Chris Froome fends off attacks as Rafal Majka wins Vuelta a España stage 14 summit finish
Majka took victory from the day's breakaway as Froome concedes just four seconds to second place Vincenzo Nibali
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Chris Froome (Team Sky) lost a handful of seconds but defended his red jersey on the especial summit finish of stage 14 the Vuelta a España.
Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), who had been in the day's main breakaway, took a sensational stage victory after riding much of the final climb solo to finish 27 seconds ahead of second place Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana).
>>> Should power meters be banned from pro racing?
Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) crossed the line in third to take four bonus seconds, with Froome just behind, leaving the gap between first and second at 55 seconds at the end of the stage.
Nibali had been most active in trying to get away from Froome on the final climb, but was unable to make big inroads with Wout Poels doing much of the pacing for the race leader.
It was bad news for Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) though, who, despite attacking first from the GC contenders, slipped from third to fifth with Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) jumping up the rankings to third and fourth respectively having finished with Froome.
How it happened
On the first of two key mountain stages this weekend, 10 riders got away in the breakaway with the hope that the GC teams might let them go.
Rafal Majka, Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale), Simon Clarke, Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac), Rui Costa (UAE Team Emirates), Bart De Clercq (Lotto-Soudal), Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis), Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport) and Ricardo Vilela (Manzana Postobon) were the riders to get out front.
They managed a maximum gap of around eight minutes, but that didn't seem enough as the peloton gradually brought them closer.
By the time they'd reached the penultimate climb, a category two pass that began with 30km to go, the break had three minutes and lost several riders.
They lost four riders by the top of that 8.5km climb, with just Davide Villella, Rafal Majka, Patrick Konrad, Rui Costa and Bart De Clercq taking two minutes over the summit.
Marc Soler (Movistar) attempted to attack from the peloton to reach the break, but was unable to make it, with those in the break holding 1-35 onto the early slopes of the final 12km climb.
Majka eventually found himself out solo after dropping his breakaway companions, with 1-45 at 8km to go.
Astana set the early pace in the peloton to try and set up Fabio Aru, but with so many riders being put into trouble in a now reduced main bunch, Aru also appeared to be struggling at the rear of the peloton as Pello Bilbao pushed on.
Majka meanwhile, had 1-20 on the chasing bunch with 5km remaining. Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale) was the first to try and bridge over to him with Richard Carapaz (Movistar) with 4km to go to try and find a stage win, with Esteban Chaves the first GC contender to reach out on the steepest ramps of the climb.
Alberto Contador followed shortly after, with Vincenzo Nibali then too jumping from the Sky led bunch.
With Bardet dropped, the group of four only hand a handful of seconds on Froome and brought Majka's time down to 56 seconds with 3.2km to go.
As the Nibali group struggled to work together, Majka was able to draw the gap out to 1-10 again.
Contador and Nibali then found themselves out on their own, but Wout Poels was slowly clawing them back for Froome as Nibali appeared to get frustrated with Contador's lack of work.
As Poels pulled off with just over 2.5km to go, Froome was able to do the final work to get back to Nibali and Contador along with Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez.
A slowing of pace then allowed Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) and Chaves to come back with Lopez then attacking with 48 seconds to close on Majka.
But he wasn't able to do anything about Pole out front, who rode home to a glorious stage win after seeing his GC campaign fall apart with illness in the opening week of the Vuelta.
Lopez then crossed the line 27 seconds down (with his team leader Fabio Aru finishing over a minute behind the winner), while Nibali took the chance to grab four bonus seconds for third place, with Froome following him in.
The Vuelta continues with another huge mountain day on Sunday, a 129.4km route that takes in two category one climbs before an especial climb summit finish.
Results
Vuelta a España 2017, stage 14: Écija to La Pandera (175km)
1 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe, 4-42-10
2 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team, at 27s
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 31s
4 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
5 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
6 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Sunweb, all same time
7 Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, at 37s
8 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 00:00:46
9 Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott, at 57s
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team, at 1-03
11 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, at 1-13
12 Pello Bilbao (Esp) Astana Pro Team, at 1-19
General classification after stage 14
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky, at 58-30-47
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 55s
3 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Sunweb, at 2-17
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin, at 2-25
5 Johan Esteban Chaves Rubio (Col) Orica-Scott, at 2-39
6 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team, at 3-09
7 David De La Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors, at 3-11
8 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo, at 3-19
9 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, at 3-23
10 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Astana Pro Team, at 3-48
Thank you for reading 10 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Follow on Twitter: @richwindy
Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.
An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).
-
-
Women’s Tour axed for 2023
Long term future of the standard setting British race remains uncertain after fruitless search for financial backing
By Owen Rogers • Published
-
Forget the Classics, Soudal-Quick Step are a GC team: 'We have shown that we're strong enough'
Soudal-Quick Step's performances in the Classics continue to disappoint, but when it comes to stage racing they're outperforming the so-called experts
By Chris Marshall-Bell • Published
-
'Rough day' for Chris Froome after crash and punctures kill best chance of victory since 2018
The 37-year-old was up the road in a solo move for over 50km at the Tour du Rwanda on Thursday
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Chris Froome highlights dangers of long Covid after battle with virus
Four-time Tour de France champion warns of cardiovascular impact and says his VO2 max took a hit after illness
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Chris Froome labels WorldTour relegation a ‘death sentence for many teams’
Four-time Tour de France winner says UCI points system needs overhaul as Israel-PremierTech face relegation from the WorldTour
By Tom Thewlis • Last updated
-
Chris Froome still holds out hope for fifth Tour de France win
Israel-Premier Tech rider says the dream is "always there"
By Tom Davidson • Published
-
Chris Froome out of Tour de France after positive Covid-19 test result
Four-time winner and third on Alpe d’Huez stage forced to abandon on stage 18
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Tadej Pogačar down to three domestiques as Rafał Majka out of Tour de France
Majka's withdrawal with injury is a bitter blow for Pogačar leaving second-placed Slovenian with just three teammates
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
Two riders face further Covid testing at Tour de France, top 20 not affected
150 riders cleared to begin second week of racing, two riders test results being sent for further examination
By Tom Thewlis • Published
-
'I’m going to keep pushing. I don’t know what my limits are': Chris Froome climbs to best result since 2018
Israel-Premier Tech rider finished third on stage 12 of the Tour de France to Alpe d'Huez
By Adam Becket • Published