Molano top-5 in crash-ridden Vuelta finale

Sebastian Molano showed he is amongst the top sprinters of the 2023 Vuelta España with 4th place on stage 7 from Utiel to Oliva (200km).

The Colombian had a less than smooth run to the line as crashes hit the peloton hard with two significant pile-ups in the final -10km.

Molano followed the wheel of his trusted leadout teammate Rui Oliveira who hit out early from the peloton to arrive first into the final bend at -300m. A nervous peloton led to an unpredictable sprint, ending with Geoffrey Soupe (Total Energies) coming out on top in the dash for the line.

Meanwhile Juan Ayuso & Joao Almeida remained safe in the peloton to hold their places in the General Classification which continues to be led by Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ).

Molano : “It was a stressful stage today as well as being long with lots of crashes. The sprint didn’t really go to plan. Rui did a good job but in the last corner I was on Groves wheel and lost a lot of speed which meant I had to almost sprint two times to get back up to speed which sapped the legs. We’ll look to more sprint chances next week.”

Tomorrow’s stage from Dénia to Xorret de Catí. Costa Blanca Interior(165km) will see the riders back in hillier terrain.

Stage 7 results

1.Geoffrey Soupe (Total Energies) 4:56:29
2.Orluis Aular (Caja Rural) s.t
3.Edward Theuns (Trek-Segafredo) s.t
4.Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) s.t

General Classification after stage 7

1.Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) 26:37:04
2.Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma) +8’’
3.Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +51’’