OFFICIAL Stage 7 Results: Cristián Rodríguez ABANDONS!

[Laurens De Jong]

Hello, Vuelta a España Gamers!

 

STAGE Grade: C+

 

I rate today’s stage a C+. So far, all this climbing is just keeping the general classification riders together. You’d hope for more action, but it’s not happening. That in itself is a surprise, which salvages the stage’s C+ rating.

 

Route: 4/5         GC: 0/5             Tactics: 2/5       Sprint: 0/5         Surprises: 2/5

 

 

We didn’t get to see any of it on TV, but the opening phases of the stage may have been the best part. It was surprisingly Juan Ayuso who attacked solo on the first climb of the day. That’s a desperation move. He’s not going to ride solo for 150 kilometers to win the stage. But UAE Team Emirates – XRG has been doing the impossible all year, so who knows. Their performance has been so supernatural that they can break all the rules of racing, apparently.

 

Ayuso would win the stage, but not solo. A group of riders, led by Jay Vine and Mads Pedersen, counterattacked and it all came together in the valley. We ended up with a breakaway that made good sense to me. Vine to protect the KOM jersey. Ayuso with him, presumably to help him. Pedersen there to get points for the green jersey. And everyone else with hopes to finish on the podium or get on TV.

 

Behind the breakaway, Bahrain-Victorious was pulling the peloton. Torsten Træen is the GC leader, his team has to do the work. Behind them: Team Visma – Lease-a-Bike, then UAE. The hierarchy of the peloton.

 

The way the breakaway was formed was the best part of the race. Then Vine won the KOM points and Pedersen the sprint points, and what followed next was some incomprehensible bike racing.

 

It wasn’t Ayuso who helped Vine, it was the other way around. Vine pulled, then Ayuso launched. To win the stage. Twenty-four hours, despite Ayuso’s reassurances that he was dropped because he chose to, it was a different story. Night and day.

 

Say what you want, this is incomprehensible bike racing.

 

Behind him and the other breakaway riders, Team Visma – Lease-a-Bike was controlling the pace of the peloton. Not sure if they needed to. Ayuso, surely, was not a threat to the General Classification. That was somewhat incomprehensible bike racing. The best that could be said about it is that it got rid of some contenders, like Mikel Landa. But if Landa couldn’t follow the pace, he was going to get dropped sooner or later. No effort required. And to be fair: the Visma pace wasn’t that high. They seem to save themselves for the last week of racing.

 

But why UAE and Marc Soler were attacking as hard as they did is again incomprehensible. They weren’t going fast enough to catch Ayuso, which would have truly been incomprehensible. But look at this: Soler was going 100%. Maybe 110%. The classic picture of a superdomestique giving up his overall classification for his team leader’s first place.

 

But that didn’t happen. João Almeida did launch. Jonas Vingegaard and Giulio Ciccone followed. Egan Bernal and Sepp Kuss followed, but were dropped.

 

Kuss was going to close that gap and bring Bernal back. But it didn’t happen. More mysterious bike racing. Kuss on the radio: “Boys, I have Bernal in my wheel here, what do I do?” Vingegaard looked over his shoulder and decided: “close the gap and attack. Leave Bernal to us.”

 

We were getting more racing spectacle in these few kilometers than in the entire 2025 Vuelta a España so far.

 

Ciccone countered, Bernal and Vingegaard followed. Before we knew it, everyone was together again. Clearly, Vingegaard is doing as little as possible. I truly believed he would attack after Kuss was caught, but he did none of that. He is saving his energy for later this week. Supremely patient. I approve.

 

Bizarrely, from this group it was Soler who attacked. Incomprehensible. He almost caught the breakaway. All that work for ninth place, five seconds ahead of the group with Vingegaard. Soler’s job was to be with Almeida, in case of a puncture or who knows what. But Soler will ride his own race when he feels like it.

 

Kevin Vermaerke is the only-one-team-picked him focus rider of the day. He joined the Jay Vine group that made it into the breakaway, and he stayed there to the finish.

 

At first glance, I would think that Vermaerke is Flemish. But he’s not. He grew up in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

But his dad is Anthon Vermaerke, the 1991 Junior Belgian individual time trial champion. Kevin does still hold a Belgian passport, although he lives in Girona in Spain.

 

Team Joe picked him and today he had his best result in a Grand Tour. Sixth, in the group with renowned climbers like Harold Tejada and Eduardo Sepúlveda.

 

Sean Quinn was also in that group, another American. Sepp Kuss in 17^th, Matthew Riccitello in eighteenth.

 

And Juan Ayuso himself lived in the United States, moved here when he was two and moved away when he was seven. He played soccer here, discovered cycling in Spain. He tells now that his American childhood told him to be more “efficient” than the Spanish.

 

Kevin Vermaerke was plenty efficient today. He’s the overall highest placed rider on his team, Team Picnic – PostNL. Forty-second, just eighteen minutes down.

 

Watch the final kilometer HERE.

Watch the official La Vuelta highlights HERE.

Watch the extended NBC Sports highlights HERE.  

Read the TNT Sports report HERE.

 

Team Grace and Team Tadej will ride on without help from Cristián Rodríguez. He had scored zero points, in a different universe he could do well in future mountain stages. But this is not his year.

 

Even without Rodríguez, Team Tadej took first place today. Marco Frigo helped. Most points from the stages, most points from classifications, most points overall, and part of a four-way tie for most riders in the Top-25 (eleven). They improve to eighth overall.

 

Team Ansel were second, also with eleven riders in the Top-25. They remain in their favorite spot: second overall, now no longer tied.

 

Team Charles were third, also with eleven riders in the Top-25, but they drop down to third. The fourth team with eleven riders in the Top-25 were Team Dominic, they remain fourth.

 

Team Grace were fifth, good enough to improve to sixth overasll. Behind them were Team Hugo in sixth, retaining the overall lead. Then Team Josh in seventh, they stay fifth. Team Amalia in eighth, now seventh.

 

By themselves in ninth place we find Team Will, who now improve to eleventh. The remaining four teams finished in the rear together: Team Sylvia in tenth, Team Sam in eleventh, Team Samuel in twelfth, and Team Liz in thirteenth. The latter teams dropped one spot in the standings.

 

Saturday’s race is a bunch sprint. It is completely flat, especially by Spanish standards. The longest climb I could find is two miles at 4%. It’s not a categorized climbs. Jasper Philipsen will win the stage.

 

Standings after stage 7:

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Hugo*	1264	1	0
2	Team Ansel*	1225	2	0
3	Team Charles*	1216	2	-1
4	Team Dominic*	1180	4	0
5	Team Josh*	1148	5	0
6	Team Grace*	1144	7	1
7	Team Amalia*	1123	6	-1
8	Team Tadej*	1117	9	1
9	Team Samuel*	1074	8	-1
10	Team Sam*	841	10	0
11	Team Will*	791	12	1
12	Team Liz*	774	11	-1
13	Team Sylvia*	743	13	0

 

Standings after stage 7 (including adults):

 

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Kari	1280	4	3
2	Team Hugo*	1264	1	-1
3	Team Adam	1246	3	0
4	Team Craig	1244	5	1
5	Team Feng	1241	2	-3
6	Team Ansel*	1225	6	0
	Team Kent	1225	6	0
8	Team Charles*	1216	6	-2
9	Team Corsa	1215	9	0
10	Team Chuck	1181	10	0
11	Team Dominic*	1180	11	0
12	Team Mitchinson	1162	16	4
13	Team Josh*	1148	12	-1
14	Team Amelia	1145	13	-1
15	Team Grace*	1144	15	0
16	Team Laurens	1124	18	2
17	Team Amalia*	1123	14	-3
18	Team Tadej*	1117	21	3
19	Team Corey	1088	23	4
20	Team Samuel*	1074	17	-3
21	Team Rob	1069	19	-2
22	Team Joe	1047	20	-2
23	Team Wes	1021	22	-1
24	Team John	967	24	0
25	Team Jonwaine	952	25	0
26	Team Julie	903	26	0
27	Team Sam*	841	27	0
28	Team JB	791	28	0
	Team Will*	791	31	3
30	Team Liz*	774	29	-1
31	Team Doug	750	30	-1
32	Team Sylvia*	743	32	0
33	Team Kate	361	33	0

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 7:

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	PINK JERSEY	PURPLE JERSEY	BLUE JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Amalia*	109	41	6	0	5	52	161	962	1123
Team Ansel*	152	36	11	8	0	57	209	1016	1225
Team Charles*	140	39	11	3	5	60	200	1016	1216
Team Dominic*	142	34	11	3	5	55	197	983	1180
Team Grace*	136	34	6	8	0	50	186	958	1144
Team Hugo*	113	41	11	8	0	62	175	1089	1264
Team Josh*	113	35	11	8	0	56	169	979	1148
Team Liz*	87	20	6	8	0	36	123	651	774
Team Sam*	94	22	9	8	0	41	135	706	841
Team Samuel*	87	27	13	5	0	45	132	942	1074
Team Sylvia*	104	22	1	8	0	33	137	606	743
Team Tadej*	159	43	11	3	10	69	228	889	1117
Team Will*	115	29	1	3	0	35	150	641	791

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 7 (including adults):

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	PINK JERSEY	PURPLE JERSEY	BLUE JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Adam	148	40	6	3	5	56	204	1042	1246
Team Amalia*	109	41	6	0	5	52	161	962	1123
Team Amelia	111	41	11	8	5	67	178	967	1145
Team Ansel*	152	36	11	8	0	57	209	1016	1225
Team Charles*	140	39	11	3	5	60	200	1016	1216
Team Chuck	112	37	9	8	5	61	173	1008	1181
Team Corey	195	35	3	8	1	49	244	844	1088
Team Corsa	153	34	11	3	0	50	203	1012	1215
Team Craig	150	38	11	3	9	63	213	1031	1244
Team Dominic*	142	34	11	3	5	55	197	983	1180
Team Doug	77	17	9	0	0	26	103	647	750
Team Feng	139	36	11	3	0	52	191	1050	1241
Team Grace*	136	34	6	8	0	50	186	958	1144
Team Hugo*	113	41	11	8	0	62	175	1089	1264
Team JB	103	33	3	0	0	36	139	652	791
Team Joe	109	30	11	5	0	46	155	892	1047
Team John	115	24	13	3	0	42	157	810	967
Team Jonwaine	118	21	9	8	0	40	158	794	952
Team Josh*	113	35	11	8	0	56	169	979	1148
Team Julie	76	27	13	5	2	47	123	780	903
Team Kari	181	39	11	5	9	66	247	1033	1280
Team Kate	70	9	0	2	0	11	81	280	361
Team Kent	139	40	11	8	9	70	209	1016	1225
Team Laurens	122	41	11	3	5	62	184	940	1124
Team Liz*	87	20	6	8	0	36	123	651	774
Team Mitchinson	153	34	11	8	0	55	208	954	1162
Team Rob	118	38	11	3	4	58	176	893	1069
Team Sam*	94	22	9	8	0	41	135	706	841
Team Samuel*	87	27	13	5	0	45	132	942	1074
Team Sylvia*	104	22	1	8	0	33	137	606	743
Team Tadej*	159	43	11	3	10	69	228	889	1117
Team Wes	111	31	6	8	0	47	158	863	1021
Team Will*	115	29	1	3	0	35	150	641	791

 

¡Viva la Vuelta!

 

-Laurens.