Vuelta España: On the Scene for Stages 14,15 and 16

I landed in the Asturias region of Spain just in time for the finish of stage 14 of the Vuelta in Oviedo. Irish national champion Sam Bennett escaped a final-kilometer crash to win the stage ahead of Max Richeze and Tosh Van Der Sande.

John Degenkolb, eighth on the stage:

Valverde:

Quintana in the points jersey:

On the podium, the stage winner shares a beer with Oscar Pereiro and other Spanish hotties, but the rider gets the non-alcoholic version.

Against a beautiful mountain backdrop at Santuario del Acebo, American Sepp Kuss picked up his first grand tour stage win, just a few days shy of his 25th birthday.

Roglic and Valverde arrived together, gaining time on their GC rivals.

Stage 16 was another mountain-top finish, at Alto de la Cubilla.

Inflatable press room in the middle of a cow pasture; welcome to the Vuelta!

The blue and yellow flags of the Asturias region were a perfect complement to the Astana colors of stage winner Jakob Fuglsang.

Tao Geoghegan Hart was second on the stage, Lulu was third, and James Knox was fourth.

Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier was eighth on the stage, and Philippe Gilbert was ninth.

Pogacar, Lopez and Roglic came in together, followed 23 seconds later by Erviti and Valverde, then Majka three seconds after that.

Best post-stage helmet hair: Jesus Ezquerra of Burgos-BH