After a well-deserved rest day, the riders will get back on the bike in the Vuelta a España. In 177.5 kilometres, the riders go from Castellón to another uphill finish on Camins del Penyagolosa in Llucena. 

Louis Vervaeke is still fresh for the last part of the Vuelta and hopes to be one of the riders in the breakaway today.

“Right now I’m still feeling pretty good and I’m looking forward to the last five stages. Last year in the Giro d’Italia that wasn’t the case but my preparation towards the Giro wasn’t like I had hoped," he said. "This year I’m still feeling fresh for the last week. Today’s stage and the one on Saturday should suit me well and I hope that I can do well. Up until now I haven’t been in the breakaway that often. I hoped to show myself a little more in this Vuelta but every day has been a battle to be in the breakaway. The favourites are racing really hard and the pace is very high. All of that makes it really hard to get in the breakaway.

“Today it will be hard again to be in the front group. I do think that I would be able to stay in front until the end. I expect that the breakaway will be set up on the climb in the first twenty kilometres. Stage seventeen is a mountain stage so the riders in the breakaway will be good climbers. In the end, in the valley, we’ll have to pay good attention that no one gets away from the peloton. If I’m in the front group myself, I hope to show my good condition on the final climb.”