Tom Dumoulin climbed to 15th on the uphill finish of stage 14 of the Vuelta a España and maintained third overall. Lawson Craddock had a strong day finishing in 19th place, as Alessandro de Marchi won the stage from the breakaway.

Stage 14 was the longest stage of the Vuelta with 215km and started in Vitoria, counted three registered climbs and finished uphill on the hors category climb, the Altoo Campo.

After a long fight five riders managed to escape and for the second day in a row the breakaway made it to the finish. It was an exciting finale on two fronts as the breakaway group fought for the stage victory and the GC contenders, including Tom Dumoulin, battled for their position in the overall.

Alessandro de Marchi (BMC Racing Team) won the stage. Tom Dumoulin managed to limit losses as he finished 15th, 26” behind the first GC contender. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) is still the overall leader and Dumoulin maintained third overall. Also Lawson Craddock showed a strong performance, finishing in 19th place.

Tom Dumoulin after the finish said: “It went ok today. I didn’t have a super day, but I managed to limit my losses. It was not as good as I was hoping for. I lost a little bit of time but not too much.

"The next two days are harder with shorter but steeper climbs. Normally I should lose a little bit more time. I didn't have my best day today but I managed to limit my losses.

"It's always better to have a target in sight. It was difficult but I knew they were no too far away. It's a compliment that they feel the need to take some time out of me before the time trial."

Coach Christian Guiberteau added: “Our plan was to protect Lawson and Tom for the final climb. With the others we tried to be in the breakaway in order to have an extra support rider for Tom in the finale.

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"The team did a good job to position Tom and Lawson in the front the entire day. Lawson could hang on for a long time on the final climb, which was very good.”