photo credits @ La Vuelta
The day after crumbling in Andorra and seeing his GC hopes slip away, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) showed his grit and skill to claim an impressive solo victory in stage 7 of the Vuelta a España today. The young Spaniard launched his attack on the very first climb of the day, the mighty Port del Canto, dropping his breakaway companions almost 10 kilometers from the summit finish at the Cerler ski resort.
As a result, Ayuso took his first Vuelta stage win after opening his Grand Tour tally earlier this season in the Giro d’Italia. It’s also a third consecutive victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, following the team time trial and Jay Vine’s success in Andorra. Their Portuguese leader João Almeida also attacked on the final climb, but the main GC contenders finished together, with Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious) matching their pace to retain La Roja.
Race Highlights
There were a few moves along the opening downhill sections but the real battle unfolded on the ascent up the Port del Canto.
Some 22 kilometers away from the summit, Ayuso attacked, looking for revenge after dropping to 43rd position overall after yesterday’s stage.
Many riders tried to follow him, including his teammate Jay Vine, winner in Pal and leader of the KOM standings, as well as Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), whose attempts were covered by Bahrain Victorious as they defended Torstein Træen’s La Roja.
Ayuso later crested the summit alone, only to be joined by eleven riders on the descent that included Vine, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Damien Howson (Q36.5), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ), Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Raul Garcia Pierna (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Kevin Vermaerke (Picnic PostNL), Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto) and Marco Frigo (Israel Premier Tech).
From there, the lead group opened up an advantage that was just over four minutes, while Træen’s teammates set the pace back in the peloton to ensure the attackers posed no threat to La Roja.
In the meantime, Vine strengthened his grip on the polka-dot jersey going first atop the Creu de Perves and L’Espina, followed by Pedersen winning 20 points at the intermediate sprint in Benasque.
Vine later set the pace early on the climb of the Cerler, quickly dropping Pedersen and Nicolau, before Ayuso commenced his winning move.
Frigo briefly managed to get back on terms with Ayuso, but the Italian rider couldn’t react to the Spanish climber’s final acceleration inside the last 10 kilometers.
Meanwhile, Visma-Lease a Bike and then UAE Team Emirates-XRG set a strong pace back in the peloton, with Joao Almeida attacking inside the last 5 kilometers, a move that was closely marked by Jonas Vingegaard and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) who remained fast on his wheel.
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