Before the start of stage 14, the organizers of the Vuelta a Espana spoke to a number of riders and sports directors. Below you can read what they had to say.

°Fabio Aru (Astana, Vuelta leader): "It's the first of three extremely hard stages. We're going to see a great show and I really hope to be part of it."

° Jose-Luis Arrieta (Movistar team director): "We have three very hard days ahead of us and we're not in an ideal position. But we've had a great season so far and we can't complain. We're happy that Nairo was able to overcome his problems yesterday. He struggled in the first climb but then managed to stay in the bunch. We  hope his virus is over now. We'll see today. If he manages to stay with the best, then we have great hopes for the end of the Vuelta. Alejandro's shoulder is still stiff in the morning but it goes better during the stage."

° Didier Rous (Cofidis team director): "Dani Navarro has a great pain in his lower back. It's difficult for him so we pin all hour hopes on Stephane Rossetto. He's discovering grand Tours and has been very consistent so far. We have confidence that he can maintain his position in the three grueling days ahead of us. Our realistic objective is a Top 15 because Stephane is also a very good time trial specialist. Today is not so hard, the finale is not so difficult. The hardest stages should be tomorrow and the day after. We're a little disappointed about yesterday when Julien Simon came second, but Oliveira was just toot strong."

° Jean-Luc Jonrond (Cofidis team director): "Dani Navarro is not so bad but he suffers from the lower back. His goal is to win a stage like he did last year."  

° Julien Simon (Cofidis): "I didn't sleep too well not out of disappointment but because we start to feel the fatigue of two weeks in the race. There was nothing to regret after yesterday. Hopefully there will be other chances. For now, I will try to survive the three days ahead of us. I'll stay in the grupetto, confident that the time limits are not too harsh."

° Julien Jurdie (Ag2r team director): "We're going to see how Domenico Pozzovivo does in the next couple of days. It wasn't so tragic in Andorra, he only faltered in the last eight kilometers. I'm not sure he has his best legs but a lot will depend on how the others feel. A few favorites are out of contention but if the ones left in the race ride at their best, it could be hard. We should not underestimate riders like Sicard or Brambilla either, who have nothing to lose and could attack to protect their GC standing."

° Neil Stephens (Orica-Greenedge teem director): "We are going to have three exciting days of cycling in beautiful landscapes in very hard terrain. Like I've said since the start of this Vuelta, Esteban is among the favorites and our objectives is still not necessarily to win the Vuelta but to place him in the best possible GC position. With Dumoulin, Esteban and Aru, we see a new exciting generation coming up but the old guys are going to have their say in the week ahead. I'm not really going into speculations about the time Dumoulin needs to lose before the time trial but he's a serious contender for sure."

° Cameron Meyer (Orica Greenedge): "We're kind of swapping roles along the way. I was in the breakaway yesterday so I might take it a little bit easy today and play a more active role tomorrow. On paper, I'm the one in charge of helping Esteban as long as I can in the climbs even if I'm not a natural climber. To have a GC contender in the team is definitely a step up in the history of the team. It's tiring, it's challenging, but it's also very exciting. We realise how hard the big teams like Sky or Astana have to work. At the end of the Vuelta, we'll assess how much we learnt and hopefully one of these days we'll be in the same position in the Tour de France."

° Tristan Hoffman (Tinkoff-Saxo): "We're tackling three crucial stages for the outcome of the Vuelta. Some favorites are now out of the race and Rafal is still there, in fourth place and feeling well. We saw that the riders who did well in the Tour are struggling now and as I said before, it was not really the case for Rafal as he had no GC goals in the Tour. We're going to do our best to keep him in the best possible position with Pawel Poljanski and Jesper Hansen to help him out as much as they can even if they have already been working very hard. Pawel attacked yesterday because we're also looking for a stage win. Safety problems are behind us and we can now to focus on the race."

° Yvon Ledanois (BMC team director): "It's arrived to other and to me as well to lose your leader in a grand Tour and it forces us to ride a different race. Yesterday, it's a pity that the 16 made it back on the original 8 escapees as we had a good chance for a stage win with Alessandro de Marchi. Today there's going to be two races. One for the GC and one for the stage. Darwin Atapuma, Peter Velits and Amael Moinard are the riders designated to attack. Velits after his iliac artery operation is back in great shape and will be one of our leading riders for the end of he season."

° Nelson Oliveira (Lampre-Merida): "I can only say today that life is beautiful. If I had to do it again, I'll do exactly the same as yesterday but I'm a little bit worried about my legs. I expect to struggle today."

° Dirk de Mol (Trek Factory team director):  "After a stage in which we stayed calm, we are going to try and take advantage of this first of three mountain stages to breakaway with Zoidl, Shcleck or Zubeldia. With their experience, they must take advantage of the fact that it's a hard Vuelta because of the heat, the longer stages, the transfers. They know how to handle this and I'd rather see them break than riders like Popovych or Van Poppel who have nothing to hope for in a stage like this."

Franck Pineau (FDJ): "Today Arnaud Courteille bears the responsibilities for the whole FDJ team. Yesterday he was the last to bridge the gap on the break. He saw Astana pull behind and told himself wrongly it was not the right one. As a result, today he is determined to be a protagonist in the stage. He should be helped by Laurent Pichon. We asked Kenny Elissonde to relax a bit. Our neo-pro  Olivier Le Gac is tired and must also spare himself."'