Daniele Ratto wins rain-swept Vuelta a Espana stage 14

Daniele Ratto wins, Vuelta a Espana 2013, stage 14

Daniele Ratto (Cannondale) put in a performance as brave as it was impressive to win Saturday's weather-stricken stage 14, while fellow Italian Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) finished second and extended his overall lead.

On paper the Pyrenean stage looked like one of the most challenging at this year's Vuelta with its four categorised climbs, but the dramatic conditions further exacerbated its difficulty, adding treacherous descents and freezing cold summits to the steep slopes and mountain top finish.

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Stephen Puddicombe is a freelance journalist for Cycling Weekly, who regularly contributes to our World Tour racing coverage with race reports, news stories, interviews and features. Outside of cycling, he also enjoys writing about film and TV - but you won't find much of that content embedded into his CW articles.