2014 Vuelta a España Stage 7 Results & Recap
Stage 7 of the 2014 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
The last day of the first week of racing at the Vuelta a España produced the first success for a breakaway. Part of a four-man group that went clear 36km into another super-heated day, Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) rode alone into the stage 7 finish line in Alcaudete to claim the biggest victory of his professional career after fatigue and misfortune had ended the hopes of his three companions; Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Hubert Dupont (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Johann Tschopp (IAM Cycling).
"It’s great to have been in a break with such strong riders," De Marchi said. "Today, I felt like I had good legs and I was allowed to go for it.”
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) continues his lead in the overall classification by 15 seconds ahead of his teammate Nairo Quintana and an additional three seconds to Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo).
How it unfolded
The seventh stage of the Vuelta was 169km from Alhendín to Alcaudete. The escape had been instigated by Hesjedal and Tschopp, who managed to get clear after several attempts had been snuffed out during the first hour of racing. Dupont and De Marchi quickly joined this pair.
The quartet’s advantage edged out steadily, reaching almost seven-and-a-half minutes, almost big enough for Hesjedal to become the race leader on the road. The peloton began to chase with 70km remaining, but soon found it was making little headway into the lead held by the four hardriders up front, who were collaborating extremely well.
By the time Lampre and Trek had reduced the gap to four minutes, the leading quartet were only 20km from home and could already sense they would be disputing the stage between them. However, events took an unexpected turn 15km from home.
First, Dupont fell back on a short climb. Very soon after, Hesjedal went down when his wheels slid from under him on a fast left-hand bend, the crash happening so suddenly that the TV motorbike following close behind couldn’t swerve or stop before it went over the Canadian’s bike.
For a few moments, De Marchi and Tschopp seemed uncertain what to do, both of them looking back to see what had happened to Hesjedal and whether he was coming back up to them. Then, either under orders or because he’d had enough of waiting, De Marchi accelerated away from Tschopp on another short climb and quickly found his groove.
Although his three former companions did rejoin forces, De Marchi cruised through the final 12km and was celebrating well before the line, where he took his first victory since the final stage of last year's Critérium du Dauphiné, which was his only previous success.
“I came into this race without too much pressure on me,” said the Italian. “I was just looking to get some form and hoping for some opportunities. But my legs felt good today. This is the best memory of my career. After so many top fives, this is a great result, an almost perfect day for me.”
Soon after Hesjedal had led in Dupont and Tschopp, the peloton came hurtling up the rise to the finish. Dan Martin (Garmin-Sharp) and Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) showed plenty of punch in getting clear of the pack, the Belgian edging out the Irishman for fifth.
More interesting, though, was the tussle behind them. Sky’s Chris Froome had hit the deck in the first hour with a number of other riders, including Orica-GreenEdge’s Ivan Santaromita, who became the race’s first retiree as the result of a broken finger. Froome, though, answered any doubts about his own health when he shot off the front of the peloton and gained what could be a very useful three seconds on his main rivals.
Froome still remains in fourth place, but is now 19 seconds behind red jersey Valverde, who still leads teammate Quintana by 15 seconds and Contador by 18.
In the frenzy behind the Briton, Giant-Shimano’s Warren Barguil crashed heavily, suffering a heavy blow to the right side of his head as well as some abrasions. Thankfully, the Frenchman did walk across the line after being helped back to his feet.
The coming weekend brings two testing stages, the first through the windy terrain leading into Albacete, and the second up to the first high mountain finish at Valdelinares, where we should get a better idea of the likely contenders for the title.
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