photo credits @ La Vuelta/Twitter
Bert-Jan Lindeman (Lotto NL-Jumbo) won stage 7 of this year’s Vuelta a Espana today, after attacking during the final kilometer of the Alto de Capeliera.
The Finale
Lindeman attacked his fellow breakaway companion, Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida), during the last few hundred meters along the day’s final climb, leaving the Lampre rider unable to respond.
From there, the Dutch rider went on to seize the stage victory by 10 seconds over his rival.
“It’s a surprise because it’s uphill, with the GC guys, and [Amets] Txurruka looked strong,” said Lindeman. “The team had bad luck this spring, but every race is important, and now we have the win. It’s a big win for me.”
Meanwhile, Johan Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEDGE) retained his grip on the overall race lead, after finishing safely in 6th place.
Race Highlights
Lindeman, Koshevoy and Jérôme Cousin (Europcar), were the last 3 riders who remained out of today’s 5-man breakaway group.
With just a few kilometers remaining, the trio still had enough of a gap, to keep the peloton at bay, while they tackled the final climb.
Cousin was later dropped inside the final 500 meters, while Koshevoy proceeded to set the pace at the front.
However, with 300 meters to go, Lindeman executed a final surge, that served to dislodge Kosherov during the closing moments of today’s stage.
Earlier in the race, GC hopeful Chris Froome got dropped inside the closing two kilometers.
Sensing that his British rival was faltering, Fabio Aru (Astana) seized the opportunity to attack during the final kilometer.
However, at that point, it was too late for the Italian rider to make contact with the lead trio.
Stage 7 Results NED 1 LINDEMAN, Bertjan (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) 5:10:24 BLR 2 KOSHEVOY, Ilia (LAMPRE – MERIDA) + 9 ITA 3 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 29 FRA 4 COUSIN, Jerome (EUROPCAR) + 34 POL 5 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 36 COL 6 CHAVES RUBIO, Johan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) ESP 7 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) COL 8 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) RSA 9 MEINTJES, Louis (MTN – QHUBEKA) IRL 10 ROCHE, Nicolas (SKY) IRL 11 MARTIN, Daniel (TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN) ESP 12 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) ITA 13 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) NED 14 DUMOULIN, Tom (TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN) ESP 15 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) + 45 ESP 16 TXURRUKA, Amets (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 51 GBR 17 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 1:03 BEL 18 DE CLERCQ, Bart (LOTTO SOUDAL) ESP 19 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) LUX 20 SCHLECK, Frank (TREK FACTORY RACING) ESP 21 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ, Samuel (BMC RACING) ESP 22 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) FRA 23 JEANDESBOZ, Fabrice (EUROPCAR) + 1:09 ITA 24 VISCONTI, Giovanni (MOVISTAR) + 1:10 ITA 25 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 1:18 AUT 26 ZOIDL, Riccardo (TREK FACTORY RACING) + 1:21 ESP 27 NAVARRO GARCIA, Daniel (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) USA 28 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 1:25 FRA 29 SICARD, Romain (EUROPCAR) + 1:31 FRA 30 ELISSONDE, Kenny (FDJ) + 1:33 POR 31 CARDOSO, Andre Fernando S. Martins (TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN) ESP 32 PLAZA MOLINA, Ruben (LAMPRE – MERIDA) COL 33 TORRES AGUDELO, Rodolfo Andres (COLOMBIA) COL 34 HENAO MONTOYA, Sergio Luis (SKY) NZL 35 BENNETT, George (LOTTO NL – JUMBO) + 1:39 FRA 36 ROSSETTO, Stéphane (COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS) ESP 37 ARROYO DURAN, David (CAJA RURAL-SEGUROS RGA) + 1:48
General Classification after Stage 7 COL 1 CHAVES RUBIO, Johan Esteban (ORICA GreenEDGE) 27:03:07 NED 2 DUMOULIN, Tom (TEAM GIANT – ALPECIN) + 10 IRL 3 MARTIN, Daniel (TEAM CANNONDALE – GARMIN) + 33 IRL 4 ROCHE, Nicolas (SKY) + 36 ESP 5 VALVERDE BELMONTE, Alejandro (MOVISTAR) + 49 ESP 6 MORENO FERNANDEZ, Daniel (KATUSHA) + 51 GBR 7 FROOME, Christopher (SKY) + 55 ESP 8 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquin (KATUSHA) + 56 COL 9 QUINTANA ROJAS, Nairo Alexander (MOVISTAR) + 57 ITA 10 ARU, Fabio (ASTANA) + 1:08 ESP 11 LANDA MEANA, Mikel (ASTANA) + 1:12 ESP 12 NIEVE ITURALDE, Mikel (SKY) USA 13 VAN GARDEREN, Tejay (BMC RACING) + 1:16 ITA 14 POZZOVIVO, Domenico (AG2R LA MONDIALE) + 1:19 COL 15 HENAO MONTOYA, Sergio Luis (SKY) + 1:27 POL 16 MAJKA, Rafal (TINKOFF – SAXO) + 1:29 ITA 17 BRAMBILLA, Gianluca (ETIXX – QUICK STEP) + 1:43 ESP 18 SANCHEZ GIL, Luis Leon (ASTANA) + 1:44 RSA 19 MEINTJES, Louis (MTN – QHUBEKA) + 1:51
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