The only Swede in Vueltan, the pace specialist Tobias Ludvigsson, went out hard and was good at the first interim after 11.9 km, but fatigued and shook his head when he reached the finish in Pau after 36.2 km in the blue-yellow Swedish national team dress .
These days, a couple of big transitions have been announced in the midst of the burning Vuelta. The overall leader of today's stage, Colombian Nairo Quintana, will leave Spanish Movistar and go to French Arkea Samsic next season.
Team Ineos (formerly Team Sky), whose riders have won every Tour de France since 2015, have linked this year's Giro d'Italia winner Richard Carapaz to next season. A super stall with Chris Froome, Geriant Thomas and Egan Bernal gets even sharper with the Ecuadorian in the team.
- It's a great opportunity for me to develop as a cyclist, says Carapaz according to the BBC.