Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) claimed victory in the seventh stage of the Vuelta a España in scorching Cordoba. After a relatively calm stage, the finale with the 14% Alto climb created significant excitement, which persisted until the finish in Cordoba.
At the start, much of the talk revolved around Thursday’s hard-fought stage, where Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R) executed a major coup. The Australian suddenly finds himself five minutes ahead of other general classification contenders, establishing himself as one of the top favorites, if he wasn’t already.
Teams like Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, UAE-Team Emirates and Visma | Lease a Bike pointed fingers at each other but will have to join forces for the rest of the race to catch up with O'Connor.
Two riders did not start on Friday, adding to the three riders who dropped out on Thursday. Andreas Kron (Lotto-Dstny) suffered a concussion from a crash, while Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) was too ill to continue. This was a significant setback for both men and their teams, including GC riders Lennert Van Eetvelt and Antonio Tiberi.
Lone breakaway, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Visma | Lease a Bike collaborate
Without these two riders, the peloton set off at 1:30 PM for the seventh stage, with the question of whether it was a day for a breakaway being quickly dismissed. Only one man showed interest in the day’s break: Xabier Isasa of Euskaltel-Euskadi, who was given plenty of freedom. Visma | Lease a Bike and Alpecin-Deceuninck each put a man at the front to manage the gap.
It was up to Edoardo Affini and Oscar Riesebeek to ensure their leaders had a good position heading toward the 14% Alto climb, which in reality has a gradient of 5.7%. Forty-five kilometers from the finish, tension grew as the peloton approached the climb, and Isasa was reeled back in without too much of a fuss.
A bit later, the peloton passed the finish line in Cordoba for the first time, including an intermediate sprint with bonus seconds. Top favorites Van Aert and Groves picked up a few points, while the GC teams mainly focused on the upcoming climb, with Affini leading the charge.
Arensman and Uijtdebroeks struggle, Groves crashes
The Italian held on for a long time, stretching the peloton thin, before Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe took over, increasing the pace significantly, which came as a surprise to many. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Visma | Lease a Bike) was the first to drop from the group of GC contenders, along with INEOS Grenadiers’ Thymen Arensman.
Aleksandr Vlasov led the group on the steepest sections, following which Roglic attacked one kilometer from the top. Though the attack didn’t succeed, the Slovenian did snatch up a few bonus seconds at the summit of the 14% Alto climb. About thirty riders crested the climb together, including Van Aert but without Groves, who crashed badly right after the summit, ruining his chances.
Read more below the video.
Sepp Kuss tried to control the group of thirty, but UAE-Team Emirates was particularly active. Pavel Sivakov launched the first attack, followed by Marc Soler, who gained a 25-second lead. Decathlon AG2R helped Van Aert’s team in the group behind, likely trying to keep dropped riders like Uijtdebroeks, Arensman and white jersey Florian Lipowitz at a disadvantage.
As the descent ended, Soler still had a 20-second lead when Van Aert decided to attack himself. This triggered a response from UAE, who reeled him back in after a kilometer of chasing. It was then Kuss’ turn to work, keeping Soler within reach, ten seconds behind the leader.
Read more below the video.
The American did a fantastic job, keeping Soler within striking distance for his Belgian teammate, catching him with four kilometers to go. The group briefly hesitated, creating dangerous situations, with Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) and again Sivakov trying their luck.
Vlasov closed the gap to his former compatriot, unintentionally rolling out the red carpet for Van Aert. The Belgian launched his sprint early and held on strongly to the finish. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) finished second, followed by Pau Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma).
Stage 7 Vuelta a España 2024
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