After crashing out of the Tour de France and suffering from illness earlier on in the Vuelta, Rafal Majka overcame his bad luck to win the fourteenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana.
The Polish rider was part of a ten-man breakaway which also included his team-mate Patrick Konrad (Bora-Hansgrohe), Alexis Gougeard (AG2R-La Mondiale), Simon Clarke and 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). They gained a maximum gap of 7’40” with 90km to go.
Bahrain-Merida, Astana and Trek-Segafredo upped the tempo in the peloton in the second half of the stage. The gap was down to 4′ with 40km to go, heading to the main challenges of the day.
In the final 10 kilometres Rafal Majka srruck out alone, and was able to hold off the group of favourites behind to take the first BORA – hansgrohe stage win in this year’s Vuelta.
In the group of GC contenders behind Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) attacked with 5 kilometres remaining. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) followed while Chris Froome (Team Sky) was paced by Wout Poels.
Froome chased back to Nibali and Contador with 3 kilometres remaining while Chaves couldn’t hold on. The Colombian eventually lost 26 seconds while Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) made a strong move in the final 2 kilometres to finish 27 seconds behind Majka.
Rafal Majka – “I am so happy! But not just for me, also for my team BORA – hansgrohe. In the beginning of this Vuelta we suffered a lot, when the whole team had some stomach virus. My GC hopes were gone after just a few stages. But we all kept on fighting, never surrendered.
“With three podiums, we already had some strong results, but finally we got the win we wanted so desperately. Patrick did an amazing job today, and I knew I had to go early with all the big guys chasing behind. But my legs were really good today and I could control the race from the front on the last 10k.
“In the end I took this important win for my team BORA – hansgrohe. Now, with my legs finally coming good, I will try to take another stage in this very tough last week of the Vuelta.”
