Vuelta a Espana 2016: Stage 14

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January 1 - September 11, Urdax, Spain, Road - WorldTour

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Welcome to our live coverage of stage 14 - the queen stage - of the Vuelta a España: 196km from Urdax to the Col d'Aubisque summit finish in France.

 

Hello there, good morning, and a warm welcome to Cyclingnews’ live race centre.

They’re calling this one the ‘queen stage’. Here’s why:

The team buses have arrived in Urdax and the riders are, somewhat apprehensively, going through the pre-race routines. They will roll out just before 12pm local time, with racing proper getting underway around 15 minutes later.

That means you have plenty of time to read this in-depth preview from Alasdair Fotheringham, who is driving along in the direction of the Aubisque as we speak.

A reminder of the GC standings after 13 stages:

And here's our race leader, Nairo Quintana, with today's stage profile taped prominently on his stem

Before we get going, how about a re-cap of what happened yesterday? Here's our stage 13 report, with photos, results, and highlights:

Today's jersey wearers:

The riders have just rolled out of Urdax and are making their way through this fairly lengthy neutralised zone. 

We're still in the neutral zone. There'll be no shortage of ambition to be in today's break, so we could see a frantic start to proceedings. 

While we continue to wait for the flag to drop, why not have a read of Robert Millar's latest blog for CN?

And we're off! The riders reach KM0 and the race director waves the flag to declare the race underway. 

Omar Fraile, prominent at the front for the entirety of that neutral zone, takes off immediately as the race strings out on a light downhill section. 

A hard one to police on the downhill, but onto the flat now and a couple of small groups link up with Fraile to form a sizeable breakaway group. Will they be allowed to stay away? Who else will try and jump across?

Things come back together before Fraile goes again with Luis Leon Sanchez. This looks like it could take a while for a breakaway to form. 

Air-time hunters from smaller teams, mountains points seekers, teammates of the GC leaders looking to strategically position themselves; there are plenty of riders who'd like to be in a break today. 

FDJ's Odd Christian Eiking is joined by Magnus Cort (Orica-BikeExchange) to form a Scandinavian duo with a small gap at the head of the race. 

183km remaining from 196km

The peloton strings out into a long line as the various groups all come back together. 

A large group of riders clip off the front once again but they're not given much leeway from Team Sky, who are lined out at the front of the peloton. 

This is an interesting one. There are at least 40 riders in this front group and they've opened up a gap of 45 seconds. Sky continue to chase. 

It's Movistar followed by Sky in the peloton but the pace isn't too high at the moment and consequently the big breakaway group is gaining time. 

Sky have David Lopez in the break, just hanging at the back, but Movistar have two or three, it seems. One of them is Dani Moreno, who is 12th overall at 5:38.

We'll get you the full list of names in this breakaway shortly, but they're ticking along really nicely at the moment. Breakaways aren't usually this big, but they've organised this into a pretty slick rotation. 

166km remaining from 196km

Tejay van Garderen is in there, as is Pierre Rolland, who is just sheltering at the back without contributing to the pace-setting. 

Here we go then. These are the breakaway men:

As mentioned, Moreno is the best-placed at 5:38, while Sergio Pardilla is two places back in 14th at 5:55.

156km remaining from 196km

Sky still lead the peloton, with six riders in front of Froome. They're doing their best to contain this one but the gap is nearly four minutes now. 

We are now on the approach to the first climb of the day, and this is what it looks like. 

146km remaining from 196km

The breakaway riders are onto the climb and are currently slowing as they hit the early double-digit gradients. We await the first selections from this big group.

143km remaining from 196km

No attacks just yet in the breakaway as they make their way up the narrow road that makes up this climb. It's Campenaerts who's setting the pace on the front at the moment. He has strong climbers Robert Gesink and George Bennett as his teammates in the break. 

'The hardest Grand Tour stage of the season'

140km remaining from 196km

Who's going to win this stage? Will Movistar make this situation count? Will we see big GC time gaps?

Just a few kilometres remaining of this striking climb. Sky still working pretty hard - they might find themselves on the front for most of the day. There are a few struggling on the back of the breakaway but it seems the major shake-ups will wait for the other climbs on today's menu. 

This climb is a beauty to behold. Thanks to @lukascph for this screenshot from the TV coverage. 

Sky must be kicking themselves that they didn't emulate Movistar and get Leopold Konig in the break. If it carries on like this their resources will be considerably depleted by the time we reach the final climb, where Movistar should have a reasonably fresh Valverde and Quintana ready to launch an assault on Froome. 

The breakaway are approaching the summit of the Inharpu and soon they'll slug it out for mountains classification points. Fraile is third in the standings. 

And it's Fraile who lights it up, and no one can match the Spaniard. The FDJ duo of Geniez and Elissonde follow several bike lengths behind. 

Fraile sits up, happy with his work, but the FDJ boys kick again and they look keen to push on and open up a gap here on the descent. 

A reminder of the stage profile - the break has just crested the first climb.

Wow! This descent is narrow and hairy - especially when you take it like Geniez is doing. The Frenchman is still keen to push on with Fraile and Elissonde and he overcooks a corner, and it's so narrow that he is almost sent tumbling over the side of the road and down the hillside. 

Crash. Jacques Janse van Resnburg comes down on the exact same corner that nearly caught Geniez out. He's lying on the grass verge with ripped jersey. 

Rojas had a mechanical there, but he's back in the break now. 

126km remaining from 196km

124km remaining from 196km

The pace in the breakaway is high thanks to the impetus of Geniez and Elissonde.

Abandon: Kenneth Van Bilsen (Cofidis) leaves the race - he's been suffering with a stomach bug. 

112km remaining from 196km

And here's what the climb looks like. 

Fraile leads the Mountains Classification after collecting the maximum 10 points atop the Inharpu. 

Van Rensburg is in the peloton but looks pretty bashed up, and the way he's holding the bars with his left hand would seem to suggest he's in some discomfort. 

107km remaining from 196km

The riders are currently on the lower slopes of this long climb, which are pretty gentle. Things really start to become difficult when they pass Pierre Saint Martin - a place that'll be familiar to a certain Chris Froome...

98km remaining from 196km

With over 5000metres over vertical gain on today's menu, yesterday's racing - if you can call it that - was somewhat subdued. Nairo Quintana defended the tedious go-slow that saw the peloton roll in well behind the breakaway. Read his comments here:

A reminder of the breakaway composition:

93km remaining from 196km

This climb is beginning to take its toll, with riders getting dropped from both groups.

More abandons to report. Davide Malacarne (Astana), Johan Le Bon (FDJ) and Angel Madrazo (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA) have all climbed off. More details to follow. 

No real attacks or moves being made just yet in either group - just a pace-setting that's seeing some riders lose contact. 

89km remaining from 196km

Another plug for Alasdair Fotheringham's in-depth preview of today's stage, which will be culminating on the Col d'Aubisque later. 

Fraile moves to front of the breakaway - breaking Orica's control - towards the top of the Soudet. He'll be looking to increase his lead in the mountains classification standings. 

Fraile does indeed strike out for it, and Elissonde is quickly onto his wheel. It's those two with a clear gap. 

Fraile takes maximum points once again - Elissonde choosing not to sprint there. Lots of riders saving their energy for later on, where a stage victory is still a possibility. 

80km remaining from 196km

Sky - still - lead the peloton over the top of the climb, just under 4 minutes in arrears. 

There are some problems with the GPS systems but we're hearing that the gap between the still-large breakaway and the Sky-led peloton has grown out to just over 6 minutes. 

That makes Dani Moreno the virtual leader of the Vuelta. He started the day 5:38 down on teammate Quintana. Still no sign of panic from Sky, who continue to calmly go about their business. 

65km remaining from 196km

59km remaining from 196km

"When the organisers make the course so hard it sometimes has the opposite effect," says Movistar's Rory Sutherland, talking somewhat presciently this morning about the action in prospect.

It's still all-Orica at the front of the breakaway. The Australian team has been doing all the work up there for some time now. What has team leader Esteban Chaves got up his sleeve?

47km remaining from 196km

46km remaining from 196km

Simon Gerrans pulls off the front of the break after doing a huge amount of work in the valley. Rather more surprising is the sight of Omar Fraile, the new leader of the Mountains Classification, also off the back. 

Away from the Vuelta, Tom Boonen has just won the Brussels Cycling Classic, where none other than Marcel Kittel was part of his leadout train as he beat Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni. 

42km remaining from 196km

This climb may be short but it's starting to get tough - especially with all the climbing that's already in the legs. Five riders are starting to move clear at the head of the break as Losada loses contact. 

41km remaining from 196km

And Yates attacks! The young Brit quickly links up with his teammate Haig, and they're going to put the pressure on the other teams here. 

39km remaining from 196km

The break near the top of the climb, and with no Fraile in the frame, Elissonde skips away and helps himself to the 10 points on offer for the mountains classification. 

And now Yates goes solo. He thanks Haig for his efforts and kicks on. He still has teammates who were formerly in the break who will soon be able to lend a helping hand. 

Yates crests the climb and sees Keukeleire and Cort just over the brow of the hill. He links up with his teammates and now has 1:10 over the peloton now. Great work, this, from Orica. 

30km remaining from 196km

Orica's creativity forces Movistar into action, taking the pressure of Sky for the first time today. 

25km remaining from 196km

Correction: It's George Bennett in the leading group of six - not Gesink.

Meanwhile the Yates group, which is making its way past many of the breakaway remnants, has 1:25 over the peloton.

20km remaining from 196km

These are the men in the pursuit of our six leaders. With such a big climb still to come, they still have every chance of a stage win, and the gap is down to 40 seconds. 

18km remaining from 196km

17km remaining from 196km

16km remaining from 196km

The leaders remain together but they start to play a few games as the gap to the chasers narrows to 10 seconds. 

14km remaining from 196km

Yates gets out of the saddle and picks up the pace once again. He's riding impressively here, and his advantage is just under 1:30. Movistar lead the peloton up the climb but it's all calm in there for now. 

Will we see fireworks on the Aubsique? 

For a full take on what's in store on this climb, here's Alasdair Fotheringham with a preview:

11km remaining from 196km

10km remaining from 196km

And now the lead group splits up, with Elissonde and Bakelants kicking on, while Silin and De Clercq finding themselves in real difficulty. 

Gesink attacks! The Dutchman is in the second group on the road and, with the gap going up thanks to Elissonde's attack, he takes matters into his own hands. Pardilla, Moreno, and Lopez jump across. 

9km remaining from 196km

8km remaining from 196km

Samuel Sanchez attacks from the red jersey group. There's only 15 riders in there now after Movistar's pace-setting on the climb. 

What a ride from Gesink, who makes it over to the leaders in no time. He has a teammate in Bennett with him now. 

8km remaining from 196km

Froome is forced into action, Contador also looks to get on terms with the race leader. 

Froome closes it down. Just a short one from Quintana - a little test of his rivals' legs. 

No sign of Valverde in this red jersey group. The Spaniard has been dropped, it seems. 

Gesink attacks from the lead group now! The Lotto rider is clearly feeling good as he catches the others napping and quickly gets himself a sizeable gap. Bakelants is the only one who can react for now. 

6km remaining from 196km

5km remaining from 196km

Yates joins up with the chasing group, while Sanchez is joined by BMC teammate Ben Hermans to continue his attack ahead of the red jersey group

Quintana attacks again!

4km remaining from 196km

4km remaining from 196km

Quintana is still alone. Contador and Chaves are with Froome and Konig in a four-man chase group behind the race leader. 

3km remaining from 196km

Quintana links up with Moreno and they drive on again. Froome, now without Konig, puts in a real acceleration, with Contador in tow. 

And Froome shuts the Quintana move down. There's a small let-up, which allows Chaves to get back on, and then attack himself. 

2km remaining from 196km

Contador attacks!

The Spaniard has to swerve around a veering Froome but he skips clear and gets a gap. 

Quintana jumps across, Froome gets back on terms too. 

Contador dropped.

Quintana goes again!

Froome is equal to Quintana here but he's panting. This is great racing. 

1km remaining from 196km

Another attack from Quintana, but Froome shuts it down from the saddle. 

1km remaining from 196km

Contador could lose half a minute here.

Silin leads this one into the final 500 metres, but Gesink attacks now

Gesink has a gap but Silin is trying to close it down. Elissonde dropped. 

Robert Gesink wins stage 14 of the Vuelta a España

Eilssonde grabs second, Silin third. And now we watch the clock. 

Yates crosses 38 seconds down.

Froome and Quintana come into the final couple of hundred metres together. 

Quintana opens up the sprint and Froome has to respond, letting only the slimmest gap open up on the line. What a duel this Vuelta is between those two. 

Froome and Quintana were 1:48 down, while Contador was a further 20 seconds back. 

With no Valverde in the frame today, that pushes Yates up into third overall, by my calculations. We await the official results. 

Top 10

GC

General classification after stage 14

Vuelta a Espana: Gesink wins stage 14 atop Col d'Aubisque

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