showing stage one at all.......it's only on Eurosport Player

Eurosport start live coverage on Monday but it's on 2 hours before the Vuelta stage so it's likely you can go straight from one to the other without missing much

ITV coverage moves to ITV4 on Monday

Just catching up on today's Vuelta - as always, if I was a Spanish rider and had my team manager bellowing at me the way Lampre's manager was carrying on today, I'd be sorely tempted to get off my bike and deck him.

The guys were talking today about the decline of cycling in Spain which was a bit depressing, They only have 1 top level team (Movistar) and 1 Pro Continental team (Caja Rural)

It only seems a few years ago when there would be several Spanish domestic teams in the top Spanish races.......it seemed like every city region sponsored a team

I can't think of any obvious contenders to take the place of Valverde, Contador, Rodrigues when they retire.......

On the plus side it's GB, Poland and Norway who are booming and taking over.....the centre of gravity of European cycling is moving northwards......

I see that the Tour of Alberta is on at the moment........pretty sure that Eurosport covered it last year but they seem to be cutting down on the Northern American races this season

Must say that I'm beginning to wonder if Carlton is actually in a Civil Partnership with Tom Dumoulin.....

Live pictures underway for the Tour of Britain .........90K to go and the breakaway has 7 minutes

Hugh Porter and Brian Smith doing the commentary

Only 6 man teams so difficult for any team to control the race.......maybe the breakaway have a chance to win the stage and get ahead on GC

(groan)

I thought Hugh had retired ?........

The break is coming down as it was over 9 minutes at one time.......and it's only four men, all from domestic GB teams

They'll probably get caught.........Cav, Griepel, Swift give plenty of incentive for the world tour teams to ride together if need be

Taylor Phinney is here as well........he was interviewed before the live pictures came in. He's very camp.......

That's called wishful thinking.

They're a bit allergic to union flags in Wales aren't they?

Yesterday - Cav pipped on the line by Viviani who takes the yellow jersey. Griepel 3rd

Eurosport live coverage underway today with Rob Hatch and Matt Stevens in the com box (probably in the studio in Paris !)

A patch I know today......Clitheroe to Colne riding around East Lancs, Ribble Valley, Forest of Boland, Pendle.........these are places we'd go for day trips when I was a kid

80k to go

Alex Dowsett is away in a two man break........two and a half minutes. Can't see them letting Dowsett stay away

I really hope Dowsett has learned from last year, when he was aggressive in last year's ToB and ended up 20th in the WCh ITT. GB need a top-10 nation finish from either Dowsett or their other rider (Cummings?) in this year's WCh ITT to secure a second berth in the Olympic ITT.

Apparently Doull was 4th in yesterday's stage, which was a great performance.

Oh dear. ITV4 are still advertising Froome's attempt to win the Vuelta...

Good win for Vakoc in the Tour de GB - I just had the feeling that the chasing pack did not realise he was still out there for quite a few km. after they had caught the rest of the breakaway.

I noticed a bit of a bloomer by ITV4 in Stage 1 of the Tour of Britain. While the commentary was still talking about the cyclists being on Anglesey and just before showing them crossing the Menai bridge onto the mainland, there was a aerial shot of them pedaling through Llanberis in Snowdonia, several miles further on.

I could clearly see the mountain railway line heading up towards Snowdon, the car park across the road from the station and other very recognisable features.

Bit unfortunate today for Ettix and the yellow jersey........he was involved in a crash just outside the 3K safety zone and I think he's out of the race. Maybe a broken collar bone.

and then Cav couldn't get involved in the sprint finish

Viviani wins again.........Sky did well there to dump Cav and get Viviani instead !.....

Lobato (Movistar) takes over the yellow jersey as everybody just moves up one place.