Vuelta a España stage 14: Romain Bardet attacks out of break for summit finish victory

Romain Bardet proved strongest of the breakaway to win stage 14 of the Vuelta a España on the Pico Villuercas summit Saturday.

Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) edged out Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix) in the two-man chase for second-place.

Vine had looked out of the race after falling heavily in a collision with a team car. The Aussie made a standout chase back to the breakaway after receiving roadside attention and was rewarded with his first grand tour podium placing.

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Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) retained his red jersey and there were no changes in the GC except for Miguel Ángel López (Movistar) clawing back four seconds in the chase for defending champion Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

Nicolas Prodhomme (Ag2r Citroën) had gone into the final 14.5-kilometer, 6.2 percent climb summit finish with a strong lead after attacking out of the day’s early break. The Frenchman lasted midway up the long grinding summit before Andrey Zeits (BikeExchange) and then Bardet (DSM) bridged across.

Bardet didn’t wait to attack his two rivals and motored clear at around 5km to go before Vine and Herrada caught Zeits and Prodhomme, and took up the pursuit. The pair pushed hard in the chase, but Bardet already had too much of a gap to be caught as he went on to score his fourth grand tour stage win.

Bardet’s win was DSM’s third victory of this year’s Vuelta. His winning attack also landed him the jersey for best climber, overhauling Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious).

“I had a feeling that no one wanted to commit in this breakaway, so I really had a hard time catching the man in the front,” Bardet said. “The spirit is super-high in the team, and everyone is still focused. We are already enjoying ourselves and we try to do our best every day. It’s an amazing Vuelta.”

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The GC favorites went on simmer in another scorching day in the saddle. Jumbo-Visma controlled the final hours of the race as few riders attempted to move.

Movistar attacked with López around 2km from the line. Jumbo-Visma kept the threat under control, allowing the Colombian only a few seconds before Roglič led a powerful pursuit to lead a group over the line just four seconds behind López.

Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty) held strong under pressure from Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) to retain his red jersey.

Bardet dropped before catching back to front of race

Bardet, Vine and Herrada had all moved into the day’s 18-man break.

Matt Holmes (Lotto-Soudal), Nicolas Prodhomme (Ag2r Citroën) and Daniel Navarro (Burgos-BH) were first to spark the attacks from the strong escape group, clipping off the front at 50km to go.

Holmes lost contact due to a puncture but motored his way back to the group before around a dozen of the original break – including Bardet, Vine and Herrada – made contact to form a large lead group at the front.

Prodhomme attacked again on the steep downhill ahead of the final climb and took over one-minute of a lead into the summit finish.

Vine had a nasty crash when he tangled with a team car when collecting a bottle at around 45km to go. The young Aussie received roadside treatment before making a massive chase back to the group chasing Prodhomme as the race bounced into the cat.1 finale.

More mountains to come Sunday

The peloton faces another hot, grueling day in the saddle through Spain’s central mountains Sunday. Four categorized climbs and nearly 200km will round out the race’s second week before a rest day Monday.