Hello and welcome to libve coverage of Stage 14 of La Vuelta - a mountainous 171km slog from Cistierna to Les Praeres which includes five categorised climbs including the gruelling Cat.1 summit finish. It's the second of three mountaintop showdowns that could well decide who wins this Vuelta and we have it live from start to finish on Eurosport TV and here online.

The gap is still 2'20" as the six leaders near the bottom of this long descent. We have the next climb coming right up but it's touch and go for these guys, especially with so many hungry GC riders behind.

The last time a Vuelta stage started in Cistierna and tackled the Puerto de San Isidro was in 2016 and Carlos de la Cruz (now Sky, then Quick-Step) took the spoils. The second half of the stage was very different - it included four more climbs, but they were all lower-category tests and not of the same calibre as the riders face today. The Spaniard told vuelta.es this morning: "I have good memories from this day. It was the same: the day before we did La Camperona and then we started from there. It was a wonderful day and we hope today will also be. Now the situation is different. I can’t go in a break but those are important days for the general classification. We’ll have to pay attention if there are some moves. I’m a rider who feels things and if there are opportunities we’ll have to enjoy them." De la Cruz is currently in 12th place at 3'34".

The gap is still 2'20" and so it looks like today's break are going to get no leeway. This means that we won't have two races out there today - but a single battle for both GC and the stage win, with the winner perhaps taking all.

The peloton now have 27km of descent. Kwiatkowski is a beast going downhill - perhaps he will use this to try and extend the lead of the break, put it back above the four-minute mark.

Thomas De Gendt zips clear to secure the maximum five points over the top. That puts him on to 34pts in the KOM standings - level in third place with Bauke Mollema now. Still out ahead is Ben King on 40pts and Luis Angel Mate, the leader since the start of the race, on 64pts.

Just over a kilometre till the summit now. The gap is 2'45" and it's still Movistar and Cofidis on the front of the pack. Thomas De Gendt is preparing himself...

It's a two-tier climb and the riders are now on a short downhill segment that splits the two uphill grinds. The leaders are 3.5km from the top and their gap is still around the two-and-a-half-minute mark.

It's a lovely, scenic, barren, leg-stretching climb this. Luis Angel Mate is near the front with his Cofidis team-mates but he's been struggling today. Earlier we saw him with the medical car and then we saw him being helped by Astana's Dario Cataldo. The Spaniard is clearly suffering from an illness and it will be a real battle for him today. And with De Gendt in the break and seeking KOM points, his polka dot jersey could be in danger.

The break is onto the Cat.2 Puerto de San Isidro (11km at 3%). The last time the Vuelta came here, in 2016, it was Thomas De Gendt who crested in pole position. History will no doubt repeat itself in about 20 minutes. The gap, meanwhile, is down to 2'20".

We have that first categorised climb coming up and the gap is down to 2'40". At what point do the other five escapees have a quiet word with Michal Kwiatkowski and politely tell him to b****er off?

Really beautiful scenery for the riders as they pass the magnificent dammed lake of Porma, which is surrounded by jagged peaks and rolling hills. Movistar have come to the front to help the pace setting and it may have spelled the death knell for these six riders, who see their advantage drop to three minutes. Simon Yates is near the back and taking things very easily - he should be concerned about a potential ambush: Movistar are good at those.

Kwiatkowski may be in the leading group but it's been a bad day for Sky: following the earlier withdrawal of Dylan van Baarle, we're now hearing that Pavel Sivakov, who was dropped early on, has also thrown in the towel. Suddenly they're down to six riders - and that's not something we usually see with the British team.

It's nicely poised with Kwiatkowski eyeing a red raid, De Gendt up for the polka dot points, and the others in it to win it.

CORRECTION: It's not De Marchi, the stage 11 winner, in the break but his BMC team-mate Brent Bookwalter. This six-man move now has three minutes on the peloton, which is all strung out and has the Cofidis team of Jesus Herrada at its head.

If you thought yesterday's finish was steep and the day before's was narrow then look at this...

Richard Carapaz (Movistar) tried to bridge over but couldn't make the connection. The gap us up to 1'45" and it's a very interesting move because Kwiatkowski, who led the race in the opening week, is in the top 20 and around five minutes down on Herrada on GC. So while he's not a direct danger man for now - he could be if he takes any serious time back in this stage.

So, our six leaders are: Nicolas Roche and Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal), Michael Woods (EF Education First-Drapac), Ivan Garcia Cortina (Bahrain-Merida) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky). They have a minute to play with over the pack.

It doesn't happen often that they have even one jersey but French wildcards Cofidis currently lead the general classification through Jesus Herrada and the KOM standings through Luis Angel Mate. The latter was in yesterday's break as he picked up some more polka dot points before dropping back to help pace his compatriot, the red jersey, up the final climb. Impressive stuff. It's a big day for the polka dot jersey with 38pts up for grabs.

This early attack from Kwiatkowski has blown the race apart. The Pole has been joined by around six riders - including Thomas De Gendt and Nicolas Roche, I think.

The road rises early on and it's not a categorised climb but it's proving rather testing. The peloton is all strung out and it's top-and-tailed by Team Sky: Michal Kwiatkowski has ridden clear, while Pavel Sivakov is pedalling squares and dropping like a stone off the back. The Russian Grand Tour debutant is nursing some wounds and bandages so must have taken a tumble - perhaps even yesterday.