Vuelta a Espana: The most important facts in brief
- 14th stage, Saturday, 31 August
- Villafranca del Bierzo - Villablino, 200.5 kilometres, low mountain range
- Official start: 12:37
- Estimated arrival time: ~ 17:16 - 17:45
- TV broadcast: 13:30 - 18:00 Eurosport 1
- Live stream: Discovery Plus (subject to a charge)
- All stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 at a glance
- The start list
Vuelta 2024: 14th stage - route, elevation profile and map
After the mountain arrival on the Puerto de Ancares, the longest section of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 awaits on stage 14 with 200.4 kilometres. It is also the only Vuelta stage to break the 200-kilometre mark this year. The 2883 metres in altitude make life even more difficult for the riders.
The race starts in Villafranca del Bierzo, a town with around 3000 inhabitants in the province of Leon, in the autonomous region of Castilla y Leon. From the starting point, it is not far to Ponferrada, where the Road World Championships were held in 2014. The riders will also pass there after twelve kilometres on the 14th stage. The route leads up to kilometre 102.5 to the Puerto de Cerredo (3rd category), which is a steady, gentle climb. The categorised climb is seven kilometres long with an average gradient of 4.6 percent.
This is followed by a descent with a short counter-climb before the Puerto de Leitariegos (1st category) begins 39.2 kilometres before the finish in Bimeda - the key section of the stage. With an average gradient of 4.5 per cent over 22.8 kilometres, the climb can be classified as a roller hill, but the length should really work your legs.
After reaching the mountain classification, there are still around 16 kilometres - mostly downhill - to the finish.
Sporting assessment of the 14th stage
This stage is made for a breakaway group. The gently ascending first 100 kilometres offer ideal terrain for a breakaway group to build up a substantial lead for the finale. Although the last climb of the day is long, it doesn't scare any of the classement riders. The effort required here to open up a gap to the competition would be enormous. In addition, with a view to the remaining programme of the Vuelta a Espana 2024, hardly any team will want to expend so much energy to control the 200 kilometres for a classification rider who could take a stage win here.
Schedule, TV coverage & live stream of the 14th stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2024
The neutral start will take place at 12:25. Around twelve minutes later, kilometre 0 should be reached. The finish is expected at 17:16 with an average speed of 43 km/h, 17:30 with 41 km/h and 17:45 with 39 km/h.
Eurosport will broadcast all stages of the Vuelta a Espana 2024. The 14th stage will be shown free-to-air on Eurosport 1 from 13:30.* Including post-event coverage, the broadcast will run until 18:00. A live stream on the internet is also available from the paid provider Discovery Plus.
* Transmission times are subject to change.
