Matej Mohoric solos to a stage victory as the breakway sticks for the second day, Froome’s Sky control the GC battle on tough roads
Stage 7: Vuelta
Stage seven of the Vuelta a Espana was another day for the breakaway, and while the escapees animated the race over eight minutes ahead of the peloton, Team Sky controlled the race.
After yesterday’s surprise attack from Contador, Team Sky kept a high pace over the climbs in the final part of the 207-kilometer stage, thwarting any aggression. It whittled the peloton to around 30 riders on what was a medium mountain stage that had a bite, with almost no flat roads and little in the way of descents for recovery and a nice stiff wind thrown in for measure.
The day’s breakaway was granted a large margin and with no threat from behind fought amongst themselves for the win with 14 riders going clear in the opening 10km of the 207km stage and quickly extended an advantage of two minutes over the bunch.
The gap continued to rise as the group tackled the first two category three climbs and peaked at six minutes in the first 100km, before extending further to almost nine minutes in the closing kilometers of the race. Solid cooperation in the breakaway from the strong group of riders and the willingness of the peloton to let the group go clear allowed the breakaway to stay away until the line.
The threat of crosswinds momentarily split the bunch. The attacks started in the breakaway 18km before the finish line and eventually, Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates) launched the winning attack on the descent of the Alto del Castillo which saw him ride solo to the line. … continued after advert
Reactions
Matej Mohoric (UAE Team Emirates): “It is incredible. It has been a long time since my last big win. I have always worked hard and given my best, so it feels great to get a victory again”.
“I was in the breakaway the other day when Lutsenko won, so I felt very good then, and even though the stage wasn’t suited to my characteristics, I managed to get a fourth place, so I knew my shape is pretty good. Today the team wanted me to go in the breakaway. I tried to save as much energy as possible and then gave as much as possible in the final.”
Pawel Poljanski (BORA – hansgrohe) “I wanted to go in the group again, because I knew it was another chance. The group worked well and everybody waited for the final ascent. When Mohoric was in front, I felt good on the climb, but I didn’t want to bring Rojas with me, so I hesitated a little.
In the downhill the other two guys did not pull 100%, but also Mohoric was strong, so the sprint between us was about the remaining podium spots. This time I was ahead on the line, but it was second place again. My form is good, the Vuelta is still long and a lot more opportunities are about to come. We want to take a win for the team and as I said yesterday, we’ll keep on trying. But the next two stages will be different I think, and I have to take a little rest now.” – Pawel Poljanski
José Joaquín Rojas (3rd, Movistar): “It’s obviously sad to be missing out by so very few seconds, but when one who’s stronger than you takes the win, you can’t do anything but congratulate him – Mohoric was the best on course today. He already attacked before the hardest part of the climb, and I tried to follow him because I knew he was the wheel to follow.
I could catch him, but at the top I was really cooked, had to take some air at the turns later on and the other ones did not cooperation. It was just a moment’s hesitation, but it was enough for him to open a gap and win, despite the fact that we got on well with each other after realizing the danger of that move.
“It makes you angry, because the whole team deserves some joy after such a bad strike we’re going through. I’m feeling great, the Vuelta is only one week old and with these legs we should be able to fight for some more days – it was just that we found a strong rival today. The race is not over, and we’ll keep on fighting because we deserve a stage more than anyone else.”
Chris Froome: “I think we were always in control. It was a relatively more controlled day for us. It was less crazy than yesterday, that’s for sure.
“But I think today deserves a special mention for Ian Stannard and Christian Knees with how much work they did on the front. It’s definitely thanks to them I’m still in red today.
“I think everyone was pretty tired from yesterday so if one team wanted to take it on, they would have had to ride for the rest of the stage. So everyone was happy to just let us do the work.”
Adam Yates (Orica GreenEdge): “Today was much easier than the past few days,” best young rider Adam Yates admitted. “It was still long, five and a half hours and everyone is tired and feeling it.”
“It hasn’t been an easy Vuelta so far, it’s been hot and there’s been some long stages. We have another tough stage tomorrow so you can’t waste energy wrong time, you need to wait for the opportune moment and that hasn’t come yet.”
Alessandro De Marchi (BMC): “Today was really the first stage that I targeted. The good thing is that we were there. Then you play and sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. The feelings were good but I missed a bit on the top, on the last KOM, and I missed the first chase group of three riders.
Let me say, that it was really the first day that I tried and I’m quite happy. When you say you will try, it’s not easy to be there. That’s the good thing. I’m missing a bit of strength and I just have to wait I think. The Vuelta is long and I will try to improve my shape and my feelings and just wait until the right moment and the right day.”
Nicolas Roche (BMC): “I think it happened exactly the way we talked about this morning in the briefing. Starting on a big road, it was always going to be a tough one for Team Sky to control the numbers so the breakaway had a big chance. It was good that we had Alessandro De Marchi up there.
There was a risk of crosswinds and the team was really good to keep us up the front all day. Obviously, they did an amazing job putting us into position at the bottom of the last climb where it was hard enough and close enough to the finish that anything could happen and you had to be up the front.
There were a few attacks, but nothing major, and Sky controlled it pretty well to the finish to make sure they weren’t going to get caught out. Tomorrow is another tough day so once again I’ll recover well tonight as much as possible and try and hang in there tomorrow.”
Alberto Contador: “The stages of tomorrow and Sunday are really beautiful when you have the legs, so we will have to wait and see how I recovered from today’s efforts since it has been a very long day today,” continued Contador.
“We will see how the race unfolds. Froome says he doesn’t need to take more time, but I believe he wants to take more time on his rivals because the smallest setback during the race can make the biggest difference. If he has a problem in the race that would mean his rivals can catch him. In theory, he is the better time trialist, but there are still so many stages to go, so I am pretty sure that when he gets the chance, he will attack to take some more distance on his rivals.”
Stage 7
1. Matej Mohoric UAE Team Emirates
2. Pawel Poljanski BORA – hansgrohe 0:16
3. Joaquín Rojas Movistar Team
4. Thomas de Gendt Lotto Souda
5. Alessandro De Marchi BMC Racing Team 0:27
6. Floris De Tier Team LottoNL-Jumbo
7. Jetse Bol Manzana Postobon 0:29
8. Ángel Maté Luis Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 1:21
9. Anthony Perez Cofidis, Solutions Crédits 1:32
10. Courteille Arnaud FDJ
GC group at 8 minutes plus
Overall
1. Chris Froome Team Sky2027:46:51
2. Esteban Chaves ORICA-Scott 0:11
3. Nicolas Roche BMC Racing Team 0:13
4. Tejay van Garderen BMC Racing Team 0:30
5. NibaliVincenzoBahrain Merida 0:36
6. David de la Cruz Quick-Step Floors 0:40
7. Jetse Bol Manzana Postobon 0:46
8. Fabio Aru Astana Pro Team 0:49
9. Adam Yates ORICA-Scott 0:50
10. Michael Woods Cannondale-Drapac 1:13
11. Simon Yates ORICA-Scott 1:26
12. Ilnur Zakarin Team Katusha – Alpecin 1:40
13. Warren Barguil Team Sunweb 1:43
14. Wilco Kelderman Team Sunweb 1:45
15. Sam Oomen Team Sunweb 2:14
16. Jack Haig ORICA-Scott 2:19
17. Wout Poels Team Sky 2:23
18. Igor Anton Dimension Data 2:26
19. Rui Costa UAE Team Emirates 2:52
20. Louis Meintjes UAE Team Emirates 2:55
24. Alberto Contador Trek – Segafredo 3:10
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