Alessandro De Marchi won stage 7 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana today, with a solo finish in Alcaudete, after riding clear of his breakaway companions during the final 15 kilometers.
The Italian rider was part of a four-man breakaway group that was initiated by Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) and Johann Tschopp (IAM Cycling), who were quickly joined by Hubert Dupont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and De Marchi, during the last 40 kilometers.
From there, the escapees worked in unison, until chaos struck the quartet in the final 15 kilometers. First, Dupont fell back during a short climb, followed by Hesjedal, who crashed when his bike slid-out from underneath him during a fast left-hand bend.
Shortly thereafter, De Marchi attacked Tschopp, quickly leaving the Swiss rider behind him – to claim his first victory since winning the final stage of last year’s Critérium du Dauphiné.
"It’s one of the best memories of my career," De Marchi said. "It’s great to have been in a break with such strong riders. It was a near-perfect day for me. Today, I felt like I had good legs and I was allowed to go for it.”
Meanwhile, Alejandro Valverde held onto his overall race lead, with a 15 second advantage over teammate Nairo Quintana.
Stage 7 Results
ITA 1 DE MARCHI, Alessandro (CANNONDALE) 4:01:52 CAN 2 HESJEDAL, Ryder (GARMIN SHARP) + 1:35 FRA 3 DUPONT, Hubert (AG2R LA MONDIALE) SUI 4 TSCHOPP, Johann (IAM CYCLING) BEL 5 GILBERT, Philippe (BMC RACING) + 2:17 IRL 6 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN SHARP) GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) ITA 8 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 2:20 ESP 9 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) ESP 10 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) NED 11 GESINK, Robert (BELKIN) COL 12 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) ITA 13 CARUSO, Damiano (CANNONDALE) ESP 14 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) AUS 15 MATTHEWS, Michael (ORICA GreenEDGE) ITA 16 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) BEL 17 SERRY, Pieter (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) ESP 18 ARROYO DURAN, David (CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA) FRA 19 MONDORY, Lloyd (AG2R LA MONDIALE) SUI 20 ZAUGG, Oliver (TINKOFF-SAXO) POL 21 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw (LAMPRE – MERIDA) RUS 22 KOLOBNEV, Alexandr (KATUSHA) COL 23 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 2:23 COL 24 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) NED 25 KELDERMAN, Wilco (BELKIN) FRA 26 LE MEVEL, Christophe (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) BEL 27 MONFORT, Maxime (LOTTO BELISOL) ESP 28 ZUBELDIA AGIRRE, Haimar (TREK FACTORY RACING) POR 29 CARDOSO, Andre Fernando S. Martins (GARMIN SHARP) ESP 30 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) ESP 31 NAVARRO GARCIA, Daniel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) FRA 32 SICARD, Romain (EUROPCAR) ESP 33 MATE MARDONES, Luis Angel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) COL 34 ANACONA GOMEZ, Winner (LAMPRE – MERIDA) BEL 35 VAN DEN BROECK, Jurgen (LOTTO BELISOL) NED 36 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN) NED 37 POELS, Wouter (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) GER 38 NERZ, Dominik (BMC RACING) ESP 39 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) FRA 40 BOUET, Maxime (AG2R LA MONDIALE)
General Classification after Stage 7 ESP 1 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) 26:52:20 COL 2 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 15 ESP 3 CONTADOR VELASCO, Alberto (TINKOFF-SAXO) + 18 GBR 4 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 19 COL 5 CHAVES RUBIO, Jhoan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) + 44 ESP 6 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 45 NED 7 GESINK, Robert (BELKIN) + 55 ITA 8 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 58 NED 9 KELDERMAN, Wilco (BELKIN) + 1:09 ITA 10 CARUSO, Damiano (CANNONDALE) + 1:12 ESP 11 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) COL 12 URAN URAN, Rigoberto (OMEGA PHARMA – QUICK-STEP) + 1:21 ESP 13 NAVARRO GARCIA, Daniel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) + 1:29 IRL 14 MARTIN, Daniel (GARMIN SHARP) + 1:34 ESP 15 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) + 1:39 ESP 16 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) + 1:50 COL 17 ANACONA GOMEZ, Winner (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 2:00 ESP 18 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) + 2:09 NED 19 TEN DAM, Laurens (BELKIN) + 2:28 POL 20 NIEMIEC, Przemyslaw (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 2:29
You must be logged in to post a comment.
