Vuelta: Stage 14

Fireworks in the GC battle as Rafał Majka solos to a powerful victory and Nibali takes a few seconds off Froome

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Vuelta: Stage 14

Poland’s Rafal Majka climbed to victory on Stage 14 of the Vuelta a España whilst Chris Froome saw his lead cut slightly by Vincenzo Nibali who took four bonus seconds.

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Majka (BORA-hansgrohe) formed part of a 10-man escape group early in the day but moved into a lone lead 2km into the 12km climb to the summit finish at Sierra de la Pandera and hung on to win by 27 seconds.

After a lot of attacking in the GC group, Miguel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) attacked out of a heavily reduced GC group with 1.8km to go to claim second place, while Nibali (Bahrain Merida) finished just ahead of Froome (Team Sky) in third but on the same time, both 31 seconds back.

Nibali’s late acceleration to snatch third place earned him four bonus seconds, which means he cuts Froome’s lead at the top of the general classification from 59 seconds to 55.
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The day’s biggest loser was Esteban Chaves (ORICA-SCOTT), who looked fresh when he attacked with just under 4km to go but later cracked and lost 26 seconds to his rivals, which sees him drop from third to fifth overall. The Colombian is replaced on the final step of the podium by Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb), who finished with Froome and Nibali to stay 2’17” down on the race leader.

Nibali was the day’s chief aggressor and briefly opened up a lead of just over 10 seconds on Froome with a trio of accelerations, along with Alberto Contador, between 4km and 3km to go, but the Team Sky rider caught back up and limited his losses to just four bonus seconds.

Reactions

Rafal Majka (BORA-hansgrohe) “I feel great, really. I crashed at the Tour, Tour of Poland I am second, I came to the Vuelta for the GC but then I was sick and I almost went home. Now I’m so happy. I am not happy because I won; I am happy for my team-mates because today we did a very good job and the team all the time trusted in me”.

“I was really confident. I had really good legs, and actually my team-mate Patrick Konrad did a really great job. When I saw Costa with me and another one, I went for first position because if I wait, it’s too late. With 10km to go, I knew I needed to go full gas, like a time trial. Now my legs are coming and also motivation, so we will try another one.”

Chris Froome (Team Sky) “I think it was, actually, a fantastic stage for us. The guys didn’t panic when the big attacks came from [Esteban] Chaves, Nibali and [Alberto] Contador. We didn’t panic. We stayed together, paced really well and I think we can be pretty happy with what we did today.”

“It was a dangerous day. We had real fireworks in a stage like this in the past, but I think we managed today really well. Given that we have two back-to-back really hard days and tomorrow is the last one before the rest day, with even a harder finish than today, today we rode with tomorrow in mind.

“The guys saved a bit the legs today. We didn’t do too much work because other teams came to ride and we had things under control. Tomorrow is a massive day, even if it’s shorter, so we expect some fireworks.”

Esteban Chaves (Orica Scott): “I attacked between four kilometres to three (to go) because I watched a video this morning and I knew it’s the hardest (part of the) climb,” Chaves said. “But after the attack, I paid for that and lost time at the finish line.”

“I think the best tactic was by Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team), and also Stevo (sport director Neil Stephens) told me that tactic, but I didn’t listen and went on feelings. The teams, Bahrain, Trek and also Astana, set a really good rhythm 50km from the finish line. I think there wasn’t one guy in the peloton that wasn’t suffering.”

Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb): “It wasn’t a great start to the day with Sam not feeling well. It was pretty hectic and it was hard to focus with such a bad moment going on for us.

He helped me a lot and to loose him is a huge disappointment for the team but we will continue to fight for a good result here. The rest of the team did a great job to bring me into the final climbs in a good position.

When the other GC guys started to attack I just rode my own pace and I always came back to the group which was perfect. It was a perfect day, the legs were good and I’m happy to move up to 3rd with the best guys.”

Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana): “I have to thank my Team because everyone did a great job – said Miguel Angel Lopez after the stage – the last climb was long and difficult but, just for a few seconds, we missed to catch the breakaway… otherwise it could have been my second victory in this Vuelta.”

“Let’s continue to interpret this race step by step – continued the Colombian – stage by stage and we will see in Madrid what we have been able to do… from my side, I have good legs and I can say, even as a consequence of all the troubles and injuries I had earlier this year, I’m probably one of the most ‘athletically rested’ guy among the GC contenders.”

Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida): “(Chris) Froome is strong, he’s proved it. He’s had a great team supporting him. In the last climb we could try something different. Astana worked very well, (Alberto) Contador too. We’re all trying, but Froome is very strong.”
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Alberto Contador: (Trek Segafredo) “It was a very difficult day with a lot of wind, and I made a mistake in the last kilometre. I moved to the front too early and, as a result, I lost a few seconds on the finish line. But in general, it was a good stage. We have taken another small step forward, even if there are still quite a few riders in front of me.”

“With Nibali, I didn’t take too much responsibility because it was a very difficult climb with a lot of hairpins, and it was important not to waste too much strength.”

Lagging some lengths back, race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) did not respond immediately, although Contador explained, “I don’t think Froome was in difficulty today. No one should be surprised by his way of racing. When he drops back a bit, it is because it is his way of climbing. It doesn’t mean he is going badly.”

“It was a day of hard work for everybody, and we will see how we recover overnight. It could be a very, very difficult stage, and we will see what happens. If people take risks, the differences will be enormous.”

Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac), leader of the KOM classification: “Today again there were important KOM points up for grabs. I managed to win atop the first two climbs and I’m very happy with this. I did it with the help of Simon Clarke who won that jersey in the past (in 2012). Climbing the last hill on a slow rhythm, we spoke about how to win this classification at La Vuelta. I have a good advisor here.”

Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac): “I’m very happy, very proud. The team is riding well, they’re positioning me well and they believe in me. That’s sweet. The big goal for me is to win a stage. That’s still the main goal. And hopefully I can keep my position in the top 10 of the overall classification.”

Nicolas Roche: (BMC) “I hung in there for quite a bit but in that last 5km when they started really going for it, I let the better guys go ahead and just took my rhythm to not explode and lose too much time on the final kilometres of today.

Today was, as expected, a very, very tough day. It’s a brutal last 7km. Tomorrow is harder again. It’s really tough. One, the altitude as it’s 1600m, but then Hazallanas in the middle, Alto del Purche and Alto Hoya de la Mora. Most of the years we do one or the other as the final climb but this year, we have all three of them.”

“Obviously I lost a little bit more time today. My battle for the top ten is still there. It’s tougher day after day, I think I might have lost another position today and I think that the four minutes [lost] from the other day is going to make it hard to be around that 10th position.

But, there’s only basically a week of racing to go so I’m going to try and hang in there and be in the top ten or as close as possible. I don’t want to give up. I want to ride GC all the way and I’m just going to fight and see where I end up.”

Rui Costa (UAE Emirates), said: “It was important that we had one person in the breakaway. It was a group of several riders in the front and we took advantage of that. We knew Majka was stronger than most of us in this kind of stage finish and his teammates did a great job in supporting him throughout.

With regards to my performance, I am not back to my best form yet following the crash and I am hoping to have a good day during the last week and win a stage.”

The Vuelta continues on Sunday with a 129km 15th stage ending with an especial-category summit finish on Alto Hoya de la Mora in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Stage 14
1. Rafał Majka BORA – hansgrohe 2:10
2. Miguel López Astana Pro Team 0:27
3. Vincenzo Nibali Bahrain Merida Pro Cycling Team 0:31
4. Chris Froome Team Sky
5. Ilnur Zakarin Team Katusha – Alpecin
6. Wilco Kelderman, Team Sunweb
7. Alberto Contador, Trek – Segafredo 0:37
8. Wout Poels Team Sky 0:46
9. Esteban Chaves ORICA-Scott 0:57
10. Fabio Aru Astana Pro Team 1:03

11. Michael Woods Cannondale-Drapac 1:13
13. Romain Bardet AG2R La Mondiale
15. David de la Cruz Quick-Step Floors
16. Steven Kruijswijk Team LottoNL-Jumbo
17. Tejay van Garderen BMC Racing Team 1:43
19. Nicolas Roche BMC Racing Team 2:15
21. Louis Meintjes UAE Team Emirates 3:01
38. Simon Yates ORICA-Scott 12:29
96. Adam Yates ORICA-Scott 24:31

Overall
1. Chris Froome Team Sky2058:30:47
2. Vincenzo Nibali Bahrain Merida 0:55
3. Wilco Kelderman Team Sunweb 2:17
4. Ilnur Zakarin Team Katusha – Alpecin 2:25
5. Esteban Chaves ORICA-Scott 2:39
6. Fabio Aru Astana Pro Team 3:09
7. David de la Cruz Quick-Step Floors 3:11
8. Alberto Contador Trek – Segafredo 3:19
9. Michael Woods Cannondale-Drapac 3:23
10. Miguel López Astana Pro Team 3:48
11. Wout Poels Team Sky 5:16
12. Tejay van Garderen BMC Racing Team 5:44
13. Nicolas Roche BMC Racing Team 6:09
14. Steven Kruijswijk Team LottoNL-Jumbo 6:38
15. Louis Meintjes UAE Team Emirates 8:56
16. Sergio Pardilla Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 12:46
17. Mikel Nieve Team Sky 15:49
18. Igor Anton Dimension Data 22:27
19. Daniel Moreno Movistar Team 24:52
20. Romain Bardet AG2R La Mondiale 30:05

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