Let p be an odd prime, and fix integers m and n such that 0 < m < n Ä .p 1/.p 2/. We give a p -local homotopy decomposition for the loop space of the complex Stiefel manifold W n;m . Similar decompositions are given for the loop space of the real and symplectic Stiefel manifolds. As an application of these decompositions, we compute upper bounds for the p -exponent of W n;m . Upper bounds for p -exponents in the stable range 2m < n and 0 < m Ä .p