Roche driving the leading group into the final kilometre in Gijon.

The Irishman will have to go from so far out...

Roche, Bardet, De Gendt, De Trier, Jungels, Costa, Navarro, Pantano and Garcia Cortina are up there.

Roche tries to go again but is reeled in.

A tremendous effort from Bob Jungels has dragged four other riders up to the leading four.

So nine riders to contest this finish. All bets off.

The leading four take a big right hand, firmly in the centre of Gijon now.

They don't have much of a gap left over the chasers...

But the odds were always against Roche staying away to the finish.

Bardet, Mohoric and Garcia Cortina duly reel him in with 4km to go.

It's all fairly flat to the finish as the leading four start to try and suss each other out. They can't dawdle too long though - Jungels is driving a chasing pack behind.

Roche won't be left wondering today - the Irish BMC rider is putting in an immense turn off the front.

Roche ekes out a three-second gap but the trio behind are chasing hard.

Contador still dancing on the pedals up the Alto de San Martin down the road.

Roche and Mohoric catch Bardet and Garcia Cortina out front.

The Irishman isn't interested in waiting and slings off solo.

Bardet rolling through to do his turn at the front ahead of Garcia Cortina - they lead Roche and Mohoric by just six seconds into the final 10km.

Behind, the soon-to-retire Contador dances off the front of the peloton on the Alto de San Martin, to the crowd's delight.

The Spaniard is committed - opening up a 10 second or so gap but I doubt he will be able to make it stick to the finish. I don't doubt he will have a go on the Angliru tomorrow, though.

If he can keep clear of the other GC rides, the 34-year-old might be able to think about a podium place.

Garcia Cortina and Bardet have a gap of 11 seconds over the pursuing duo of Roche and Mohoric.

The peloton, including Chris Froome, are a further 14 minutes down the road.

Garcia Cortina just about hangs on to lead over the summit of the Alto de San Martin.

But Bardet follows just seconds behind and duly bridges as the descent starts.

The Frenchman could even look to using his descending skills to leave the Spaniard behind before the final run-in.

A stage victory would be a welcome bonus from an otherwise disappointing Vuelta by the AG2R La Mondiale man.

Garcia Cortina into the final kilometre of the final climb of the day but Bardet is now just 12 seconds behind and can just about see the young Spaniard on the road.

Bardet is a fantastic descender so even if he cannot bridge before the summit, the Frenchman should catch the leader soon.

Roche will also look to make up time on the descent.

That dig by Roche has cut Garcia Cortina's advatange to 30 seconds.

And now Bardet goes! Roche digs in and tries to follow but the Frenchman is looking too strong.

Garcia Cortina still has 2km of pain before he reaches the summit of the Alto de San Martin.

His advantage is still just about holding around the 50-second mark for now.

Nicolas Roche now attacks from the chasing group, instantly cutting into Garcia Cortina's gap.

A horrible crash in the peloton back down the road - Katusha-Alpecin's Matvey Mamykin is lying on the tarmac in agony, the medical team fortunately quickly in attendance.

Arroyo and Mohoric break off the front of the chasing group but are quickly swallowed up.

Garcia Cortina still looking strong over the section of 8% gradient. The climb calms down for a bit but another tough section lies in wait.

Jungels now comes to the front of the chasing group and restores some order.

Incentives aplenty to help Ivan Garcia Cortina dig deep here:

1. The stage finishes in his home town of Gijon
2. A first Grand Tour stage win in his first Grand Tour
3. The first Spanish rider to win a stage of this year's Vuelta

The group start to look at each other behind - they need to start working together to reel the 21-year-old back in. He leads by one minute as he gets onto the category three climb.

Ivan Garcia Cortina is onto the lower slopes of the climb and has extended his advantage over the chasing group to 55 seconds with 20km to go.

This is a mightily impressive rider from the 21-year-old Spaniard. It's starting to put the fear into the chasers, with Matteo Trentin now coming to the front to try and force the pace

Meanwhile, the peloton are 14 mins 25 seconds down on Garcia Cortina on the road.

Portugal's Rui Costa has had a puncture, chased back on to the breakaway group and is now having more repairs on his back brakes, his mechanic leaning out of the team car to have a prod around with a spanner.

Bahrain-Merida's Ivan Garcia Cortina still nailing it as he descends after that rise in the road where he launched his attack.

Soon enough the Spaniard will be ascending again as he races towards the final climb of the day - the category three Alto de San Martin.

His advantage is up to around 45 seconds now. If he makes it a minute he might just have a chance of staying clear for the final 15km or so after the summit.

Still odds on that some part of the break behind will chase him down.

Ivan Garcia Cortina is still out solo with a 30-second gap over the rest of the break, with 30km to go.

It would be a heck of a ride for him to stay clear and become the first Spanish stage winner of this Vuelta.

There are 20 riders behind him, with the peloton just under 15 minutes behind that on the road.