The 10th stage of the Vuelta a Espana ended the first week of the Spanish race. The course was short and with two climbs, the 3rd category Puerto del Oronet after 23 km and the 2nd category Alto del Desierto de las Palmas whose summit was located 17km from the finish.

The fact that the first stage was so close to the start made for an intense battle which created a large breakaway of 40 riders, which did not get a large advantage. The peloton controlled the action and the attack was neutralized with 60 km to go.

The climb of Alto del Desierto de las Palmas reduced the bunch to 57 riders, including the Lampre-Merida riders Conti, Durasek and Oliveria. The Portuguese time trial champion tried an attack with 3,5 km to go, but the group reacted and it approached the sprint at full speed: Conti faced the sprint with determination and he made up positions until his front wheel was touched by Montaguti who had had contact with another rider.

Conti lost momentem and he obtained 10th place.

Lampre-Merida sprinter Maximilano Richeze was one of the last riders to get dropped on the climb and reached the finish just 2.47 behind the first riders.

"Another stage in which we raced in the front of the race and in which we were competitive until the end," sports director Bruno Vicino explained. "Our rider with the best qualities to obtain a top result was Richeze, but unfortunately we were not able to give him the best assistance which could have helped him to close the gap to the front group after he had reached the summit of the last climb with a small gap."