Madrid (AFP)
Romain Bardet (DSM) won solo at the top of Pico Villuercas on Saturday for the 14th stage of the Tour of Spain, giving France their second stage victory in two days, after the sprint success of Florian Sénéchal the day before.
Bardet even had a double blow, as he stole the best climber's jersey from Damiano Carruso (Bahraïn), pocketing the points of the mountain during this 14th stage.
Engaged with 17 other riders in the breakaway of the day which counted between ten and fifteen minutes ahead of the peloton during a good part of the stage, Bardet started against in the long final climb to Pico Villuercas, and dropped Andrey Zeits (BikeExchange) and Nicolas Prodhomme (AG2R) six kilometers from the top to take off to victory.
This is the first stage victory for Bardet on the Tour of Spain, he who has already won three times on the Tour de France, where he finished best climber in 2019.
Caught in a heavy fall during the 5th stage, Bardet can no longer fight for the general, and therefore focuses on the mountain stages and the best climber's jersey.
Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) came 2nd 44 seconds behind Bardet, and Jay Vine (Alpecin-Fenix) 3rd at the same time, after having crashed heavily a little earlier.
No noticeable change in the general classification, since Primoz Roglic (Jumbo), Enric Mas (Movistar), Egan Bernal (Ineos) and Jack Haig (Bahraïn), favorites of the Vuelta crossed the line a few seconds after Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) , far behind Romain Bardet.
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