Stage 14 of the Vuelta a Espana had a bit of an unexpected outcome this Saturday. After two hundred kilometres of racing and despite a long, rolling climb approaching the finish, the winner came from… a bunch sprint. Kaden Groves claimed victory, Quentin Pacher finished fourteenth, and David Gaudu obviously kept his ninth place overall. Sunday, a great fight should occur on the slopes of the mighty Cuitu Negru.
For the first and only time on this 2024 Vuelta, the peloton was about to get over the 200-kilometer mark this Saturday. A long day was therefore looming between Villafranco del Bierzo and Villablino, and everything suggested that a breakaway would once again make it. However, the pre-race plans were disrupted by the team of Wout van Aert, in the lead of the points and mountains classifications. “We could clearly see at the start that they were trying to control, and that a rider like Stefan didn’t really have the opportunity to make his way to the front,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “It went very fast for over an hour, and when a group of six finally went away, they immediately took command. We understood that it wasn’t worth insisting. We were hoping for a different scenario today, but it still was a possible alternative.” After fifty kilometres, Jhonatan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers), Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) and Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) managed to go clear, but their lead was limited to 2’30.
“Rémy was feeling much better today”, Thierry Bricaud
After covering two long valleys and the day’s first difficulty, the peloton even tackled the long climb of the Puerto de Leitariegos (23 km at 4.5%) just one minute behind the break. The fugitives surrendered one after the other, Narvaez being the last one twenty kilometres from the finish, meaning three kilometres from the summit. “We hoped that the bunch would climb a bit faster, in order to be reduced to some fifty riders, but in the end, there were still eighty of them, including all the sprinters or almost”, added Thierry. “In this scenario, we knew that it would be difficult. Stefan tried to join the sprint, but he didn’t have the opening he would have liked.” The Swiss rider eventually crossed the line in seventeenth position, three places behind Quentin Pacher (14th) and four ahead of his leader David Gaudu (21st). “We had targeted this stage, we could have won it, but in the end it finished with a sprint”, said Thierry. “It’s a lost opportunity, but it’s also a good day for David who could recover a bit. The day’s good news is that we’re going to get Rémy back, as he was feeling much better today.”
Obviously, no changes occurred in the general classification, but such a conclusion should not happen tomorrow evening, after climbing the Cuitu Negru (19 km at 7%; last 3k at 13%). “There will probably be one race for the break and the other for the GC, but it will be a big day for the favorites in any case,” added Thierry. “David is now in position in the general classification, so we will try to help him as much as possible and hope that he will be a key player in the final.”
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