Britain’s Bradley Wiggins strengthened his Vuelta a Espana lead after Saturday’s fourth major mountain-top finish, won by Estonia’s Rein Taaramaee.
Wiggins and Sky teammate Chris Froome, now second overall, set a relentless pace at the head of the peloton on the final 16km ascent to La Farrapona, shedding holder Vincenzo Nibali of Italy and double mountain-stage winner Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain.
The Sky duo finished fifth and sixth respectively, 45 seconds behind Taaramaee, while Nibali lost 1 minute, 21 seconds overall on Wiggins by the end of the 175.8km 14th stage.
Photo: Reuters
Wiggins leads Froome by seven seconds. Dutchman Bauke Mollema is third, 36 seconds back, while Nibali has dropped from second to seventh.
“It was a great job. We wanted to go full gas on the final climb because it was a perfect day to get some time gaps,” Sky sports director Servais Knaven said. “The four-second lead we previously had on Nibali was not much, so we knew we had to try something. It was not a huge surprise what Bradley managed to do after the way he’s been climbing. On that last climb, if you crack [like Nibali did] you lose a lot of time because it’s really steep.”
Sky’s dominance comes exactly a year after team assistant Txema Gonzalez died during la Vuelta from a bacterial infection.
Photo: EPA
Knaven said it was important for the team to race strongly to honor his memory.
Taaramaee celebrated his first stage win in a Grand Tour after breaking away in a group of 17 riders in the first hour.
He went clear of his most persistent pursuer, David de la Fuente of Spain, 2km from the finish to claim a second Vuelta win for his Cofidis team.
Photo: Reuters
In second place behind the 24-year-old was Spain’s Juan Jose Cobo, 25 seconds back. De la Fuente came third, 29 seconds back.
“This is a huge moment for me,” Taaramaee told reporters. “Only two days ago I was thinking of abandoning because I had a really bad fever.”
“I got dropped on the previous mountain stage 35km from the finish, even before the sprinters had started falling back. Today, I felt better and I got in the break early on,” Taaramaee said. “After two years without any wins this is a little miracle for me.”
Race leader Wiggins said: “Today was a good day, but I don’t want to get too excited. In a race like this anybody can be at the top one day and at the back the next.”
The Vuelta a Espana finishes on Sunday in Madrid.
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