Cycling France is making a takeover bid for the Vuelta 2021. A day after Florian Sénéchal’s sprint victory, Romain Bardet is taking his turn for his small victory. Or rather big. The DSM rider won at the top of Pico Villuercas at the end of a stage that will be described as a breakout. 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.
Aim for a better climber?
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.
