Hola and welcome to Cy🍨clingnews' live coverage of stage 11 of La Vuelta a꧋ España!

Today's stage starts and finishes in the concello of P🐷adrón, with 166.5km of hilly racing i🃏n between.

The parcours make this just as much a day for the breakaway as the GC favourites (if they fancy it!) so we're expecting it💧ꦆ to be a lively one! 

Padrón has already hosﷺted two Vuelta stages, both time trials in 1993 and in 2021.

The latt𝔍er was the final stage 💞of that year's Grand Tour.

The riders have already been through the sign-on and team presentation this morn☂ing so are preparing for the neutralised start.

We might've predicted it being a day for the breakaway or the GC men, but don't write off Wout van Aert making it a fourth, and a back-to-back, s⭕tage win in Padrón later if he manages to keep pace on the climbs.

These fans certainly aren't doubting him!

The riders have gone for their unoffici꧋al start for stage 11.

Ther🦄e's 5.🀅8km of neutralised road before the flag is dropped.

We've had three casualties this mornin💖g ahead of♏ the stage start.

Both Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek) and Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grওenadiers) have tes﷽ted positive for COVID-19.

W🤪hilst Loren♎zo Rota (Intermarché-Wanty) abandoned the race due to knee pain from his crash on stage 9.

It means that thereဣ are 156 riders, out of an original 176, left in the race.

Here's stage 11 getting underway moments ago...

While we waitꩵ for the flag drop, here's how yesterday's stage unfolded.

Vuelta a🦹 Espa&n💧tilde;a: Wout van Aert solidifies green jersey with stage 10 victory

And the official start is given. We're racing!

DSM-Firmenich PostNL's Julius van den Berg is the first to make an attac🍸k but he'ꦕs swiftly reeled in.

We're already 7km th🐽rough the stage, with aꦬ high pace being set as riders vie for the breakaway.

Next to try their luck is Pablo Castrillo, but it's not to be✃ 🧸for the Equipo Kern Pharma rider just yet.

The foot of the first categorisedꦗ climb of the day is 17km down the road.

At 10.2km in distance and an average gradient of 4.2%, the Puerto San Xusto is only a third-category climb and isn't likely to be too challenging for the bun❀ch.

Still no signs of a clear cut break. Lots of teams battling for it, but nꦏo one's managed to ♒make a move stick.

Five riders have managed to force a small break.

Strangely, the s🔯tage will go through the finish line for the first time today after just 67km. 

They'll the🍰n tꦛake in a 36.7km loop that includes the Puerto Aguasantas, followed by a 61.9km loop that includes both the Puerto Aguasantas and Puerto Cruxeiras climbs.

The small group of riders that attempted to form a breakaway was actua💝lly eight-man strong, however they've since been reeled in.

The peloton, altogether still, has reached the base💛 of the Puerto San Xusto.

Another set of attack⭕s on the climb, but nothiꦜng is sticking so far.

Just to bring everyone up to speed on the overall standings, Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) leads the way with a 3:53 gap over Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) sits in third on 4﷽:32, with Enric Mas (Movistar) just three seconds back in fourth.

Mikel Landa (5:17), Florian Lipowitz (5:29),🧔 Adam Yates (5:30), Felix Gall (s.t), Carlos Rodríguez (6:00) and David ඣGaudu (6:32) round out the top-10.

130km to go

More attacks on the slopes of Puerto San Xusto.

Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) holds a 20 second 🐲lead on the peloton.

He's currently tailed by Sam Oℱomen (Lidl-Trek), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Louis Meintjes (Intermaché-Wanty) and Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma) who sit 𒅌10 seconds behind the lone leader.

Chris Harper (Team Jayco AlUla) has been fo♎rced to abandon the race.

Fine margin🧸s between the bunch and the attackers currently. 

We've had more accelerations no♏w, with S🌜tefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) one of the riders to make the move.

KOM (Puerto San Xusto)

Frigo takes🎐 the maximum thไree points at the summit, with Berrade and Rubén Fernández (Cofidis) taking two and one points, respectively.

Moments laꦇter thoughᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ, and the bunch have reeled all the attackers in once again.

Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) swiftly attacks ✤on the descent. 

Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) and Casper Pede🐻rsen (T-Rex Quick-Step) attempted to stick with him but were quickly caught.

The TT specialist holds a lead ꦬof 19 seconds cur𓆉rently.

Thibault Guernalec (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) has set off in chase, sitting halfway between the leader and 𓂃the bunch.

The Frenchman is tagged. 

Campenaerts leads by 30 seconds now.

Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers), who has been very active toᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚday,🍸 is attempting to join up with the Belgian.

There's a small group off the front including the Ecuadorian and🍷 Ion Izagirre (Cofidis)🍬. 

The gap from Campenae🤡rts to the peloton is now 40 seconds.

The chasing group of eight riders are close to making contact with the🌺 Belgian.

Attacks aplenty from the peloton. 

It's kཧeeping the pace high, and making it hard for a break to truly snap the elastic of th💦e bunch.

It's pretty chaotic at the fꦑront of the 🤪race right now, several groups trying to make their moves stick.

100km to go

10km to the foot of our next ಞclimb, the Puerto Aguasantas.

The race passes through the finish line 🌞for the first of three times, still the break isn't set in sto🍬ne.

C🅰amp﷽enaerts has been caught by the two chasing groups.

There's now a 🌱lead group🌼 of at least 30 riders, but it's not quite done and dusted just yet.

Guillaume Martin (Cofid✅is) is the breakaway rider with the best positioning in t🍎he GC standings. 

He sits at 12:23.

A crash for Richard Carapaz. 

The Ecuadorian caught his wheel on the edge of the road. He's꧋ back on his bike but looking quiteꦕ sheepish.

Arjen Livyns has accelerated away froℱm th♛e leading pack. 

He's at the foot of the Puerto Aguasantas (5.6km at 6.1%) and lead💝s b🎃y seven seconds.

Another group of five riders are attempting to bridge acr🍷oss the the leading pack. 

It includes George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech) who sits a𒈔t just 9:50 down on the red jersey.

It looks like our breakaway is set for today.

Livyns has been tagged, so it brings us to 39 rid📖ers. They hold a three minute lead on the peloton.

Just when it looked like the break was calming down, Xandro Meurisse (A𓃲lpecin-Deceuninck) pushes on up the climb.

N🐓o one else has followed thಞe Belgian, so he's climbing on his own currently.

Meurisse has made his move look effortless. 

He sits just over a minute ahe🍰ad the rest of the breakaway.

The gap b😼ack the peloton꧑ has gone out to over six minutes now.

A quick bike change for Ben O'Connor. He 🌳seems very calm as he hops off onღe bike and takes another from the team mechanic. 

KOM (Puerto Aguasantas)

Meurisse took the maximum five൩ points on the climb, with Frigo and Gui💜llaume Martin picking up three and one points, respectively.

Speaking of climbing, let's q🗹uickly recap the KOM standings.

Adam Yates holds the jᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚersey currently, tied on 22 points with green jersey owner Wout van Aert.

Primož Roglič is four points further back on 18 alongside David Gaudu. 

Jay Vine sits in fifth, on 17 points.

La Vuelta sharing some views of the incredible Galician scene༺ry on show during stage 11.

Of course, we couldn't go a whole stage in Galicia without talking about s🍸ome of their cuisine, and with the stage starting and finish💃ing in Padrón, we had to mention the peppers!

Padrón peppers, also known as Pimiento de Padrón or Herbón p🐻eppers, are a common tapas dish. 

While they're said to be a fairly mild pepper, some individual peppers can be rather spicy - it's led to them often being ca💙lled the "Russian Roulette" peppers.

George Bennet♔t is ♉up to fifth in the virtual GC. 

The Kiwi has three Israel-Premier Tech tꦰeammates in the break with him and they could be used to tee their leader up for dig at the stage win.

We menꦇtioned earlier that La Vuelta visited Padr&o꧑acute;n in 2021, on the final stage of that year's edition.

It was the place where Primož Roglič secured a third consecutive overall victory at the race, winning the stage 21 ITT in the process too.

Israel-Premier Tech have 😼two riders at the head of the chasing group attempting to reel in Meurisse but he's holding firmꦕ impressively.

There's still 1:24 back♐ to the chase group, while the bunch are a further five minutes down the road.

The Israel-ꦚPr🦩emier Tech riders in the break are setting a really tough pace, with riders going backwards now.

10 riders have ꦏbeen dropped from the main chasing group. Meurisse still leads by just under a minute, though.

For a second time t♛oday, we're just a kilometre from the top of the Puerto Aguasantas.

The climb has split the chasing pack into three.

Meurisse lea🃏ds solo, ahead of an 18-man group contain Nárvaez💝 and Bennett.

Two groups, of 12 and eight respectively, ar🤪e furthe𓆏r down the climb.

KOM (Puerto Aguasantas)

Meuꩲrisse takes the maximum five points over the top🐟.

The gap back to the peloton is pushing out towards seven minutes, whi🌞le Meurisse holds a 40 second advantage.

40km to go

Thanks to the breakaway's pa🐻ce, George Bennett is up to third on the virtual 🌃GC.

The gap to Meurisse has dwindled, with just 25 seconds between the lone leader and the chasers꧅ now﷽.

Some interesting news coming out of 👍the UAE Team Emirates at La V🎃uelta earlier today.

Isaac 🐬del Toro tests positive for COVID-19 at Vuelta a España but cleared to racꦑe

Just over 10km until the intermed💯iate ꩲsprint at O Sisto.

Movistar have leant a hand to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale ba⭕ck in the bunch, it's seen the gap drop down to nearly five minutes.

Meanwhile, Xandro Meurisse has been caught.

He'll almost certainly claim the combativity ܫaward for his efforts today.

Eight of the 33 riders in𒅌 the breakaway have won a Grand Tour stage before today.

35-year-old Ion Izagirre sits at the top of that list with four in total - two at the Tour de France, with one each at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a 💙España respectively.

Xabier I🐠sasa has punched out with 28.5km remaining.

It's a bold move by the Spaniard b𒊎ut perhaps the intention was just for some TV airtime.

Mechanical issue for Nico Denz𒆙 (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Intermediate sprint (O sisto)

Meurisse managed to snag the full 20 points from the sprint before 🗹he was caught. ꦿ;

Ibon ruiz (17), Nico Denz (15), George Bennett (13) an🍰d Marco Frigo (10) claimed the rest of the points from the break.

25km to go

We're just 14km from the foot of the final, an🔜d steepest, climb of the day: The Puerto Cruxeiras🌸.

The Puerto Cruxeiras m♉ight only be 2.8km in lengt♕h but it averages 9%, with two 600m segments sitting at 11.1% and 10% respectively.

There's not just Lജa Vuelta on the agenda today, by the way.

Renewi Tour: Jonathan Milan holds off Philipsen to win messy stage 1 sprin👍t

We've still got 32 riders in the breaꦦk𒁏 as we approach the final climb.

Al🏅ongside stage favourite Narváez, there's also the likes of Brandon McNulty, Dani Martínez, George Bennett, Eddie Dunbar, Max Poole, Guillaume Martin and Carlos Verona, that will be vying for a stage win.

DSM-Firmenich PostNL are no🅰w setting the pace as we wind up to the climb.

🍸Victor Campenaerts has gone to 🅷the front of the leading group and split it in two purely down to the pace he's setting. 

10km to go

However, the Belgian has imploded as the climb beᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚgins to ramp up.

Lidl-Trek's Caꩵrlos Verona is one of tℱhe riders still at the fore.

Urko Berrade and Gijs Leemreize are both keeping 𓂃up with Ver🌞ona.

Brandon Rivera is not fa𒐪r behind, riding at his own pace.

Meanwhile, back in the bunch and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are hammering it as the climb comes into sight. Could Roglič be plotting an attack?

Ben O'Connor is isolated ꧋at th🌠e front of the bunch. 

The r🌌ed jersey has teammates in the group but they're dangling off the back as opposed to leading it over the climb.

There's a gap forming in the peloton and Roglič takes full advantage.

The Slovenian and Enric Mas have a💃ccelerated o🔯ff the front.

The trio of leaders are over the summit now.

6.6km remaining.

Ben O'Connor is being distanced from ye🍌t more GC contenders. 

Less than 3km to go. 

Max Poole has bridged across to the lead group.

Jhonatඣan Nar💦váez is also there, with four riders leading by a slender margin.

The chase group looks set to bridge across, it'🃏ll likely be a reduced sprint.

1km to go

Carlos Verona is attacking again and again.

Late flyer from ꦑEddie Dunba𓆏r and it looks like he'll make it stick!

The Irishman puts his head i𒉰n his hands in sheer disbelief as he crosses the line to win stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espa&ntild🎉e;a!

Its a first top-level win for Dunbar in Team 🌱Jayco AlUla colours.

Meanwhile, further back, Roglič continues to power home in a bid to cut the gap on GC.

Roglič crosses the line 3:30 back. What sized dent can he put into Ben O'Connor?

O'Connor crosses the line 38 seconds later. 

It's not the end of the world, but it pro✃bably wasn't in the plans of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale at the start of the day.

A꧋mazingly, it's only his third win on the road during Eddie Dunbar's career.

If yo💙u count his National Championships victory last year then it bumps that up to four.

Either way, it's a remarkable vi👍ctory for the man from Cork.

Some quotes from today's stage winner, Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco ꧙A𒀰lUla):

"It's weird how it goes sometimes, I had a really bad start to the race and lost loads of time. I🐽 came here to race GC and I realised pretty quickly that I didn't have the legs to do it. My preparation was really good here so it was a case of reassessing and just going for a stage.

"Today came [about] an opportunity that I didn't expect as I tried hard to get in the break and I just thought that my legs [had] gone, then all of a sudden the big group went. I thought me and Pippo [Zana] rode very well in the break and w𒈔ere very smart. Here we are, I can't believe it."

Here's the stage standings from today.

Some more quotes from Dunbar:

"It's been a while since I've been in a scenario like this if I'm honest and I just used my experience. I was suffering a bit on the big climb. I jus💦t played my cards and said 'I'd gamble and back my♏ finish.' 

"It's incredible I mean, since the Vuelta last year I've had 🦋7 🍌or 8 crashes. Physically that takes a toll but mentally it took its toll on me as well. I've had numerous times in my head where I might not have a future in this sport just because of the crashes and injuries I've had. This year after the Giro when I injured my LCL I thought that could be the nail in the coffin in terms of my cycling career." 

After a solid effort in todܫay's breakaway that has seen him move up the GC standings, George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tec🌌h) said:

"It's so complicat🍸ed, nobody now is riding for their top 10 but maybe in a few days, guys might start riding to keep the gaps small. So it might be the last few opportunities where we see guys jumping into the top-10 in the next four days.

"I mean I don't know, what do I know. I'm probably completely wrong!" h🌠e chuckled.

The GC standings are now in, with Carlos Rodríguez being the biggest mover - from ninth to sixth, and just two minutes back from Primož Roglič. 

Enric Mas also leapfrogs Richard Carapaz i𝓰nto thirཧd, with the Movistar man on 3:58 now.

As just mentioned, George Bennett ꦰhas moved into the top-10 too, moving up six pl𓆉aces to tenth on 5:46.

Ineos Grenadiers' Carlos Rodríguez finds himself moving into the white jersey🌸 today too.

The Spaniard si꧒ts six seconds ahead of♊ Lipowitz with 10 stages remaining.

In case you want a recap o♕f tod𓆏ay's racing, check out our race report here:

Vuelta a Españ🃏;a: Eddie Dunbarꩵ solos to stage 11 victory from breakaway