Antonio Pardo He is a man of the weather, a cyclist and a Valencian, knowledgeable about the terrain, dry and somewhat arid Levantine lands that are aware of that radar that goes crazy. “There will be storms and it’s a lottery, but bad weather will share space with the Vuelta, with a bit of luck it still rains hard when the cyclists pass the finish line.” Everyone looks at the sky, because the forecasts are very bad on the weekend of a Spanish round that could well say that it has not been designed to fight against the elements.
Because this weekend a classic of the Vuelta arrives, the Xorret de Catia place where they have won Jose Maria Jimenezthe Chava who died too young, and Julian Alaphilippethe last time it was faced, and on Sunday the premiere of the Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca, the reverse of the name of the Murcian population.
day of apparent calm
And if one watched this Friday’s stage and did not fall asleep with the effort of not missing a moment of the competitiondifficult, because there are days of cycling that are not recorded in the annals of this sport, you will understand that the runners took the day thinking about what awaits them at the weekend, like the one who goes to sleep early on Thursday to save strength for a wild Friday night.
🔥 A quiet stage that has ended with a nervous ending and a surprise winner! Relive the LAST KM.
💥 A steady stage for much of the day concluded with a hectic finish with a surprise winner! Watch the final KM into Oliva.#LaVuelta23 #CarrefourwithLaVuelta23 @carrefourES pic.twitter.com/3iBrSKNZzQ
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 1, 2023
The seventh stage was not precisely unbridled, with almost no breaks, almost nothing happening despite a fall on the knee of Geraint Thomas that impacted against the asphalt and with Jonas Vingegaard who surprised the rest of the favorites in the Cullera sprint where he scratched two seconds, above all, to leave the suspense of who is the true leader of the Jumbo: Primoz Roglic or him.
For many kilometers it was a group of friends, friends forever, as if they all knew who was going to win again, that a getaway was impossible, that a gust of wind could even be wasted to encourage an offensive and that they would all reach Oliva together until a fall, with the dutch tymen arensman as the main affected, he spoiled everything.
fear came
From tranquility he went to fear, because the blow was terrible, because everyone heard the noise and when this happens the favorites move away, spaces open up and everything ends with the victory of the least expected, the French Geoffrey Soupe, 35 years old, the cyclist who breaks the schemes of the cyclist prototype by running with such a thick beard, that the least he seems is a professional runner. Curious and even surprising that his victory, unexpected by all accounts, occurred the day before the international beard dayas a tribute to those who haggle over blades and razors.
🫣 Have I won my first stage in a Grand Tour?
😱 Did I 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 just win my first Grand Tour stage?!
#LaVuelta23 @cxcling pic.twitter.com/cJUsTgaGDX— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 1, 2023
It was the first day of lenny martinez as a red Vuelta jersey, without looking scared despite being 20 years old, knowing that he is a good climber and that it will not be an easy task for him to drop the garment this weekend before Tuesday, after the day of break on Monday, the time trial in Valladolid arrives.
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And everyone looking at the weather, the clouds that had not yet appeared when the peloton arrived at Olive, in a Vuelta where the French riders shine. Everyone knowing that an unexpected miracle saved them will get wet this Saturday in a day of hard cycling with five ports, the last one in Xorret de Catí, in Alacant, with a descent to the finish line that can make your hair stand on end if the drums of rain.