2014 La Vuelta Ciclista a España

[BeegMig]

The highlights at the end of yesterdays coverage also had a lot of footage of Louis in it.

He's doing the jersey proud.

Hope he has a good day today.

[BeegMig]

 

" Wrong race aihy, but I've got a pink one in the bag thanks."

['Dale]

Today's stage ends with another tough mountain finish in the Asturias region of northern Spain. We will no doubt see more attacks in the fight for the stage victory and in the fight for the leader's red jersey.

['Dale]

As we join the action, the riders have covered 46km and despite several attacks, no break has managed to open a significant gap.

['Dale]

A crash after 25km left several riders in pain. Frenchman Anthony Roux (FDJ.fr) has been forced to abandon the race, leaving FDJ.fr with just four riders.

['Dale]

 

Samuel Sanchez was the big star at the start in his home city of Oviedo, surrounded by thousands of fans. He said he wants to repay them today for their affection and so we may see him on the attack on the climb to the finish.

['Dale]

a break of five riders but they seem to thinking of the intermediate sprint coming up.

Degenkolb is in there to protect his green points jersey.

['Dale]

 

Also in there are John Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida), Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge), Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory Racing) and Francisco Aramendia (Caja Rural).

['Dale]

As expected, Degenkolb takes the sprint and the points ahead of Niemiec and Aramendia. The five have a lead of two minutes after the peloton eased up.

['Dale]

Today's stage has a nasty finish. The climb to Lagos de Covadonga is 12.2km long and has an average gradient of 7.2%, with the steepest part at 17.5%.

['Dale]

 

The gap to the five has opened to over five minutes.

 

['Dale]

Sadly Matteo Pelucchi (IAM Cycling) has abandoned the race. He was invovled in the start 12 crash that also affected Nacer Bouhanni.

['Dale]

“Yesterday we had the first of three really hard days. I’m still trying to feel if my condition is coming up slowly. Going from the second to the third week, that’s when I wanted to know more about myself,".

"I’m glad that I’m not in the red jersey today. It’s Alberto defending the race. I don’t have that pressure. I also don’t have great memories from Lagos de Covadonga. When we did it two years ago, I was suffering and just trying to reach the top. Today again, I’ll just see how the legs feel.”

 

Froome Dawg

['Dale]

The peloton seems confident the break will struggle on the climb and so they have let the gap open to over eight minutes.

['Dale]

 

The sun is shining on the race at the moment but from the Cyclingnews blimp we can see that dark clouds are gathering at the finish. Rain could be a factor during today's stage.

['Dale]

 

With no chase from Tinkoff-Saxo, the gap has risen to over nine minutes.

This is a great opportunity for Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida). He is not an overall threat but could move up overall from 26th place and win the stage. He finished 15th in the 2012 Vuelta and sixth at the Giro in 2013.