Two riders in the first ten for our team on one of the hardest stages of the race so far.
Valentin Paret-Peintre was again one of the main animators of the Spanish Grand Tours, just twenty-four hours after finishing runner-up in Loja. This time, the Frenchman was joined in the breakaway by three of his Soudal Quick-Step teammates - Alberto Dainese, Ethan Hayter and Filippo Zana - who all played a part in the group’s successful attempt to open a decisive gap on the peloton, on a day they had to deal with more than 4300 vertical meters.
Preceded by the wall of Valdepenas de Jaen, Sierra de la Pandera (11.9km, 7.2%) - a brutally steep climb that the race visited for the seventh time this century - was the last of the three classified climbs and the place where the winner of this hard stage 14 emerged. Both Paret-Peintre and Zana, our team’s two riders to make the cut when the attacks began shattering the breakaway group to pieces, tried to make a selection and open what they hoped would become an important gap, but their efforts were quickly countered by their breakaway companions.
After Fillippo’s attack was brought back some six kilometers from the finish, Valentin rolled the dice and rode away together with one other rider, but one of the steepest part of the climbs, his time at the front came to a conclusion and he had to be content in the end with a top-five finish, behind winner Marco Brennan (Tudor Pro Cycling). Zana concluded in eighth place, making Soudal Quick-Step the only team with two riders in the top ten.
We said that we would try again after yesterday and we did just that.
“We really believed in our chances and gave our best, but a couple of riders were stronger today on the final climb and made the difference there, on one of the key parts. The Vuelta isn’t over yet and we continue to be confident that a stage victory is possible for us on the last week of the race”, an upbeat Valentin said at the finish.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
