Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) wins stage 10 Vuelta a Espana.

Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) sprints to stage 10 victory Bermillo de Sayago, Vuelta a Espana. 

He described it as his most perfect lead-out of the season, and it was hard to argue with that assessment after the Italian champion scored an emphatic victory in the bunch sprint.

Meanwhile overrall race leader Simon Yates (Mitchellton-Scott) finished safely in the main peloton to retain the red jersey, though the Briton was one of a number of overall contenders to suffer a late scare when there was a spate of punctures in the closing kilometres.

How it unfolded

The Vuelta resumed after its first rest day with a 177km leg that brought the race to within touching distance of the Portuguese border, and it was perhaps no surprise to find Minho native Tiago Machado (Katusha-Alpecin) among the riders chasing earlier escapee Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH).

Top Ten General Classification Standings

1, Simon Yates (Great Britain) Mitchelton-Scott41:03:00,
2, Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar Team0:00:01,
3, Nairo Quintana (Colombia) Movistar Team0:00:14,
4, Emanuel Buchmann (Germany) Bora-Hansgrohe0:00:16,
5, Ion Izagirre (Spain) Bahrain-Merida0:00:17,
6, Tony Gallopin (France) AG2R La Mondiale0:00:24,
7, Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia) Astana Pro Team0:00:27,
8, Rigoberto Uran (Colombia) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale0:00:32,
9, Steven Kruijswijk (Netherland) LottoNL-Jumbo0:00:43,
10, George Bennett (NewZealand) LottoNL-Jumbo0:00:47