Vuelta a Espana: Lindeman wins stage 7

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It was third time lucky in this year’s Vuelta a Espana for Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), who claimed stage 7 of the race to La Alpujarra.

The Dutchman had been in breaks twice already, but on the first serious mountain test of this year’s race he survived from the early break to take a fine stage win ahead of young rider Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida) and a fast-finished Fabio Aru (Astana) – the Italian attacking from a group of GC favourites on the final climb and putting time into all his rivals.

Chris Froome (Team Sky) and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) lost time, with both riders distanced inside the final two kilometres. Aru’s attack moved him up to eighth overall but Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEdge) retained his 10 second lead over Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin).

Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin) all finished safely in the Chaves group. Froome lost a handful of seconds and dropped several places in the fight for the overall.

It was a day marked by a late incident, too, with breakaway rider Antoine Cousin (Europcar) taken out of contention in a collision with Koshevoy on the final climb. The Frenchman was with Koshevoy and Lindeman, with the trio entering the final pitches of the ascent to the line. Once the collision with took place the stage was set to be decided between Koshevoy and Lindeman – the pair having attacked at several points on the final climb, but it was the Dutch rider who held firm, with his winning acceleration coming at 200 meters to go.

Further down the climb, and with the gap secure enough for the stage win to go to the breakaway rider, Aru unleashed a devastating attack. His Astana team and Movistar had set the pace for most of the stage, but it was Dan Martin who put in the first dig. He was matched by a number of riders before Aru struck for home.

Froome and van Garderen were the most noteworthy casualties, slipping back instantly and being forced to limit their losses.

How it unfolded

The first serious mountain top finished started under blazing sunshine and blistering heat but it wasn’t long before the obligatory break moved clear, with Carlos Quintero (Colombia), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida), Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo) and Antoine Cousin (Europcar) going clear.

After several demanding stages the peloton, and especially Orica-GreenEdge, were eager to take a breather and after just 30km of racing the gap had moved out to 7:50.

Katusha, Astana and Movistar relayed riders to the front over the undulating Andalucían terrain but the gap continued to grow, with the move peaking out at 13:10.

At the foot of the final climb - the first major ascent of this year’s race - and 18km to go the gap had dropped to 5:33 with all eyes on Txurruka, who on paper was the most experienced climber in the break.

Movistar’s relentless pace setting had seen the break’s advantage drop to five minutes and the bunch slim to less than fifty riders.

The break cooperated as they took on the lower slopes of the climb, with its gradient of between six and seven per cent but as the road flattened half-way up the climb, the pace in the peloton temporarily eased.

That brief slow down gave the break the respite it needed, but Astana were soon back on the front of the peloton with Luis Leon Sanchez doing most of the damage.

When the road began to kick up once more, Quintero was the first to lose contact as Cousin kicked clear. The Frenchman was clearly on a good day but Txurruka brought him back with 6km to go.

Koshevoy was the next rider to make his move but it took two attempts before he was able to forge clear with a significant gap.

The Lampre rider’s accelerations were enough to see off Txurruka but Cousin and then Lindeman were able to respond.

The trio entered the final two kilometres together, with the vastly reduced bunch still being led by the Astana team.

The stage would come down to a battle of will as well as strength, although Cousin was cruelly robbed of his opportunity.

Lindeman’s experience and strength finally told as his attack with 200m to go was enough to distance the impressive Koshevoy. Aru’s attack, had it come a kilometre earlier, could have won him the stage, such was the speed at which he accelerated, but the Italian will nevertheless be content with his performance. As for Froome and van Garderen – they’ve yet to truly find their stride. Luckily there’s still plenty of time.

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