Alejandro Valverde wins mountain battle on Mas de la Costa in Vuelta a España
Aug 30 2019 11:14 pm CET
Photo of Alejandro Valverde © Mary Cárdenas / CyclingPub.com
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has taken the victory of the mountain finish of Mas de la Costa in the Vuelta a España. The Spaniard crossed the finish line ahead of Primoz Roglic, Miguel Angel Lopez and Nairo Quintana.
The seventh stage of competition in the Spanish race was 183.2-kilometres long with a final on the first category climb of Mas de la Costa. The escape group was created after sixty kilometres of the stage by ten riders that included Philippe Gilbert, Sergio Henao, Sebastián Henao, Jelle Wallays and Tomasz Marczynski.
Bora-hansgrohe's Davide Formolo didn't start in the stage as a consequence of the injuries he suffered at the crash of the day before. Tejay Van Garderen (EF Education First) rode the first kilometres of the stage but was also suffering from the injuries of his fall on the previous day -which included a broken finger and abrasions- and withdrew from the race.
On the penultimate climb, both the front group and the peloton broke apart. In front, only Gianluca Brambilla, Gilbert, Sergio and Sebastián Henao remained in front while in the pack, the wearer of the Red Jersey Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) was also left suffering behind.
During the last ramps of the penultimate climb, Movistar and Astana took the lead of the pack while Gilbert and Sergio Henao escaped in front. The front duo was caught by a reduced pack in the first parts of the last ascent and straight away Jumbo-Visma took the lead and Sepp Kuss set a high rhythm that made a big selection in the favourites' group.
With three kilometres to go, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) launched an attack that was followed by Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), Miguel Ángel Lopez (Astana) and Quintana's teammate Alejandro Valverde. The quartet arrived together to the last kilometre and in the last metres, Valverde made a change of pace that only Roglic could follow.
The World Champion took the victory and just behind him the Slovenian of Jumbo-Visma also crossed the finish line, six seconds ahead of the two Colombians. López once again climbed to the top of the General Classification while Roglic moved to the second position and Valverde to the third place. Quintana and Rafal Majka close the top five of the overall standings.
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