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The 2023 La Vuelta is nearing its second rest day but after a gruelling stage on Friday, another tough day high up in the mountains follows on Saturday. It was a podium of Jumbo-Visma riders at the top of the Col de Tourmalet yesterday. Vingegaard won, but Kuss and Roglic remained ahead of him in the general classification. Will the Jumbo-Visma train dominate again today? Can any of the specialist climbers cause a surprise? Will a breakaway be successful? We give you our La Vuelta Stage 14 odds.
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La Vuelta Stage 14 Profile
The 2023 La Vuelta Stage 14 starts at Sauvettere de Bearn (France) and finishes in the Spanish ski resort Lara-Belagua. The stage is only 156.2 km (97.0 miles) long and the starting time is 11:55 GMT. Meanwhile, the estimated finish time is 16:30 GMT.
The day starts in the French town Sauveterre-de-Béarn in the foothills of the Pyrenees. Following an hour on the flat, the riders tackle the first of two HC climbs. The Col Hourcère is 11.1-kilometre long and averaging 8.7%. A 15-kilometre descent precedes a return to Spanish territory via the second HC climb Puerto Larrau.
The riders cross into Spain at the summit of Puerto de Larrau and fly down to the foot of the Puerto de Laza, a short climb of 3.4 kilometres at 6.3%, before the route continues downhill to Isaba. This is where the final climb up to the famous Lara-Belagua ski resort starts.
They follow the Río Belagua upstream for 11 kilometres on a false flat. The gradients intensify gradually until the final 9.5 kilometres rise at 6.3% to the line. While nearing the finish line, the climb levels out in the last 3 kilometres.
Our betting tips and predictions for La Vuelta Stage 14
With the 2023 La Vuelta at a boiling point, team Jumbo-Visma contains the two main favourites for the overall win. and they raced to glory on Friday with all of the top 3 places at the top of Col de Tourmalet taken by Jumbo-Visma riders. Can somebody else challenge them now?
Our Outright Prediction: Romain Bardet @ 8/1 (9.00)
The French specialist climber Romain Bardet has looked strong in the last few days when tackling the toughest of climbs. He was a bit conservative on Friday after losing touch with the Jumbo-Visma train so Bardet preserved some energy. The coming stage suits him as the easy early profile and the long descent before the final climb should give Bardet plenty of time to prepare for an explosive attack. It will be tough but we think Bardet could spoil the Jumbo-Visma party.
Our Each-way Prediction: Primoz Roglic @ 1/4 (1.25)
Primoz Roglic will want to make a move on his teammates Kuss and Vingegaard as he chases his fourth La Vuelta win. Roglic struggled a bit on Friday but the coming profile suits his strengths much better. Even, if he is not to win we can see Roglic securing a top 3 finish. After all, even when struggling at the Tourmalet he finished third.
Our Dark Horse Prediction: Juan Pedro Lopez @ 33/1 (34.00)
For our surprise winner, we pick the Spanish rider, Juan Pedro Lopez. He is an excellent climber and not a threat to the GC contenders. If, as expected, a breakaway reaches the start of the final climb before the main riders we can see Lopez staying in front. He spent several years training in exactly this part of the world so he knows these climbs well and should know how to pace himself. Lopez also preserved precious energy during the final climb on Friday.
La Vuelta Stage 14 Odds
Now we’ve made our picks here are the odds for the top 10 favourites to win Stage 14:
Michael Storer 6/1 (7.00)
Primoz Roglic 8/1 (9.00)
Romain Bardet 8/1 (9.00)
Wout Poels 12/1 (13.00)
Remco Evenepoel 14/1 (15.00)
Jonas Vingegaard 16/1 (17.00)
Sepp Kuss 20/1 (21.00)
Marc Soler 22/1 (23.00)
Juan Ayuso 22/1 (23.00)
Lennard Kamna 25/1 (26.00)
The top 10 favourites to win stage 14 offers us a nice mixture of GC contenders and proven climbers. Michael Storer looked very strong on the saddle on Friday and as he is not a threat to the main favourties the bookies seem to think that he could win.
Our dark horse pick Juan Pedro Lopez is not on this list but we still fancy the Spaniard as an underdog, considering he has spent many years practicing exactly on these slopes and must know them very well.
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