2019 Vuelta a España Stage 14 Results & Recap
Stage 14 of the 2019 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Bennett wins stage 14
After a late crash marred the chances of many potential sprint contenders, Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) doubled his win tally at this year’s Vuelta a Espana today in Oviedo, sprinting to victory ahead of Max Richeze (Deceuninck-Quick Step) and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal).
“The crash didn’t impact the way I sprinted, Bennett said after the stage. “I heard it but it was behind me. Quick-Step and UAE Team Emirates were well organised for the sprint so I followed them. When I crossed the line I thought the break might still be away. I was afraid to celebrate for a second, it would have been ridiculous. I only knew I had won once my mechanics told me. I feel relieved like I felt after my first win.
You have to wait so long before you get another sprint. I was feeling useless for the past eleven days so when a sprint comes, you have to perform. It was the same level of pressure and I’m delighted.”
The crash held up the red jersey of Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), but he wasn’t affected physically and still maintains his advantage over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
“I wasn’t really involved in the crash,” Roglic said after the stage. “I was there but I didn’t crash. For us GC guys it’s the main menace, especially in sprint stages, we have to be up there but we want to take as few risks as possible. I don’t know the climbs in the coming days. I didn’t ride them before. I just saw the profiles and all the info. We have two really hard days coming up, especially tomorrow’s last climb, it’s really difficult. And the day after tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful, they say it’s the Asturias’ Galibier. I look forward to racing there. My rivals will attack for sure and try to bring a full gas race from the start. I have to be ready and we have to be ready for that with the whole team.
A stage built for the sprinters, the peloton departed from San Vicente de la Barquera and let a breakaway form after 10 kilometres. The group included: Silvan Dillier (AG2R La Mondiale), Luka Pibernik (Bahrain-Merida), Harm Vanhoucke (Lotto Soudal), Salvatore Puccio (Team Ineos), Diego Rubio (Burgos-BH) and Stéphane Rossetto (Cofidis). However the six were never allowed an advantage of more than two minutes during the course of the race.
Despite some ill-fated attacks on the only KOM climb of the day, the remnants of the breakaway were caught with five kilometres to go. It shaped up to be a standard lead out train from the majority of the teams interested in a result, but a crash at the front of the peloton affected riders including Valverde and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), who were held up by downed riders.
“The crash was a pretty hard one,” Pogacar said. “I don’t know what happened. We were at high speed and a lot of guys fell to the ground. I’m okay but I think I hit Mezgec on my crash. I don’t know how he is. I hope everyone is okay and no serious injuries are sustained by anyone.”
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