Vuelta Stage 14: Alessandro De Marchi repeats 2014 stage win

Alessandro De Marchi of BMC Racing has taken a stage win in the Vuelta for the second year running, emerging victorious in the mist-swathed summit of Alto Campoo-Fuente del Chiva at the end of today's Stage 14.

The Italian rider attacked from the break on the final hors-categorie climb of the 215 kilometre stage from Vitoria, finishing 21 seconds ahead of Team Sky's Salvatore Puccio. Movistar's Jose Jouquin Rojas was third.

Behind the strongest members of an escape group that had taken a long time to form earlier in the stage, Nairo Quintana of Movistar and Katusha's Joaquim Rodriguez tried to put race leader Fabio Aru of Astana under pressure on the final climb.

However, the Sardinian, runner-up to Tinkoff-Saxo's Alberto Contador in this year's Giro d'Italia, managed to liimit his losses to Quintana to just a handful of seconds and just 1 second to Rodriguez, his closest rival, and what's more put time into others including Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.

The 25-year-old now leads the Spanish Grand Tour by 26 seconds with two thirds of the race over. Giant-Alpecin's Tom Dumoulin, who has had two spells in the race leader's red jersey, is third, 49 sedonds behind Aru.