MADRID, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The first ever finish on the peak of Les Praeres (North of Spain) produced high drama and a new leader of the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race on Saturday.
The final climb of the 171 kilometer 14th stage included brutal ramps of the Alto de los Praeres saw Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) first withstand a challenge by Nairo Quintana (Movistar), before overtaking him in the final kilometer and riding clear of Quintana, Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
The win means Yates recovers the leadership of the three-week long race, just two days after losing it.
Yates crossed the finish two seconds ahead of Lopez and Valverde, while Quintana ceded 7 seconds, with time bonuses meaning Yates has a 20-second lead over Valverde in the overall classification with Quintana 25 seconds off the lead.
Michael Kwiatkowski (Sky) was the last survivor of the last escape of the day, launching a brave solo ride over the closing kilometers, but he was caught by the group of containing the main favorites at the foot of the final climb.
Overnight leader Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) ran out of gas on the penultimate climb of the day and finished the stage well down classification.
Sunday sees perhaps the toughest stage of the race with two first category climbs and ending with the legendary climb to Lagos de Covadonga: a 20 kilometer climb with a section at a gradient of 20 percent. Enditem
