The French professional cyclist Geoffrey Soupe has won the seventh stage of the Vuelta a Espana and at the age of 35 triumphed for the first time in a major national tour. After 200.8 km in Oliva on the Mediterranean coast, the rider from the Total-Energies team came out on top in a mass sprint just ahead of Venezuelan Orluis Aular (Caja Rural).
Nico Denz (Bora-hansgrohe) came in 26th as the best German. The stage was overshadowed by a serious crash by Dutchman Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers), who fell shortly before the finish, remained on the ground and was taken away by ambulance. As his team announced late Friday evening, Arensman had not suffered any serious head or spinal injuries and was stable.
Kiss falls – but wastes no time
In the overall ranking, the only 20-year-old Frenchman Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) is eight seconds ahead of the American Sepp Kuss, who won the mountain stage at the Javalambre observatory on Thursday. Kuss fell in the closing stages of the race but crossed the finish line without losing any time.
The big favorites around Kuss’ jumbo teammates Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) and Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark) as well as defending champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium/Soudal-Quick Step) are challenged again on Saturday when between Denia and Xorret de Cati (165 km) five Mountain ratings are on the program.