Warm welcome for Vuelta a España cycle race from inland Malaga towns and villages

It was hot, but the pack of elite cyclists was happy after the 41C reached the day before on the Vuelta a España pro cycle race stage between Fuente del Maestre and Seville. The 32 degrees on the uphill stretch of the Alto de las Abejas in Malaga province's Yunquera on Thursday seemed like a blessing and it was the Australian Ben O'Connor, accustomed to the rigour of summers, who surprised everyone by taking the lead to sprint to the finish line. It was reminiscent of Marco Giovanetti's breakaway from the leading pack in 2002 in Ubrique (Cadiz), also in the sixth stage of the Vuelta. Back then the Italian won the Vuelta overall and now O'Connor, who does well in the mountains, is the new leader and the one to watch for the polka-dot jersey.

The inland areas of the province enjoyed the spectacle of the national cycle race pass through. It was a stage with Malaga very much in the limelight. Who knows if some day the whole stage will still be remembered for what happened during the race when the Aussie broke away from the pack. The 'multicoloured snake' entered Malaga province at around three o'clock in the afternoon once the big challenge of the day had been overcome at Puerto del Boyar, a first-category climb between El Bosque and Grazalema in neighbouring Cadiz province. The pack passed by seven Malaga towns and villages - Montejaque, Benaoján, Ronda, El Burgo, Casarabonela, Alozaina and Yunquera - a high-altitude finish with no major climbs.

Although RTVE's television coverage of this stage was able to present an impressive round-up of all the major tourist sights including the gorge in Ronda, the Real Maestranza bullring, the church of Santa Ana in Alozaina, the Pinsapar forest...), many fans turned out to stand in the heat of the asphalt roads that snaked between each place as the race did not go through urban centres. Some even came armed with beach brollies to protect themselves from the searing heat of a mid-August afternoon.

One of the most applauded cyclists was Luis Ángel Maté from Marbella (the only local professional and a rider for ProTeam Euskaltel), wearing his most-treasured, polka-dot jersey that he brought from home, his prize for winning all the mountain stages and now only a few days away from his retirement from cycling. It was worth the wait for the fans with a spectacular mid-mountain stage of 185.5 kilometres that was covered in a faster time than expected by the organisers and with the final result being a sprint finish - not your typical ending to a modern-day cycling race that goes on for three weeks.

Today (Friday 23 August) all the Vuelta participants will take to the stage once more in Malaga province. The ceremonial start will be at 1.10pm in Archidona, but the real start to this stage will be a quarter of an hour later along the A-782 towards Jédula. Shortly afterwards, the pack will enter the province of Cordoba and will finish in the provincial capital of the Mezquita after 180 kilometres of hard pedalling.