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Sunday, September 1, 2024

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2024 Tour de France | 2024 Giro d'Italia

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Current racing:

• August 17 - Sept 8: Vuelta a España
• August 28 - September 1: Renewi Tour
  

Upcoming racing:

• September 3 - 8: Tour of Britain
• September 8: Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec

Latest completed racing:

• August 25: Bretagne Classic Ouest-France
• August 20 - 23: Tour du Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle Aquitaine
• August 12 - 18: Tour of Poland
• August 14 - 18: PostNord Denmark Rundt
• August 13 - 16: Tour du Limousin
• August 11: La Polynormande
• August 10: Clasica San Sebastian
• August 5 - 9: Vuelta a Burgos
• August 4 - 7: Arctic Race of Norway
• July 27 - August 4: Olympic cycling

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Vuelta a España stage 14 reports

We posted the report from the race organizer with the results.

Here's the report from stage 14 second-place Wout van Aert's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Wout van Aert finished the fourteenth stage of the Vuelta a España in second place. Team Visma | Lease a Bike controlled the stage from start to finish. In a group sprint, Van Aert was narrowly beaten by Kaden Groves. Along the way, the Belgian again managed to take points for the mountain classification.

Wout van Aert after his team was presented before the stage start. Sirotti photo

The riders set off in Villafranco del Bierzo for the longest stage in the Tour of Spain. Van Aert started the 200-kilometre stage as leader of both the points and KOM classification. After the start it immediately went uphill. Six riders were able to form the early breakaway. The six got little breathing space from the peloton, in which Team Visma | Lease a Bike imposed a high pace. The yellow-black formation had set its sights on the stage win. 

In the finale, the ascent of the 23-kilometre Puerto de Leitariegos awaited. Green jersey wearer Van Aert saw his teammates apply pressure in the peloton. After long pulls by Edoardo Affini, Robert Gesink, Cian Uijtdebroeks and Steven Kruijswijk, the escapees were reeled in. The average gradient of 4.5 per cent did not pose too much of a problem for the sprinters. At the summit, Van Aert took the maximum points for the KOM standings. He has now double the amount of points of Jay Vine and Marc Soler, who share second place. 

A large group was preparing for a sprint in arrival place Villablino. Van Aert came on strong, but his Australian rival had an ultimate acceleration in store in the closing metres. “I feel disappointment, especially because of all the hard work my teammates put in today”, Van Aert said afterwards. “And at the same time I am very proud of the way we started this ride as a team. I didn't expect so many sprinters to survive the final climb. Towards the sprint I had a lot of confidence, but Groves turned out to be slightly stronger today.” 

“It was a stage where no team wanted to take control, but we did”, he added. “It's a pity I couldn't reward my teammates with another win, but we can look back on a great piece of teamwork. We executed the plan down to the last detail. I am immensely proud of that.”

Here's the report from third-place Corbin Strong's Team Israel-Premier Tech:

Corbin Strong sprinted to third place on stage 14 of the Vuelta a España after teammate Marco Frigo animated the stage with a daring breakaway attempt.

“I thought this was a really good stage for me,” Strong said after the finish line and revealed; “I have been battling a bit of sickness since the first rest day, and I haven’t had the best legs, so it was really nice to be up there today.”

The stage started at a furious pace, with countless attacks and counterattacks. Having picked today as a good day to try his luck from a breakaway, Frigo was eager to make it into the right group. And he did just that.

Unfortunately, the peloton never let the break get a gap of more than a few minutes, and towards the top of the final climb, it all came back together. From here on, the IPT riders rallied around Strong to set him up for the final sprint.

Kaden Groves win the stage. Corbin Strong is just behind second-place Wout van Aert. Sirotti photo

“The team was great, and George Bennett did a really good job in the final kilometers. Unfortunately, I lost a few positions in the run-in to the last corner, so I had to start my sprint from seventh or eighth wheel.

“I’m really happy with my third place, but I would have had a much better chance of winning had I started my sprint on the wheel of Van Aert [2nd] or Groves [1st]. Hopefully, I can improve my positioning in the coming days and have another shot at it.”

Today’s third place is Strong’s second podium spot in this year’s Vuelta a España. Bennett remains the best-placed IPT rider in the general classification, in 12th place.

Here's the Vuelta report from eighth-place Arjen Livyns' Team Lotto Dstny:

Today's stage, from Villafranco del Bierzo to Villablino, was also the longest of this Vuelta at 200.5 kilometers. Along the way, the peloton faced two climbs and over 2,876 meters of elevation gain. "Especially that last one, 22 kilometers long, felt like a slow 'strangulation' until the top," Arjen Livyns joked.

"Since Lennert (Van Eetvelt) left the Vuelta, we had to reassess the race to see where our opportunities still lay. For me, that turned out to be in stage 14. After my escape in stage 11, I tried to take it as easy as possible for two days to recover as much as possible for today."

The peloton descends the Puerto De Leitariegos. Sirotti photo

And that strategy seemed to work. After a fast-paced race, Arjen Livyns sprinted to a strong top ten finish. "Initially, I actually tried to be part of the breakaway. The day began with another long battle to secure a spot in it. We absolutely had to have someone in the break. Everyone tried, more than once even. I did too. But it was ultimately Victor (Campenaerts) who had the right legs. The group stayed ahead for a while, but when Visma-Lease a bike started controlling the race, we knew the breakaway wouldn’t last."

"In the lead-up to the final climb, Jonas (Gregaard) positioned me well at the front. It was up to me to survive those 22 kilometers… I managed to hang on and reposition myself a bit during the descent, but in the last kilometer, I felt that I had spent my best energy on that climb. Nevertheless, I'm very happy to start the second weekend of my first Grand Tour with another top ten finish."

Here's the Vuelta report from Mikel Landa's Team Soudal Quick-Step:

The longest stage of this year’s race, 200.5 kilometers from Villafranca del Bierzo to Vilabino, was one that on paper should have belonged to a breakaway. That’s also what the six men who attacked after the start had in mind, but they soon found out the peloton had other plans, allowing them to take their maximum advantage to just two minutes.

Puerto de Leitariegos, a 22.8km first-category climb averaging 4.5% was the main difficulty of the day, and it was there that the escapees were pegged back. Before the top, T-Rex Quick-Step’s Mattia Cattaneo moved to the front to position Mikel Landa for the descent, where the reduced bunch remained as one until the finish. There, Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took the victory, as Landa concluded in the same time and kept his place in the top five.

Team Soudal Quick-Step after their pre-race presentation. Sirotti photo

The last stage of the second week will bring one of the hardest climbs of this edition, Cuitu Negru, which returns for the first time since 2012, when our team celebrated a memorable win of Dario Cataldo from the breakaway.

Here's the Vuelta stage 14 report from Team Groupama-FDJ:

Stage 14 of the Vuelta a Espana had a bit of an unexpected outcome this Saturday. After two hundred kilometres of racing and despite a long, rolling climb approaching the finish, the winner came from…  a bunch sprint. Kaden Groves claimed victory, Quentin Pacher finished fourteenth, and David Gaudu obviously kept his ninth place overall. Sunday, a great fight should occur on the slopes of the mighty Cuitu Negru.

Team Groupama-FDJ riders before the stage start. Sirotti photo

For the first and only time on this 2024 Vuelta, the peloton was about to get over the 200-kilometer mark this Saturday. A long day was therefore looming between Villafranco del Bierzo and Villablino, and everything suggested that a breakaway would once again make it. However, the pre-race plans were disrupted by the team of Wout van Aert, in the lead of the points and mountains classifications.

“We could clearly see at the start that they were trying to control, and that a rider like Stefan didn’t really have the opportunity to make his way to the front,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “It went very fast for over an hour, and when a group of six finally went away, they immediately took command. We understood that it wasn’t worth insisting. We were hoping for a different scenario today, but it still was a possible alternative.” After fifty kilometres, Jhonatan Narvaez (INEOS Grenadiers), Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates), Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny) and Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) managed to go clear, but their lead was limited to 2’30.

After covering two long valleys and the day’s first difficulty, the peloton even tackled the long climb of the Puerto de Leitariegos (23 km at 4.5%) just one minute behind the break. The fugitives surrendered one after the other, Narvaez being the last one twenty kilometres from the finish, meaning three kilometres from the summit. “We hoped that the bunch would climb a bit faster, in order to be reduced to some fifty riders, but in the end, there were still eighty of them, including all the sprinters or almost”, added Thierry. “In this scenario, we knew that it would be difficult. Stefan tried to join the sprint, but he didn’t have the opening he would have liked.”

The Swiss rider eventually crossed the line in seventeenth position, three places behind Quentin Pacher (14th) and four ahead of his leader David Gaudu (21st). “We had targeted this stage, we could have won it, but in the end it finished with a sprint”, said Thierry. “It’s a lost opportunity, but it’s also a good day for David who could recover a bit. The day’s good news is that we’re going to get Rémy back, as he was feeling much better today.”

Obviously, no changes occurred in the general classification, but such a conclusion should not happen tomorrow evening, after climbing the Cuitu Negru (19 km at 7%; last 3k at 13%). “There will probably be one race for the break and the other for the GC, but it will be a big day for the favorites in any case,” added Thierry. “David is now in position in the general classification, so we will try to help him as much as possible and hope that he will be a key player in the final.”

Here's the stage 14 report from Filippo Baroncini's UAE Team Emirates:

Filippo Baroncini took his second top-10 result of this Vuelta España with the Italian taking 6th sprint in a reduced group finish. A surprisingly large group of some 60 riders came to the line on the mountainous stage from Villafranco del Bierzo to Villablino (200.5km) where Kaden Groves (Deceuninck Alpecin) took the win.

The peloton on the Puerto-De-Cerredo. Sirotti photo

Isaac Del Toro went on the offensive early on to form part of the days breakaway, though the group was never given more than a handful of minutes leeway from the chasing pack.

UAE Team Emirates continue to lead the teams classification heading into stage 15 tomorrow from Infiesto to Valgrande-Pajares Cuitu Negru (143km).

Here's the Vuelta report from Jhonatan Narvaez's Team INEOS Grenadiers:

Jhonatan Narvaez put in a great effort on stage 14 of La Vuelta a Espana to be the last man standing from a six-rider breakaway.

The day was ridden at a high pace, with Narvaez active off the front from the off. Eventually, a six-man move, including the Ecuadorian, got a gap, but was never given more than 2'30" by the Visma - Lease-a-Bike controlled peloton.

On the main test of the day, the category one Puerto de Leitariegos, and Narvaez would whittle his group down. First to three, then two, before venally going solo in an attempt to stay clear of the peloton.

Despite some strong riding from Jhony, he was unable to do so, and was caught by the bunch shortly before the summit.

Jhonatan Narvaez alone on the last climb of the day, before he was caught.

The day would be won by Karen Groves (Alpecin Deceuninck) in a reduced bunch sprint.

Stage four of Renewi Tour also took place today, with a a crash marring the final kilometre. All of the Grenadiers were able to safely cross the finish line, and the race concludes tomorrow on a tough day that includes the fearsome slops of the Muur.

And here's the Vuelta report from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL:

Saturday’s action at the Vuelta a España saw the peloton take on the longest stage of the race, with a 200 kilometre route from Villafranco del Bierzo to Villablino. The main difficulty for the day was the ascent of Puerto de Leitariegos, a 23 kilometre climb with an average gradient of four and a half percent, which summited at around 17 kilometres to go. With it too easy for the GC riders, the main question pre-stage was if it would be yet another day for the break or one that might be controlled for some type of sprint finish.

It was a fast start with an hour of attacking before things eventually calmed down when a six-rider move clipped off the front. Behind the peloton set out their stall and began to set tempo, not allowing the breakaway’s advantage to grow any further out than two minutes and 30 seconds. As the kilometres progressed the gap began to dwindle and as they hit the final climb of the day it stood at just one minute. A strong but steady pace was set on the climb and the break was eventually caught, while it began a race of attrition in the peloton, with the team riding well as a unit to position Pavel Bittner as well as possible. Approaching the top of the ascent, Bittner just lost contact with the bag of the peloton but with the help from Martijn Tusveld he was able to return on the descent, where they joined up with Max Poole. With the fast finale approaching, Poole and Tusveld brought Bittner forward and dropped him off in a good wheel ahead of the last corner. The final straight then kicked up all the way to the line and despite giving it his all, Bittner had to sit back down in the saddle at around 200 metres to go; after a brilliant effort to even get there to compete for the finish.

Pavel Bittner after winning stage 5. Sirotti photo

Speaking after the stage Bittner expressed: “It was a fast and attacking start but when the group of six went, we knew already that Visma would control it and try bring it back. I actually thought they might have went a bit harder on the climb to get rid of some more guys, but in the end they managed to catch everyone from the break anyway. We wanted to see if I could get over the climb but it was really hard and at one point I didn’t think I’d get over. I just lost contact before the top but had Martijn with me and we made it back in the very first part of the descent. Max and Martijn did their best to try and position me but we had a bit of miscommunication at one point, but in the end I was in Van Aert’s wheel for the last corner. It was a long gradual drag to the line and I tried everything I could but just ran out of legs in the last 200 metres and had nothing left, so it wasn’t meant to be today.”

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