Stage 14 Race Report and Results 2013 Vuelta a España

A young long shot survived to take the win in the first Pyrenean mountain stage today. We saw another stage winner come from the early breakaway on stage 14. Terrible weather had a big impact on the race, causing problems for many riders.

Here is my [rough] stage-14 report if you want to read a brief outline of how the race unfolded. Afterwards you’ll find some comments and my pick for tomorrow:

Stage 14 profile

Stage 14

Baga to Andorra, 155.7k

First day of bad weather

Rain, cold (Temps mid 40’s; beow 40f/5c at Envalira summit)

No TV images for first couple of hours due to cloud cover.

*Early Break went at km3: LL Sanchez, Gilbert, Ratto, Chainel, and Brown.

Lead is up to 11:25

The leaders are on the HC Envalira climb:

The HC climb is 26.7k long

Brown has been there to help Sanchez;

Brown and Chainel are quickly dropped on the climb

Stage 14, 15 and 16 Pyrenees Previews 2013 Vuelta a España

Collective profiles of stages 14, 15 and 16 through the Pyrenees

The Pyrenean stages visit three countries

Stages 14, 15 and 16 take the Vuelta a España into the majestic Pyrenees. The peloton will spend time in Andorra and France, cross eleven categorized climbs—five of which are category 1 or above—and only the strong will survive. Each of the next three stages ends with a category-1 summit finish.  Not one is a walk in the park, but stage 15 stands out as the big killer. I don’t know what other folks think, but in my opinion, stage 15 (which traverses four cat-1 climbs, and ends with the Peyresourde-Peyragudes double) is the queen stage of this Vuelta.

I am not going to be around for a few days, so I am writing this before stage 13. This post is a brief, single preview now for all three Pyrenean stages...