Brenner claims La Pandera summit as Mas hammers home Vuelta advantage

Marco Brenner (Tudor) won stage 14 of the Vuelta a España after outkicking Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) in a dramatic duel atop La Pandera.

They were the last men standing from the 44-strong break that escaped early in the stage before fragmenting on the tough final climb. Both riders kept a watching brief during the early attacks on the climb, biding their time for the steep upper section of the ascent.

Buitrago first pressed clear alone with a little over 3km of the ascent remaining, but he was joined by Brenner a little over a kilometre later. Cristián Rodríguez (XDS-Astana) and Iván Sosa (Kern Pharma) would rejoin them with 1.5km to go, but Buitrago would accelerate sharply beneath the flamme rouge.

Only Brenner could bridge up to him, and the former German champion then struck out from distance to outpace Buitrago and claim Tudor’s first ever Grand Tour stage win.

Enric Mas (Movistar) remains in the red jersey of race leader and he extended his advantage on the final ascent after he tracked an attack from Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and then did his bit to force home their advantage.

Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was caught on the back foot, and the Slovenian would lose 25 seconds to the flying Mas on the final approach to the line, as the Spaniard took another significant stride towards overall victory.

Despite the soaring temperatures in Andalusia, stage 14 of the Vuelta proceeded as planned, and there was a fierce battle for the breakaway after the race left the start in Jaén before an unwieldy move of 44 riders went clear.

Notable names in the move included João Almeida, Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Steven Kruijswijk (Visma), Guillaume Martin, Clement Berthet (Groupama-FDJ), Pello Bilbao, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Will Barta, Larry Warbasse (Tudor) and Cristian Rodriguez (XDS-Astana), and the gap would stretch out to four minutes after 70km of racing.

The gap would touch five minutes by the foot of the day’s first climb, the Puerto de los Villares, where Movistar were patrolling the peloton on behalf of the red jersey Mas.

Buitrago led the break over the top of the Villares, but the race took on a new dynamic over the other side, when Vermaerke escaped alone. The American would enter the final 40km with a gap of 1:30 over the rest of the break and almost seven minutes on the peloton.

Vermaerke pressed on over the second ascent of the Puerto de Locubín, cresting the summit with in 48 seconds in hand on the rest on the break and seven minutes on the peloton, where Movistar had begun to up the pace on Mas’ behalf as the race entered the last 20km and the final approach to La Pandera.

Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) bridged across to Vermaerke before the foot of La Pandera, and he dropped the American as the gradient began to bite, though the remnants of the break remained close at hand. 

Guillaume Martin (Groupama-FDJ) would join Steinhauser at the front with 9km to go, but the race would ignite further as the gradient stiffened, Mario Aparicio (Burgos), Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step), Cristian Rodriguez (XDS-Astana) and Marco Brenner (Tudor) among those making their way to the front with 6km to go.

Aparicio accelerated with 5.2km to go, opening a small gap, while Steinhauser gave chase alone. Steinhauser’s resistance would break shortly afterwards, but Aparicio would have company when the gradient bit to 15% with 3.5km to go, with Buitrago, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) and Brenner joining him at the front.

Buitrago pressed on as soon as the catch was made, and Brenner would prove the only man able to follow him. Although Sosa and Rodríguez briefly made the junction, the two strongmen of the break would fight out the stage honours. 

Behind the break, Mas’ Movistar squad exercised considerable control in the red jersey group, though Jack Haig also had a long stint at the front on the final climb as Netcompany-Ineos fought to protect Oscar Onley’s position on GC from escapee Clement Berthet. 

The GC race ignited on the upper reaches of the ascent, where Mas was more than the equal of everything thrown at him. Felix Gall enjoyed his best day of the Vuelta so far, making some significant accelerations, but Mas always quick and firm in his responses.

Roglic and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) were initially able to come with Mas and Gall, but they would be distanced when the Austrian kicked again inside the final 2km.

Mas’ teammate Raul García Pierna dropped back from the break to help pace his leader in the finale, and the red jersey and Gall came home 4:12 down on Brenner, gaining 25 seconds on Roglic, 31 on Carapaz and 1:15 on Onley.

In the overall standings, Mas is now 2:06 clear of Gall and 2:10 ahead of Roglic, while Carapaz slides to 4:24 off the pace and Onley is now 5:44 off the maillot rojo.