Rafal Majka wins stage 14 as Froome retains lead
Rafal Majka (BORA-hansgrohe) took his first career win at the Vuelta Espana on the Hors Categorie Sierra de la Pandera summit finish. Froome retains lead as rivals lose more time
Former Polish national champion attacked ten kilometers to go on the HC summit finish of Sierra de la Pandera. Chris Froome (Team Sky) remained the overall leader.
The most difficult part of the 175 km fourteenth stage was the final climb of the Hors Categorie Sierra de la Pandera, twelve kilometers of climbing.
In the breakaway was Rafal Majka (BORA-hansgrohe), teammate - Patrick Konrad Alexis and nine other riders; Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Simon Clarke , Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Soudal), Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis), Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport) and Ricardo Vilela (Manzana Postobon).
There maximim lead was eight minutes, behind Trek-Segafredo, Astana and Katusha-Alpecin riders started to chase and brought the lead down quite rapidly.
On the penultimate climb of the Alto Valdepeñas de Jaén it was just over two minutes and only Majka, Costa, De Clercq and Konrad remained at the head of the race.
The final Hors-Category climb then caused further trouble and soon Majka was alone in front.
Behind, Astana set a high pace on the lower slopes, shredding the main peloton and dropping favorites like Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors) and Simon Yates (Orica-Scott).
Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) attacked with 4 kms to go and was followed by Richard Carapaz (Movistar). Then Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) bridged across to Bardet.
Behind Froome and Team Sky kept their own pace.
With 3 kms to go, Nibali attacked and only Contador could stay in his wheel, leaving the other two behind them.
With 2 kms to go the group of Froome, Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Chaves caught Nibali and Contador, and were soon joined by Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin).
During the last kilometre, Lopez attacked and went away and nobody reacted. Froome, Kelderman and Nibali rode together until the finish line dropping Chaves.
Majka crossed the finish line 27 ahead of Lopez.
In the General Classification, Chaves lost 26 seconds to the Froome group, dropping to the fifth position of the standings.
Froome stays at the top of the overall GC standings and is followed by Nibali and Kelderman.
Majka Jubilant
“I am so happy! But not just for me, also for my team BORA – hansgrohe. In the beginning of this Vuelta we suffered a lot, when the whole team had some stomach virus. My GC hopes were gone after just a few stages. But we all kept on fighting, never surrendered. With three podiums, we already had some strong results, but finally we got the win we wanted so desperately. Patrick did an amazing job today, and I knew I had to go early with all the big guys chasing behind. But my legs were really good today and I could control the race from the front on the last 10k. In the end I took this important win for my team BORA – hansgrohe. Now, with my legs finally coming good, I will try to take another stage in this very tough last week of the Vuelta.” said Majka
GC Rivals Lose Time
Wilco Kelderman and Ilnur Zakarin finished alongside Nibali and Froome to move up to third and fourth respectively overall as Esteban Chaves lost time to slip down to fifth.
Contador commented "Nibali attacked and I went with him, but I was waiting for Froome. I knew he was going to stay at his pace as usual, he caught us and attacked, but he couldn't drop us. In the end I paid a price in the last kilometre and that made me lose some seconds in a stage where I shouldn't have lost time."
Tomorrow's Stage 15 is Important, and Brutal
Tomorrow's Stage 15 in the Vuelta a España is short and sharp, and not one to be missed, the summit finish will surely see some dramatic racing.
The peloton will face over 2,800 metres of climbing finishing on the Haute category Alto Hoya de la Mora, after climbing over 28 kilometres.
“At the end of a really hard week it’s going to be one of the most decisive stages of this year’s Vuelta,” added Froome. “It’s at high altitude, it is a key stage in my mind, so it was important to keep something in reserve for tomorrow.”
2017 Vuelta a Espana Stage 14 Top Ten
1 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 4:42:10
2 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:00:27
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:31
4 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
6 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:00:37
8 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 0:00:46
9 Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott 0:00:57
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:01:03
2017 Vuelta a Espana GC after Stage 14
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 58:30:47
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 0:00:55
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:02:17
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 0:02:25
5 Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott 0:02:39
6 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:09
7 David de la Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:03:11
8 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 0:03:19
9 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 0:03:23
10 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:03:48