Date: Saturday 31 August, 2024
Distance: 200.5km
Start location: Villafranca del Bierzo
Finish location: Villablino
Start time: 12:25 CEST
Finish time (approx): 17:16 CEST
Located in the northwest of Castile y León is the winegrowing region of Bierzo. Cooled by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and sheltered by the Cantabrian Mountains to the north, this area has a hospitable climate for vineyards to flourish, where red wine from the Mencia grape variety is grown. The soil, too, is distinguished by its predominance of slate and granite, which gives the wine a distinctly mineral character compared with other wines grown in Castile y León. Designated a protected DO status in 1989, Bierzo wines have become increasingly popular around Spain, especially since the popular winemaker Alvaro Palacios began growing their own variety here.
Stage 14 of the Vuelta a España will begin in Villafranca del Bierzo, a small town within this wine region. Having first been occupied by pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela in the ninth century, French pilgrims began to settle here, giving Villafranca its name (which translates as ‘French town’). A monastery of the French Cluniac order was established here in 1070 to cultivate wine, and some of the mediaeval architecture from that time survives today.
The riders will head out from the vineyards of Bierzo and up towards the southern slopes of the Cantabrian mountains for another stage of climbing. The first of the day’s two climbs, the category three Puerto de Cerredo, is officially only 7km long, but pretty much all of the 95km that precede it is gently uphill, which will slowly wear at the riders’ legs. They’ll have time to recover on another long, shallow 60km descent, which takes them to the foot of the final and most difficult test of the day, Puerto de Leitariegos.
Puerto de Leitariegos has been assigned a category one rating on account of its length rather than steepness. In keeping for a day that’s all about endurance (the only stage of the race to exceed 200km), it is a steady climb that rises relentlessly for 23km, never above 7%, but only rarely dipping beneath 4%. These aren't the gradients that will ignite GC attacks, but could catch someone out if they’re on a bad day.
If there is to be GC action, it might occur on the descent rather than the ascent. After cresting Puerto de Leitariegos, the riders will plummet downhill for about 13km before the road levels out for the final 3km to the finish at Villablino. This stage might not be as hard as the two that precede it, and certainly not the upcoming back-to-back huge summit finishes to come in the next two, but GC contenders who back themselves on the downhills and sense potential weakness in their rivals might make a surprise move in search of some time gains.
Stage profile sourced via Vuelta website
Contenders
With a big mountain day following on stage 15 before the second rest day, we expect a breakaway to be allowed up the road again here. There are still a few teams yet to secure success at this Vuelta and many representatives of those teams will want to be in the break. Most notably, Ineos Grenadiers will want to send a rider up the road and that'll most likely be Jhonatan Narváez, who we've seen get into the break in several stages. The same could be said for Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), who has animated this race with his attacks, as has Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates).
Max Poole (Team DSM-Fermenich PostNL) has been riding well after dropping out of GC contention. In his quest for a stage win, he's coming so close with a third and second place, but he is just missing that stage victory. Filippo Zana (Jayco Alula) could be the man to deliver the team's second stage win in this race. He placed sixth behind his teammate Eddie Dunbar on stage 11 and the team's morale will still be on a high.
Wout van Aert (Vimsa-Lease a Bike) has been a rider very active in the breaks. Even though he has won three stages in this race and is in the green and mountains jersey, he's been keen to try and get as much as he can in this race around Spain. He's looking in exceptional form, both in his climbing and sprinting, so with a bit of everything in this long stage, he'll be one to watch.
Stage 12 winner Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma) proved he is in winning form and will want to continue his momentum in this race by trying his luck once again. For Cofidis, Jesús Herrada and Ion Izagirre could be options for the stage win, and for Arkea-B&B Hotels, Cristián Rodríguez will take his chances if he can get into the day's breakaway. Two other riders to keep an eye on will be Einer Rubio (Movistar) and Mauri Vansevenant (Soudal–Quick-Step).
Stage 14 winners prediction
We think Max Poole will take the stage win.
