Reigning champion Primoz Roglic keeps the red jersey in La Vuelta

PRIMOZ ROGLIC the reigning two-time champion of La Vuelta keeps the red jersey after the seventh stage

Australian rider Michael Storer, of the DSM team, crossed the finish line in first place on Friday, August 20, after a gruelling 152km seventh stage of La Vuelta a España, which took the riders from Gandia to El Balcon de Alicante.

Storer made his move four kilometres from the finish line, completing the stage in 4h.10.12, with Spain’s Carlos Verona, from the Movistar team, coming an excellent second, just 22 seconds behind, and Pavel Sivakov, the Russian rider from the Ineos team, 1.01 minutes back, in third spot, but, it is Jumbo Visma rider, the reigning La Vuelta double-champion from Slovenia, Primoz Roglic, who retains the leader’s red jersey.

It was unexpected for Roglic – who was in a group of highly-fancied riders along with Britain’s Adam Yates, Enric Mas of Spain, and Colombian, Egan Bernal – to fall so far behind, as his group crossed the line 3.33 minutes behind Storer, but it keeps the Slovenian in a slim overall lead of eight seconds over Austria’s Felix Grossschartner, and 25 seconds ahead of Enric Mas.

Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde, from Murcia, while in fourth position on the stage, suffered a bad accident in Puerto del Collao, some 42m from the finish line, which ended his La Vuelta for this year, leaving the Movistar team – which includes Carlos Verona – a man short.

Saturday sees stage eight, starting from Santa Pola, and finishing 173.7km later in La Manga del Mar Menor, as reported by cadenaser.com.

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