


A new mountain stage in the Vuelta a España, a new stage win for UAE Emirates. Marc Soler secured the team’s seventh stage victory in stage fourteen of the Vuelta. From the early breakaway, the Spaniard held firm during the tough final climb to La Farrapona. The favorites waited a long time before attacking each other. In the end, Jonas Vingegaard managed to beat João Almeida in a sprint for second place.
A day after the brutal Alto de l’Angliru, another tough mountain stage followed in Asturias. This time the riders climbed to the summit of La Farrapona (16.5 kilometers at 6.2%). On paper, this climb doesn’t look extremely hard, but the last 5.5 kilometers average a 10 percent gradient. Moreover, in the run-up the riders also had to conquer the Alto Tenebreo (5.7 kilometers at 6.2%) and the Puerto de San Lorenzo (9.4 kilometers at 8.8%).
Jonas Rickaert was the first attacker of the day. The Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck rode solo ahead of the bunch for a while, but behind him it was far from calm. Many riders wanted to be in the breakaway and tried to escape. Rickaert was caught again, after which a large group was quickly allowed to go clear. No fewer than 22 riders got away.
Among them were Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Marc Soler, Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Emirates XRG), Andrea Bagioli, Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek), Bruno Armirail, Johannes Staune-Mittet (Decathlon AG2R), Jan Hirt (Israel-Premier Tech), Fausto Masnada (XDS Astana), Jésus Herrada (Cofidis), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), and Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike). The latter, however, had to drop out soon due to mechanical problems. He had to chase back alongside counterattacker Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL).

Kelderman and Van Baarle spent a long time at the front of the peloton on behalf of Visma | Lease a Bike - photo: Cor Vos
Bernal and Ciccone drop out early
It took a while, but eventually the Belgian-Dutch duo was able to rejoin. At that moment, the break approached the Alto Tenebreo with a lead of almost five minutes. Marc Soler was the first over that climb, but the break remained together. That changed on the Puerto de San Lorenzo. Here the break thinned out significantly. Gijs Leemreize launched an attack at the base but had to drop afterward. About ten other riders shared the same fate. At the top, eleven leaders remained. Van Dijke and Campenaerts were no longer with them.
Not only was the breakaway thinned out, but in the peloton, where UAE Emirates XRG took over from Visma | Lease a Bike, Egan Bernal had to give up early. Then when Juan Ayuso took the lead, Giulio Ciccone also faded. The Colombian and Italian were respectively twelfth and eighth in the general classification in the morning but both would suffer a setback.
La Farrapona
Up front, Shaw was first over the Puerto de San Lorenzo and continued pushing on the descent. The Brit rode solo for a while but saw his ten remaining breakaway companions catch him just before the start of La Farrapona. Then, Soler and Staune-Mittet immediately broke away. The two attackers had a solid three-minute advantage at the base over the group of favorites, which now also included Nico Denz and Van Dijke, who had dropped back from the breakaway and were riding full gas for Jai Hindley. Did the Australian have plans?
After Van Dijke was spent, Mikkel Bjerg was left alone. The Dane from UAE Emirates XRG was now riding behind his teammate, as Soler had shaken off Staune-Mittet and was riding solo up front. The gap remained relatively stable for the following kilometers, even as Jay Vine and then Felix Großschartner set the pace. Only when Giulio Pellizzari, working for Hindley, took over did Soler’s lead start to shrink faster. At that point, he was already less than three kilometers from the finish.
Soler takes the win
Soler’s stage victory was never in doubt. The Spaniard secured UAE’s seventh day win in this race. Behind him, we saw a late acceleration among the favorites. Hindley launched the attack. Only Almeida and Vingegaard could follow; Pidcock had no answer. In the final few hundred meters, Almeida went for it, while Vingegaard sat on his wheel. The Dane ultimately powered through, crossing the line second and picking up six bonus seconds. Almeida, who finished third, had to settle for four bonus seconds.


| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 03:48:22 | |
| 2 | + 39 | |
| 3 | " | |
| 4 | + 43 | |
| 5 | + 48 | |
| 6 | + 53 | |
| 7 | " | |
| 8 | " | |
| 9 | " | |
| 10 | + 01:25 |