GB's Chris Froome set to complete Tour-Vuelta double
Froome third on penultimate stage to extend lead to more than two minutes
Froome will become first British winner of the race
Alberto Contador wins stage 20 in his final race
Sunday's stage to Madrid largely processional
Alberto Contador is trying to push on as he hits an 11% gradient. Romain Bardet is finding the pace tough, while Adam and Simon Yates are long gone from this leading group, which is now down to three.
Incredibly, Marc Soler is one of them, having clambered back on after crashing on the previous descent!
Image source, EPATeam Sky's David Lopez, who is leading Chris Froome up this ascent, nearly comes unstuck as he gets to grip with an over-excited flag-waver. He snatches the cloth, screws it up and tosses it aside without breaking his rhythm.
The climb has flattened out a little where Froome is and the gap to Contador is narrowing.
The Spaniard's leading group is just 35 seconds.
It is not going to be Tomasz Marczynski's day. He is no more than a handful of seconds clear of a group of five riders, who are being dragged up the Angliru by Alberto Contador.
The Spanish fans are going bonkers as they realise what is happening.
Even the sun is coming out.
Tom Fordyce says: "I'm wearing two pairs of socks, two coats, two t-shirts and a jumper. Plus a cap. 5 Live producer Gemma is wearing the rest of my clothes on top of hers, including a t-shirt, hoodie and running vest, although not in that order. And we're still cold. Cycling the hardest professional sport in the world?"
Team Sunweb are pulling what is left of the peloton along. Their man Wilco Kelderman is currently third overall but his lead over Contador is just 77 seconds so clearly they are keen to keep the Dutchman on the podium.
Two Team Sky riders are close in attendance, with Chris Froome in their slipstream. Vincenzo Nibali is going to have to show his hand soon.
Image source, EPAAlberto Contador has opened up a lead of 30 seconds over the peloton.
He is still trailing Tomasz Marczynski by almost one minute though.
A quick reminder that Contador is more than three minutes adrift of Chris Froome in the overall standings so the Briton won't be too concerned at this point.
Vincenzo Nibali at 97 seconds is the real threat.
Before today's stage, Alberto Contador said: "I feel happy. It's been an unforgettable sensation throughout the race with the reaction I've had from the fans.
"On a day like this so many things can happen. I'd love to win, that's obvious. But the other GC riders will want to fight me.
"It's the last few kilometres of climbing in my career and then I'll have plenty of time to rest."
Tomasz Marczynski of Lotto-Soudal is on the Angliru. His lead is one minute, 45 seconds over the peloton. Is that enough to see him take the victory?
Alberto Contador is on the attack. He has ridden clear of the peloton and has a team-mate with him. He has 12km of climbing left in his career.
He said he would go for it...
Vincenzo Nibali is back up and riding. I've no idea how it happened. But the Bahrain-Merida rider has a team-mate with him, pacing him back to the peloton.
TV pictures show that Nibali appeared to hit a barrier on the side of the road, rather than completely come off.
Our new stage leader Tomasz Marczynski is enjoying this descent a lot more. He has opened up a lead of more than one minute as the roads dry the further down the mountain they go.
News from race radio - the Italian has slid off on the descent.
Whoa! Marc Soler is no longer our stage leader. The Movistar rider bins it on a right-hander and rolls into a ditch.
More evidence that this race could still be decided before we get to the Angliru.
The peloton goes over the top 34 seconds later. This descent is 8km in length and then we are into the final climb of the race.
How are the nerves?
Romain Bardet attacks the break. He is the best placed rider on general classification but he is almost 30 minutes adrift of Chris Froome.
The Frenchman does not manage to distance his companions though and Marc Soler puts in one final spurt to reach the summit of the Alto del Cordal first.
It appears to have stopped raining but the road is still very damp. And there is a motorcycle in the crash barrier at the side of the road, in case any more proof was needed that the corners are treacherous.
Cracking work James. One to rival Hawaii. #bbccycling for your hardest climbs conquered.
Allow Twitter content?
This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.
Marc Soler's bid comes to nought as he slides back into the comfort of the eight riders left jousting for the overall stage victory, although their advantage is now down to 30 seconds over the peloton.
Simon and Adam Yates are both still looking strong, as is Romain Bardet. It will be interesting to see if they have the energy to stay with the peloton when they do get swallowed up.
The race is splintering all over the Cordal. Movistar rider Marc Soler has made his bid for glory, riding away from the break.
I'm not sure of his conviction though, he seems to be spending half of his time looking over his shoulder.
Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali and Alberto Contador are all continuing to keep tabs on each other at the nose of the peloton.
Neil Burns: #bbccycling, external I more of less did this route (see 15:26 entry) 10 days ago - on a motorbike! Visibility was next to nothing so it's good to see where I went.
Chris Froome has one slightly nervy moment on the descent, sliding wide, but he manages to knock off the pace and keep himself upright.
Meanwhile, the leaders are already on the next climb. The Alto del Cordal is another category one. It is 5.7km long with an average gradient of 8.6% and a maximum of 12.9% near the top.
All the main riders have made it down the descent and are on the lower slops of the Cordal.
I've just listened to an excellent interview with Chris Froome on the Vuelta website.
He does that brilliant British thing of adopting a slightly foreign accent when answering the questions. Think Joey Barton or Steve McLaren in their prime!
Anyway, he said: "The final big test. We'll see how it goes. I hope the weather gets better but if not we'll still make the race the same."
On the Angliru, he added: "It's a wall, it's an extremely tough climb and for the final test i think it's the perfect climb."
The road is quite wide and that is helping. The top speed I have seen is 86km/h, which is not too shabby. But there have been plenty of wobbles and back wheel slides.