Stage fourteen is the queen stage of this Vuelta a España. The peloton will be spending all day on French territory. The stage starts in Urdax and finishes in Aubisque-Gourette. During the 196 kilometres long stage the riders have to overcome three mountains of first category before they get to the Col d’Aubisque.

Marc Wauters, sports director at Lotto Soudal, gives at his preview:

“The riders have a tough day in France ahead of them. There are two possible scenarios: the GC riders let the escapees battle for the stage win or they want try to win the stage themselves. Maybe Froome or Quintana won’t do all they can to win the stage, but perhaps Contador really wants to win. It can be enough if one team decides to control the gap, like Tinkoff already did earlier this race.

“Our riders are not racing anonymously at this Vuelta. We have been part of almost every break. Yesterday Jelle Wallays was one of the escapees. He tried his best and attacked on a part of the course that really suited his capacities. When he got caught it went uphill and he needed a moment to recover, but then it was too late. Anyway, the strongest rider won yesterday. It’s good to see that our riders aren’t afraid to try something. You can’t win if you don’t try, it’s like the lottery.

"Today could be a good day for Bart De Clercq or Maxime Monfort to join the break. Bart is feeling much better, his injuries are healing well. Maxime left a good impression this week when the stage finished in Bilbao. We know he’s always good at the end of a Grand Tour, so we can definitely expect nice things of him.”