Vuelta a España returns on the Mediterranean coast

The peloton gathered in Utiel Friday for the start of the seventh stage, for a 200.8km journey to Oliva, one of the pro teams’ favourite destinations in the winter. The course was ideal for the riders to relax a bit after a hard and hectic day in the mountains, and for the sprinters to target a victory before what’s shaping up to be a tough weekend.
Two riders animated the day, but despite their best efforts, the maximum gap didn’t go over two minutes. When the breakaway entered Valencia – one of the cities that were on the route of the inaugural edition, when Austria’s Max Bulla took the glory – their advantage hovered around one minute and continued to go down with each kilometer, until the peloton became as one again, before the intermediate sprint.
Things remained calm until the final ten kilometers, when teams began jostling for position at the front, and this led to two separate crashes, which fortunately our riders avoided. A corner with 300 meters to go spiced up things, but it couldn’t prevent a mass gallop, which was won by Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies).
Stage 3 winner Remco Evenepoel, resplendent in his beautiful Belgian National Champion jersey, came home with the rest of his Soudal Quick-Step teammates and remained the best-placed contender ahead of the steep Xorret de Cati.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images
Race details
1 |
Geoffrey Soupe TotalEnergies |
4:56:29 |
2 |
Orluis Aular Sanabria Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
0:00 |
3 |
Edward Theuns Lidl - Trek |
0:00 |
4 |
Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides UAE Team Emirates |
0:00 |
5 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin-Deceuninck |
0:00 |
6 |
Marijn van den Berg EF Education-EasyPost |
0:00 |
7 |
David González López Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
0:00 |
8 |
Hugo Page Intermarché - Circus - Wanty |
0:00 |
9 |
Filippo Ganna INEOS Grenadiers |
0:00 |
10 |
Matevž Govekar Bahrain - Victorious |
0:00 |
48 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
51 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
72 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
0:00 |
117 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:33 |
141 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:45 |
145 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step |
4:02 |
146 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
4:02 |
1 |
Lenny Martinez Groupama - FDJ |
26:37:04 |
2 |
Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma |
0:08 |
3 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
0:51 |
4 |
Wout Poels Bahrain - Victorious |
1:41 |
5 |
Steff Cras TotalEnergies |
1:48 |
6 |
Mikel Landa Meana Bahrain - Victorious |
1:58 |
7 |
David de la Cruz Melgarejo Astana Qazaqstan Team |
2:23 |
8 |
Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda Hernandez Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
2:30 |
9 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:47 |
10 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
2:50 |
34 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
14:58 |
40 |
Jan Hirt
Soudal - Quick Step |
19:36 |
65 |
Louis Vervaeke
Soudal - Quick Step |
34:00 |
89 |
James Knox
Soudal - Quick Step |
41:53 |
136 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
56:16 |
150 |
Pieter Serry
Soudal - Quick Step |
1:00:21 |
1 |
Kaden Groves Alpecin-Deceuninck |
158 pt |
2 |
Andrea Vendrame AG2R Citroën Team |
66 pt |
3 |
Geoffrey Soupe TotalEnergies |
61 pt |
4 |
Marijn van den Berg EF Education-EasyPost |
57 pt |
5 |
Edward Theuns Lidl - Trek |
55 pt |
6 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
52 pt |
7 |
Juan Sebastián Molano Benavides UAE Team Emirates |
48 pt |
8 |
Orluis Aular Sanabria Caja Rural - Seguros RGA |
47 pt |
9 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
45 pt |
10 |
Andreas Kron Lotto Dstny |
45 pt |
34 |
Casper Pedersen
Soudal - Quick Step |
15 pt |
1 |
Eduardo Sepúlveda Lotto Dstny |
21 pt |
2 |
Sepp Kuss Jumbo-Visma |
10 pt |
3 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
10 pt |
4 |
Matteo Sobrero Team Jayco AlUla |
6 pt |
5 |
Javier Romo Astana Qazaqstan Team |
6 pt |
6 |
Lenny Martinez Groupama - FDJ |
6 pt |
7 |
Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen Jumbo-Visma |
6 pt |
8 |
Damiano Caruso Bahrain - Victorious |
6 pt |
9 |
Marc Soler Giménez UAE Team Emirates |
5 pt |
10 |
Jesús Herrada López Cofidis |
4 pt |
25 |
Mattia Cattaneo
Soudal - Quick Step |
1 pt |
1 |
Lenny Martinez Groupama - FDJ |
26:37:04 |
2 |
Remco Evenepoel
Soudal - Quick Step |
2:47 |
3 |
Juan Ayuso Pesquera UAE Team Emirates |
3:06 |
4 |
Cian Uijtdebroeks BORA - hansgrohe |
3:08 |
5 |
João Almeida UAE Team Emirates |
3:17 |
6 |
Einer Augusto Rubio Reyes Movistar Team |
3:22 |
7 |
Santiago Buitrago Sánchez Bahrain - Victorious |
3:58 |
8 |
Attila Valter Jumbo-Visma |
6:24 |
9 |
Sean Quinn EF Education-EasyPost |
14:00 |
10 |
Max Poole Team dsm - firmenich |
14:51 |
1 | Bahrain - Victorious | 79:21:07 |
2 | Jumbo-Visma | 0:03 |
3 | UAE Team Emirates | 1:15 |
4 | BORA - hansgrohe | 4:04 |
5 | INEOS Grenadiers | 10:15 |
6 | Movistar Team | 15:35 |
7 | Soudal - Quick Step | 23:34 |
8 | Caja Rural - Seguros RGA | 25:47 |
9 | EF Education-EasyPost | 26:22 |
10 | Groupama - FDJ | 31:30 |