Vuelta a España 2014
| Vuelta a España 2014 | |
|
|
| Racing series | UCI WorldTour |
| Host country |
 Spain
|
| Competition period | August 23 to September 14 |
| Stages | 21st |
| overall length | 3239.9 km |
| Starting field | 198 from 34 nations in 22 teams (159 of them arrived at the finish) |
| winner | |
| Overall rating | 1. Alberto Contador 81:25:05 h 2. Christopher Froome + 1:10 min 3. Alejandro Valverde + 1:50 min 
|
| Team evaluation |
 Team Katusha (KAT) 244: 19: 36 h
|
| Scoring jerseys | |
 Overall rating
|
Alberto Contador
|
 Scoring
|
 John Degenkolb
|
 Mountain scoring
|
Luis León Sánchez
|
 Combination scoring
|
Alberto Contador
|
 Most combative driver
|
Christopher Froome
|
| ← 2013 | 2015 → |
The 69th Vuelta a España took place from August 23 to September 14, 2014. The tour started with a team time trial in Jerez de la Frontera and ended after a total of 3,239.9 kilometers with a time trial in Santiago de Compostela . For the first time since 1994 , the last stage was not held in Madrid ; Also in 1993 the Vuelta ended with an individual time trial in Santiago de Compostela. The program included three time trials , eight stages with a mountain finish , two stages with a hill finale, three stages with a hilly profile and five stages that were predestined for a sprint finish.
Overall winner was the Spaniard Alberto Contador . With his third success he draws level with the record winners Tony Rominger and Roberto Heras . Second place went to the Briton Christopher Froome ahead of the Spaniard Alejandro Valverde .
Attendees
The 198 drivers who competed came from 34 nations. Spain was the largest group with 28 drivers, followed by France with 27 and Italy with 26 drivers.
Eleven German riders started, including the world champion in the individual time trial Tony Martin , the five-time stage winner John Degenkolb and the 14th of the previous year , Dominik Nerz . The other German participants were: Christian Knees , Robert Wagner and Paul Martens , Patrick Gretsch , Johannes Fröhlinger and Nikias Arndt , Gerald Ciolek and Dominic Klemme .
Eight drivers from Switzerland took part. The Swiss team IAM Cycling started with Marcel Aregger , Johann Tschopp , Pirmin Lang and Jonathan Fumeaux . In addition there were Fabian Cancellara , Oliver Zaugg as well as Danilo Wyss and Steve Morabito .
The only participant from Austria was Matthias Krizek , who started for the Italian Cannondale team .
Teams
The 18 ProTeams were entitled to start . In addition, four Professional Continental Teams were invited. The South African team MTN Qhubeka took part in a Grand Tour for the first time . IAM Cycling and Cofidis, Solutions Crédits have contested their second Grand Tour of the year after the Tour de France .
| 18 UCI ProTeams | 4 professional continental teams | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALM |
 ag2r La Mondiale
|
FDJ |
FDJ.fr
|
MOV |
Movistar team
|
CJR |
Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
|
| AST |
 Astana Pro Team
|
GIA |
 Team Giant-Shimano
|
OGE |
 Orica GreenEdge
|
COF |
Cofidis, Solutions Crédits
|
| BEL |
Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
|
GRS |
 Garmin Sharp
|
OPQ |
 Omega Pharma-Quick-Step
|
I AM |
 IAM Cycling
|
| BMC |
BMC Racing Team
|
CAT |
Team Katusha
|
SKY |
Team Sky
|
MTN |
 MTN Qhubeka
|
| CAN |
 Cannondale
|
LAM |
Lampre-Merida
|
TCS |
Tinkoff-Saxo
|
||
| EUC |
Team Europcar
|
LTB |
Lotto Belisol
|
TFR |
Trek Factory Racing
|
||
Favorites
The top favorite for the overall victory was the winner of the Giro d'Italia 2014 and the runner-up of the Tour de France in 2013 , Nairo Quintana from Colombia , who drove for the Spanish Movistar team . His main competitors were Christopher Froome and Joaquim Rodríguez . Both had to end a Grand Tour prematurely in 2014 due to the consequences of falls.
Other candidates for a place on the podium were Quintana's teammate Alejandro Valverde , who finished fourth on the tour , Rigoberto Urán and Fabio Aru , who finished second and third behind Quintana in the Giro, and third on the tour, Thibaut Pinot . Garmin-Sharp and Belkin brought Andrew Talansky , Daniel Martin and Ryder Hesjedal and Wilco Kelderman , Robert Gesink and Laurens ten Dam, three cruise specialists at the start. It was not possible to make any statements in advance about the shape of Alberto Contador , who had recovered from his fractured tibia . Last year's winner Christopher Horner was taken out of the line-up by his Lampre-Merida team the day before the start of the race due to a low cortisol level .
The favorites in the mass sprint were the winner of the points classification at the tour , Peter Sagan , the winner of the points classification at the Giro d'Italia 2014 Nacer Bouhanni and the five-time stage winner John Degenkolb . Other riders with a chance of winning a flat stage were Michael Matthews , Tom Boonen and Gerald Ciolek .
In the two time trials, the multiple time trial world champions Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara and the Italian time trial champion Adriano Malori were the favorites.
Stage overview
The Tour of Spain began with a short team time trial in Jerez de la Frontera in southern Spain. On the following days the route led over flat and hilly terrain through Andalusia . The first mountain arrival took place at the finish of the sixth stage in La Zubia . In the further course the route led north. After the first day of rest , the first individual time trial took place in the province of Saragossa . The main focus of the Vuelta was now on the Way of St. James , many places along the pilgrimage route were visited. In the second week of the tour, there were four mountain stages in northern Spain on the program. The drivers reached Galicia last week. Here the race ended with two mountain stages and the final individual time trial in Santiago de Compostela .
Race course
|
Movistar team
|
14 '13 " |
| 2. |
Cannondale
|
+ 6 " |
| 3. |
Orica GreenEdge
|
+ 6 " |
| 4th |
Trek Factory Racing
|
+ 9 " |
| 5. |
Omega Pharma-Quick Step
|
+ 11 " |
| 6th |
Team Giant-Shimano
|
+ 16 " |
| 7th |
Tinkoff-Saxo
|
+ 19 " |
| 8th. |
Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
|
+ 19 " |
| 9. |
BMC Racing Team
|
+ 21 " |
| 10. |
Lampre-Merida
|
+ 25 " |
The favored Movistar team was able to repeat its success of 2012 and win the team time trial at the start of the Vuelta in Jerez de la Frontera . Like two years earlier in Pamplona , Jonathan Castroviejo led his team to the finish and was presented with the first Maillot Rojo . Surprisingly, Cannondale finished second, followed almost simultaneously by the Australian Orica GreenEdge team . Sky and Katusha , with co-favorites Christopher Froome and Joaquim Rodríguez , lost an unexpected amount of time. They reached the finish in eleventh and 16th places, 27 and 38 seconds behind the winner Movistar with top favorite Nairo Quintana .
In the mass sprint of the second stage, Nacer Bouhanni prevailed ahead of John Degenkolb . Bouhanni secured the first Maillot Verde with his victory . Nathan Haas and Valerio Conti , who were part of a breakaway group, won the first Maillot Lunares (mountain classification) and Maillot Blanco (combined classification). The lead in the overall standings changed from Jonathan Castroviejo to his team-mate Alejandro Valverde . Both crossed the finish line at the same time as the winner, but due to his poor position on the day, Castroviejo dropped to fourth.
In the six percent steep final kilometer of the third stage, Michael Matthews prevailed and, like in the Giro, took the overall lead. John Degenkolb won the next two stages. At the first mountain finish in La Zubia , Alejandro Valverde prevailed in the sprint of the classification drivers and took back the red jersey.
Ratings in the course of the race
- The leader of the overall standings wears the Maillot Rojo . The order of the ranking results from the time intervals between the individual drivers after each stage. In addition, at the finish of each stage there are time credits of 10, 6 and 4 seconds for the first three riders. Two intermediate sprints are carried out on each stage. Here the first three drivers receive a bonus of 3, 2 and one second. No time bonuses are given for the three time trials.
- The leader of the points classification wears the Maillot Verde . Points are awarded according to the following scheme:
- Stage arrivals: 25, 20, 16, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and one point for the first 15 riders at the finish
- Intermediate sprints: 4, 2 and a point for the first three
- The leader of the mountain classification wears the Maillot Lunares (white jersey with blue dots). This year, points are awarded to 40 categorized climbs. These are divided into five categories according to difficulty:
- Cima Chava Jiménez on the Puerto de Ancares : 20, 15, 10, 6, 4, and 2 points for the first six riders at the finish of the 20th stage
- Categoría Especial at the Lagos de Covadonga : 15, 10, 6, 4 and 2 points for the first five riders to finish the 15th stage
- ten mountains in the first category: 10, 6, 4, 2 and one point for the first five riders in the mountain classification
- 13 climbs in the second category: 5, 3, and one point for the first three
- 15 climbs of the third category: 3, 2 and one point for the first three
- The leader of the combined classification wears the Maillot Blanco . The ranking consists of the overall ranking, the points ranking and the mountain ranking.
- For the team classification , the times of the best three drivers of a team are added up at each stage.
Stages
Overall rating
| stage |
Leader
|
time | Second | time | Third | time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |
Jonathan Castroviejo
|
14 '13 " |
Alejandro Valverde
|
+ 0 " |
 Andrey Amador
|
+ 0 " |
| 2. |
Alejandro Valverde
|
4h 15 '43 " |
 Nairo Quintana
|
+ 0 " | + 0 " | |
| 3. |
Michael Matthews
|
9h 27 '53 " | + 4 " |
Alejandro Valverde
|
+ 11 " | |
| 4th | 13h 30 '44 " | + 8 " | + 15 " | |||
| 5. | 18h 12 '31 " | + 13 " | + 20 " | |||
| 6th |
Alejandro Valverde
|
22h 48 '08 " | + 15 " |
Alberto Contador
|
+ 18 " | |
| 7th | 26h 52 '20 " | + 15 " | + 18 " | |||
| 8th. | 31h 21 '20 " | + 15 " | + 18 " | |||
| 9. |
Nairo Quintana
|
35h 58 '05 " |
Alberto Contador
|
+ 3 " |
Alejandro Valverde
|
+ 8 " |
| 10. |
Alberto Contador
|
36h 45 '49 " |
Alejandro Valverde
|
+ 27 " |
Rigoberto uranium
|
+ 59 " |
| 11. | 40h 26 '56 " | + 20 " | +1 '08 " | |||
| 12. | 44h 38 '14 " | + 20 " | +1 '08 " | |||
| 13. | 48h 59 '23 " | + 20 " | +1 '08 " | |||
| 14th | 54h 20 '16 " | + 42 " |
Christopher Froome
|
+ 1 '13 " | ||
| 15th | 58h 31 '35 " | + 31 " | +1 '20 " | |||
| 16. | 63h 25 '00 " | + 1 '36 " | + 1 '39 " | |||
| 17th | 67h 51 '07 " | + 1 '36 " | + 1 '39 " | |||
| 18th | 71h 38 '37 " |
Christopher Froome
|
+1 '19 " |
Alejandro Valverde
|
+ 1 '32 " | |
| 19th | 76h 00 '40 " | +1 '19 " | + 1 '32 " | |||
| 20th | 81h 12 '13 " | + 1 '37 " | + 2 '35 " | |||
| 21st | 81h 25 '05 " | +1 '10 " | + 1 '50 " | |||
| Result |
Alberto Contador
|
81h 25 '05 " |
Christopher Froome
|
+1 '10 " |
Alejandro Valverde
|
+ 1 '50 " |
Scoring jerseys
| stage |
Scoring |
Mountain scoring |
Combination scoring |
Clasificación por equipos team competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | not forgiven | not forgiven | not forgiven |
Movistar team
|
| 2. |
Nacer Bouhanni
|
Nathan Haas
|
Valerio Conti
|
|
| 3. |
Luis Mas
|
Luis Mas
|
Belkin-Pro Cycling Team
|
|
| 4th |
Michael Matthews
|
Valerio Conti
|
||
| 5. |
John Degenkolb
|
Sergio Pardilla
|
||
| 6th |
Alejandro Valverde
|
|||
| 7th | ||||
| 8th. | ||||
| 9. |
Movistar team
|
|||
| 10. | ||||
| 11. | ||||
| 12. | ||||
| 13. | ||||
| 14th |
Luis León Sánchez
|
|||
| 15th |
Alejandro Valverde
|
Team Katusha
|
||
| 16. |
Luis León Sánchez
|
|||
| 17th | ||||
| 18th |
Alberto Contador
|
|||
| 19th | ||||
| 20th | ||||
| 21st | ||||
| winner |
John Degenkolb
|
Luis León Sánchez
|
Alberto Contador
|
Team Katusha
|
See also
Web links
- Official website of the Vuelta (Spanish, English, French)
- LIBRO DE RUTA Official Roadbook of the Vuelta a España 2014, PDF, 58 MB
References and comments
- ↑ Only a few time trial kilometers in the program - 69th Vuelta a España again offers climbers every chance. radsport-news.com, January 11, 2014, accessed July 16, 2014 .
- ↑ Eleven Germans at the start of the Vuelta a España - small contingent - great opportunities. radsport-news.com, August 21, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2014 .
- ↑ The favorites of the 69th Vuelta a Espana - Quintana the big favorite despite Froome, Rodriguez and Contador. radsport-news.com, August 21, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2014 .
- ↑ Too low cortisol level - Lampre takes defending champion Horner from Vuelta line-up. radsport-news.com, August 22, 2014, accessed on August 22, 2014 .
- ↑ Christine Kroth: Preview Vuelta a España 2014, overview. live-radsport.ch, August 21, 2014, accessed on August 21, 2014 .
