Commentary of the stage
Following the same pattern as the Pyrenees, a rest day precedes two high mountain days. The first one long and demanding and the second, with the energy of the riders more depleted, short and explosive. That will also be the story of the 14th stage, a day of racing covering 158 kilometres between Oviedo and the Fuentes de Invierno Ski Resort.
Right at the start, the cyclists must make three 3rd category climbs: at Padrón, San Tirso and Santa Emiliano. The 1st category climbs will get their turn later: at Colladona and Colladiella. All that is just the warm-up for the final climb, the ascent to the Fuentes de Invierno ski resort, a summit new to the Vuelta, but only partially since the whole climb is virtually the same as the familiar one to the peak of San Isidro.
History: Oviedo has hosted 18 previous Vuelta starts, and stages as important as the one in 1997 when Pavel Tonkov wound up the victor on the summit of Lagos de Covadonga. There will also be a mountain finish this time, but with an arrival at Fuentes de Invierno, the ski resort making its Vuelta debut.
Right at the start, the cyclists must make three 3rd category climbs: at Padrón, San Tirso and Santa Emiliano. The 1st category climbs will get their turn later: at Colladona and Colladiella. All that is just the warm-up for the final climb, the ascent to the Fuentes de Invierno ski resort, a summit new to the Vuelta, but only partially since the whole climb is virtually the same as the familiar one to the peak of San Isidro.
History: Oviedo has hosted 18 previous Vuelta starts, and stages as important as the one in 1997 when Pavel Tonkov wound up the victor on the summit of Lagos de Covadonga. There will also be a mountain finish this time, but with an arrival at Fuentes de Invierno, the ski resort making its Vuelta debut.