Tim Wellens wins stage 14 of the Vuelta: Daily News Digest
On the twisting and technical climb to the Seminario Maior in Ourense Tim Wellens tactically outsmarted his five breakaway companions to take the stage win. Michael Woods (EF) was very close to coming around the Lotto Soudal rider, but Wellens had the inside line on the final corner. Zdenek Stybar finished in front of Dylan van Baarle and Marc Soler to take third.
Three minutes and 45 seconds later the peloton rode across the line, led by Dan Martin. There was no movement in the general classification and Primoz Roglic will start stage 15 in red, with Richard Carapaz 39 seconds behind.
How it happened
It was another aggressive start to the day for the peloton, and despite multiple breakaway configurations, a clear break was not established until roughly 55 km after the start. Marc Soler, Michael Woods, Dylan van Baarle, Thymen Arensman, Tim Wellens, Pierre-luc Périchon, and Zdenek Stybar made up the seven rider break that rather quickly extended their lead to over three minutes.
The advantage of the seven riders in front of the race continued to grow, and not until it was over five minutes did the peloton actively mobilize to claw back some time. A few different teams amassed at the front, including Astana, Team Direct Energie, and Bora-hansgrohe.
From around 50 km to go the gap from the leaders to the peloton began to drop, with the majority of the distance brought back after 30 km to go.
On the Alto de Abelaira, the final climb of the day, a 7.6 km climb with gradients of 3.8 percent, Michael Woods left the breakaway behind. Soler followed at a distance and behind him Wellens. At this point, the peloton was only a minute and 37 seconds behind.
Over the top of the climb, the breakaway came back together, however, they were missing Périchon who struggled on the climb. Woods and Soler continued to try and get away from their companions as they made their way to the finish.
With 16 km still to go Soler and Stybar put space between themselves and the other four in the breakaway. Behind the two chaos ensued, as Van Baarle went to bridge across, and Wellens also left Woods and Arensman behind.
The first of the solo riders to catch the two leaders was Wellens with Woods, Arensman, and Van Baarle 11 seconds behind.
With the accelerations in the break, the peloton lost significant time, and into the final 10 km, they were three minutes and forty seconds behind Soler, Wellens, and Stybar.
A thirteen-second gap held tight between the two groups of the three as they rode towards the 1 km climb to the finish, as the gap to the peloton blew out to almost five minutes. 600 meters from the climb the gap from Woods, Van Baarle, and Arensman dropped rapidly, and the catch was made just at the finishing climb.
In a very close finish, Tim Wellens took the victory, with Mike Woods in second and Zdenek Stybar in third. Three minutes and 45 seconds later Dan Martin led the peloton over the finish, with Primoz Roglic and the rest of the general classification men safely riding in together.
More to come.
The post Tim Wellens wins stage 14 of the Vuelta: Daily News Digest appeared first on CyclingTips.