Gonzalez wins stage seven

On the day that Colombia inaugurated its new president, it was fitting that Saturday’s stage 7 took the peloton between two of the country’s most historical landmarks as Nectar de Cundinamarca’s Freddy González won this year’s first breakaway stage win.

Gonzalez, a two-time winner of the King of the Mountains competition in the Giro d’Italia, was part of an early breakaway that stayed clear of the field for most of the day. He made his winning move on the uphill finish and crossed the finish line three seconds ahead of Boyacá Orgullo de America’s Fernando Camargo and six seconds ahead of IMRD Cota’s Samuel Cabrera.

“Freddy attacked in the last 300 metres and I tried to stay on his wheel, but he was too strong for me today,” Camargo said of González’s win.

Race leader Óscar Sevilla of Indeportes Antioquia finished comfortably in the main pack alongside his teammates and main rivals. The General Classification standings remain exactly the same as stage six, with Sevilla 11 seconds ahead of his teammate Sergio Luis Henao and 35 seconds ahead of Colombia es Pasión’s Dalivier Ospina.

Stage seven started under cold, grey skies at the Puente de Boyacá, the site of the 1819 Battle of Boyacá in Colombia’s War of Independence, and from the start the day’s racing was fierce.

With the peloton climbing for the first 9 kilometres until it ascended the category three Alto del Moral, any opening attacks didn’t get far. However once the race passed the first sprint point 18 kilometres in, the day’s main breakaway escaped.

In the break were González and Camargo as well as Colombia es Pasión’s William Muñoz and Super Giros’ Jefferson Vargas among others. With the rest of the 136 km stage mainly flat, except for the late climb up the category two Alto del Cogollo, the large breakaway had a good chance of holding off the rest of the field.

The breakaway worked well together and kept gaining time, while Sevilla and the Indeportes Antioquia team controlled the front of the peloton for much of the day. The only team to really help out the Indeportes Antioquia squad was Fuerzas Armadas-Ejercito Nacional, probably trying to make themselves known on inauguration day.

“Today was a hard day because some teams didn’t put in any work and only attacked during the final part of the stage,” Sevilla said. “Our team is really tired after today.”

As the race passed through Duitama, along the same route where Abraham Olano won the 1995 Road World Championships on a flat tyre, the breakaway had gained over six minutes on the field.

When it hit the steep slopes of the Alto del Cogollo, the break’s lead had diminished but they still held a solid lead as Camargo crossed the climb first with Cabrera and González in tow.

In the final kilometre González made his move as the road turned upward toward the finish and held off the rest of the break to take the stage win next to the monument commemorating fallen lancers at Pantano de Vargas.

Teams considered stage seven a relative break between the previous three days of climbing and next week’s battles on the Vuelta’s most famed climbs, but Sunday’s stage eight is sure to perplex the peloton.

The stage from Duitama to Colombia’s capital of Bogotá will be one of the more interesting stages in this year’s Vuelta a Colombia. Clocking in at 207 km with 5 category three climbs all over 2600 metres high, the stage is certainly not an easy one.

However with the 229 km stage nine on Monday that features the category one Alto Virgen and Tuesday’s queen stage up the famed La Linea, Sunday may not be the day the race is won, but it could be the day that it is lost.

Teams with GC contenders certainly have their work cut out for them trying toom implement their game plans during Sunday’s stage.

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