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The Belgian World Champion was in the action for the entire day, constantly attacking from the start of the stage to form a strong breakaway before going clear with Romain Bardet (Team DSM) over the top of the first climb on the stage, the duo working together before Evenepoel dropped the Frenchman with 4 kilometres to go to claim a fantastic solo win atop the Larra-Belagua, his second victory in this year's race.
It was a redemption of the highest class for Evenepoel, after a disastrous Stage 13 where he completely exploded early on the climbs, plummeting down the general classification from third to 19th overall and losing more than 20 minutes. While the race is still lost for him, Evenepoel's performance today gained more than eight minutes back and he now sits in 15th, with a top 10 still on the cards if he can continue riding strongly.
Along with the stage victory, the Belgian also rode into the climber's jersey with a healthy lead and something else to ride onto the podium with at the conclusion of the race in Madrid.
"Yesterday was a really difficult day, and also the evening," Evenepoel said after the stage.
"I couldn’t sleep too much, I had a very bad night, with a lot of negative thoughts in my head. Today I woke up and I told myself: ‘just go for it, make the most of it’. I did a recon of this stage because it was an important stage for the GC. I knew perfectly knew how the climbs were, how hard they were, because it was a really tough stage.
"It’s just super nice to take a second stage win. I can be very proud with this answer after yesterday. The mountain jersey and some stage wins, I think that’s some nice goals towards Madrid."
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Daily Highlights: Stage 14 - La Vuelta a Espana 2023
There were no other major changes towards the top of the overall rankings, Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) and the rest of the favourites content to sit in the peloton and let the break go as they all finished together.
The 156.2 kilometre stage with three categorised climbs looked one for the breakaway as attacks flew through the first 40 kilometres, none sticking until Evenepoel took a group clear with 23 riders on the first ascent of the day, the Col Hourcere, featuring the likes of Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Bardet (DSM-Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious), Juan Pedro Lopez (Lidl-Trek) and Australians Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ).
Evenepoel and teammate Mattia Cattaneo pushed the pace on the 11km ascent to put their companions under pressure before the summit, when the Belgian attacked again with only Bardet able to follow, the pair stretching the gap to the chasers by almost a minute by the time they reached the Puerto de Larrau with the peloton over four minutes behind.
Once the leaders came to the first ever ascent of the Larra-Belagua, it was all Evenepoel. Bardet began to falter on the steeper slopes and the World Champion took his chance to drop him off the wheel with four kilometres to go, riding unopposed to an emotional comeback win.
The Vuelta a Espana continues tonight with the final stage before the second rest day, a hilly 158.5km route that looks perfect for an opportunistic breakaway. Watch the action LIVE from 10:50pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
