Chris Froome’s overall lead was trimmed by four seconds at the Vuelta as Vincenzo Nibali pipped him to third place on stage 14, picking up four bonus seconds on the line.
“In the last 100 kilometers we have made a strong pace to try to make the race harder”, said Nibali. “Froome is obviously favored in Tuesday’s Time Trial and so I must try to recover as much as possible in these two mountain stages”
“No doubt that Froome is a great rider and he also has a great team. We will do our best to isolate him and then try to attack him. Tomorrow stage will be really tough and the route will have long climbs that I prefer”.
“The Sierra Nevada stage is only 130 kilometers but is terribly demanding”, explained Bahrain Merida DS, Gorazd Śtangelj. “Unlike today, in fact, the first climb arrives after only 55 kilometers from the start and can already make the difference. It should be added that this stage comes after two very hard days and the fatigue will be felt in the legs of many. ”
The fifteenth stage is a real “Queen stage”. Two first-class climbs of 16.3 km and 8.5 km respectively make the Alto Hoya de la Mora starter: 19.3 km with an average slope of 5.6% and a maximum of 10%. It will be a battle between the Top riders and those who want to wear the red jersey in Madrid will have to try to win it.
