place and a stage victory in the Tour de l'Ain, held one week before the Vuelta. The team started with another mediocre performance in the team time trial, coming in 18th of the 22 teams, but Pidgornyy was part of a successful four-man breakaway on the third stage, and although he eventually finished 15 seconds down on the eventual stage winner Pablo Lastras (), Pidgornyy moved into fourth place in the general classification. Poels featured in the top ten of the next two stages, the sharp incline to Sierra Nevada – finishing eighth, two places behind teammate Lagutin – and was the closest to 's Joaquim Rodríguez on the steep finish into Valdepeñas de Jaén. He also tried to make a late-stage move, within the final , on the eighth stage, but was unsuccessful, as he was swallowed up by the main field prior to the 20% gradient final climb to the line. Ligthart and Keizer made their way into the breakaway on stage 9, with both being dropped before the climb to La Covatilla. Pidgornyy made it into his second breakaway of the race, as the race moved into its second half, on stage 12, but he and rider Luis Angel Maté were overhauled with just remaining. As the race began to take shape in the Cantabrian Mountains, Poels continued his impressive Vuelta by again featuring in the top five of a stage, by taking fourth place on stage 14. Having stayed with the main group of overall contenders, Poels managed to stay with the likes of 's Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, while others such as Rodríguez and defending race winner Vincenzo Nibali of had faded out of contention. The next day, the race headed to the summit finish of the Angliru for the first time in three years, and while 's Juan José Cobo soloed into his eventual race-winning general classification lead, Poels was his closest challenger, 48 seconds in arrears but sufficient enough to move him into the top ten overall. Poels slipped out of the top ten after losing time on the finish to Peña Cabarga, and thus tried to make a breakaway the following day, on stage 18, but was not given the freedom to break and finished with the main field. Poels ultimately finished the race 17th, but the team's best-placed rider honour went to Lagutin, who finished almost three minutes ahead in