Hello and welcome to our live race coverage from stage 14 of the Vuelta a Espana.
Today is going to be a massive day in the Vuelta as we dip into the mountains for another key stage that includes three categorized climbs, including the new summit finish at Pico Villuercas.
The first half of the stage is relatively flat but it's all change with the Puerto Berzocama and Puerto Collado de Ballesteros coming in quick succession.
Right now the riders are on the start line and we'll begin the neutralized zone in about five minutes from now. Here's how things stand on GC coming into the stage.
Into the unknown as Vuelta a España tackles new summit finish at Pico Villuercas - Preview
On stage 13 we saw little fight for the break but that should be totally different today. The stage is up for grabs but so is the KOM jersey, and the GC. It's likely that there will be a huge battle just to get into the break.
And we're rolling on stage 14 of the Vuelta a Espana.
Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) leads the KOM competition with 31 points. He has a four point lead on Romain Bardet and that could be one of the most interesting sub plots during the stage. Neither rider are threats on GC and while Caruso already has a stage to his name in this year's race both him and Bardet will no doubt try and get in the break.
The first climb of the stage - the Puerto Berzocama - comes almost 100km into the action but we do have a few unclassified bumps before then. Most of the first half of the race is flat though.
Obviously it's all eyes on Roglic, who is the favourite for both the stage and the race lead but there's pressure on Movitar and Ineos too. The Spanish team have Mas and Lopez in contention, while Ineos are further back with Egan Bernal struggling to find his best form in this year's race. It's a significant day for the Giro d'Italia winner.
We're still in the neutralized zone and weaving through a few corners but the mood seems relatively relaxed given what's to come later on in the stage. Odd Christian Eiking is right near the front and in his leader's jersey. It's going to be a struggle to hold that position at the end of the stage but he won't just throw in the towel.
28° at the start according to reports but the weather has been a real issue in the race so far. Check out Alasdair Fotheringham's story on the conditions riders and teams have had to face in the race.
Fighting against the sun at the Vuelta a España
And we are racing on stage 14 of the Vuelta, as we exit the neutralized zone. And we have attacks from the gun just as we see Guillaume Martin come back through the cars. Not sure what happened there but he hasn't fallen. He's second on GC and could be a dark horse for the top-five overall. Class rider.
We've got a clutch of riders off the front already but the gap is relatively small, maybe just 5 seconds. There are nine riders in the move.
There's a lot of looking around at the front of the bunch as riders attack and then mark moves. Another couple of riders try and kick clear but that early move is just about hanging on.
The accelerations keep coming and this has been relentless so far. We've covered almost 10km and now there's a group of just under 20 riders clear of the peloton.
It's 18 riders and they have a 19 second gap at this point. Bardet is there, so too is Pidcock and Vine. No Caruso as far as I can see.
155km to go
Holmes, Vanmarcke and... Demare is in the break too. They have 29 seconds now with 155km to go.
No GC threats in the break though. Champoussin is the top placed rider but he's over 45 minutes down in the overall standings.
151km to go and the gap has stretched out to 1:10.
147km to go
The bunch ease up and that allows the break to drift out to just over two minutes with 147km to go.
ASO have confirmed the full extent of the riders in the break. There's some real quality in the move too:
Clément Champoussin, Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R-Citroën), Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fnix), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH), Aritz Bagües (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Jens Keukeleire (EF Educaiton Nippo), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Arnaud Démare, Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Sep Vanmarcke (Israel Start-Up Nation), Matthew Holmes (Lotto Soudal), Andrey Zeits (Team BikeExchange), Romain Bardet (Team DSM), Dylan Sunderland (Team Qhubeka NextHash) and Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates).
Big day for Tratnik who will need to mark Bardet on the climbs and try and sustain Caruso's lead in the KOM. The first climb is a third cat but the next one is a first category ascent.
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux have moved up and started to set the pace with the gap to the break at just over three minutes.
There's a bit of a cross-headwind out there at the moment it's nothing to trouble the riders out there as the gap moves out to over four minutes. We could get to double figures if this continues.
Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux are doing the work to at least limit the losses at the moment as the gap holds at 4'08 with 136km to go.
The gap continues to rise but it's still at a manageable five minutes.
129km to go
The break extend their advantage to 5'58.
The 18 leaders push their gap out to 6:14 and we could see Jumbo Visma move up if this creeps towards eight or nine minutes, just to keep a lid on things.
A reminder of the riders in the break. There are 18 of them.
Clément Champoussin, Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R-Citroën), Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fnix), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain Victorious), Dani Navarro (Burgos-BH), Aritz Bagües (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Jesus Herrada (Cofidis), Jens Keukeleire (EF Educaiton Nippo), Xabier Mikel Azparren (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Arnaud Démare, Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), Sep Vanmarcke (Israel Start-Up Nation), Matthew Holmes (Lotto Soudal), Andrey Zeits (Team BikeExchange), Romain Bardet (Team DSM), Dylan Sunderland (Team Qhubeka NextHash) and Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates)
118km to go
7:38 now for the leaders with 118km to go. There's still just one team on the front doing the work but that will surely change once we get closer to the first climb of the day.
Making the break 👊@Tompid is part of an 18 rider move that has a lead of over 7⃣ minutes after a frantic start to stage 14 #LaVuelta21 pic.twitter.com/WI75ScM8q8August 28, 2021
The road does gently start to climb from this point onwards as we head closer towards the final 100km of the stage. The gap just creeps over eight minutes for the first time.
No one from Movistar in the break today so the Spanish team are holding back their riders for the climbs today. Perhaps they'll take up the pace duties on the first two climbs but there is a long way between the Puerto Collado de Ballesteros and the finishing climb of Pico Villuercas.
103km to go and the gap is at 8'43.
In other news today Wout Van Aert has confirmed that he'll target the TT and road race at Worlds and that he will also aim for the green jersey in next year's Tour de France.
Van Aert to target road race and time trial at Worlds along with Tour de France green jersey in 2022
In other news:
Bahrain Victorious race Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France with just five riders due to Covid-19
We're into the final 100km of the stage and the gap is just about holding at under nine minutes as the road continues to climb. There's rather long and twisting descent to come before the road points upwards again and we reach the first of three climbs in the stage.
Bardet the best climber on paper in the break but there are a few very strong riders in the break, including Tratnik and Pidcock.
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We're off that short descent as the road begins to climb again as the gap extends to just over nine minutes.
The Puerto Berzocama is 7.7km in length and averages just over 5 per cent in terms of gradient. It's only a third cat climb but after such a hard start to the stage we could see some early splits. The 18-rider break will surely break apart too.
88km to go
88km to go and the gap to the break is now at 10'10. The stage is still in the balance but the peloton need to up the pace if they're to deny the break.
We're onto the lower slopes of the Puerto Berzocama now as the break continue to work well together. Surely Movistar or Jumbo Visma will lift the pace in the main field on this climb.
Bahrain have that rider in the break of course who will come into play as the team try and defend Caruso's slender lead in the KOM. The team also have Haig in sixth overall too.
Onto the climb and a few riders are back with their team cars to pick up fresh bottles in the break as Demare takes a turn on the front. 85km to go at this point.
It's still just Intermarche on the front of the peloton at this point and they are putting in a decent pace but the gap to the break is holding at just over 10 minutes.
5.3km to go on the climb and the 18 leaders are still together with 84km to go on the stage.
Behind Intermarche, Jumbo Visma have moved up with Roglic at the back of their train with the gap now at 10'11.
A few passengers in the break right now but that's no concern for Bardet who takes his pull and then comes through. He's probably the favourite for the stage at this point.
Carapaz right at the back of the bunch with 1.6km to go climb for the break. Intermarche are having a great race and they're doing an excellent job again today but with 80km to go and the gap still at 10'10 it looks as though the stage is edging closer towards the break. Only just though.
72km to go
The break are over the climb and onto this short descent. The gap is down to under ten minutes at 9'57 with 77km to go.
The descent is almost over and the break head towards the foot of the Puerto Collado de Ballesteros. It's just 2,8km in length but gradient averages 14 per cent with some sections at 20 per cent.
Bardet was first to the top of the last climb by the way so that means he's just one point down on Caruso in the KOM competition. The Frenchman looks favourite to pull on the jersey at the end of the day.
Demare picked up a single point on the third cat climb too, if that's of interest. The break are holding at 9'56 with 72km to go.
70km
70km to go and we see Jumbo Visma lead for the first time today. The gap is still at 9'49 and the entire break are still together as they start to climb again.
The break have about 2km to go on the Puerto Collado de Ballesteros and the road really thins out so positioning back in the peloton will be key. This section could decide if the break claim the stage as the pace from the peloton is lifted.
Holmes is on the front of the break as every rider gets out of the saddle on the 20 per cent sections.
Bardet will not want to go alone here, it's too far, and he'll want to just thin the group out and drop those weaker riders and passengers. No one has been dropped yet from the break.
Pidcock is hanging at the back of the break right now but he's just about keeping himself in contention. Vanmarcke is also in a lot of pain. The break have 9'27 with 68km to go.
Jumbo have really upped the pace and it's Gesink on the front right now as the peloton close in on the climb. They turn right and their positioning is perfect.
Riders at the back almost come to a standstill as Jumbo swarm the front of the bunch.
The break have lost a minute in about 10km with the gap down to 9'08 with 68km to go.
Bardet and Holmes trade turns on the front of the break, which stretches out as Vanmarcke really starts to suffer.
Holmes and Bardet are riding side by side and we could have less than 12 riders in the break at the top of the climb.
The break has split to pieces in the last 500m and Bardet has kicked clear.
Bardet will go over the top first and that will net him the lead in the KOM competition. He then sits up and waits for the rest of the break.
It's a really long descent and it should mean that the rest of the break make it back to the front of the race.
The bunch are starting to break up too and Jakobsen is among those riders dropped as Jumbo set the pace. Simmons is also on the front for Trek Segafredo.
We have about a dozen riders at the front but more and more riders are coming back. 64km to go.
The bunch are closing in on the summit of the climb and Van Baarle is there, along with Caruso and the Jumbo Visma squad. Mas, Lopez and Roglic are all in contention. Bernal is a bit further back but looks okay for now. 58km to go.