As it happened: Martinez holds Vuelta a España lead as Soupe lands stage 7

After Thursday's momentum-changing day to Javalambre, stage 7 promises to be a quieter one on the general classification front. The 200.8km run from Utiel to Oliva has no classified climbs and seems to lend itself to the sprinters. 

Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ), just 20 years and 51 days of age, became the youngest rider to lead a Grand Tour since 1904 (when 19-year-old Henri Cornet was retroactively awarded the Tour de France) when he took over the red jersey yesterday. The Frenchman also succeeds Miguel Indurain as the youngest Vuelta leader in history. Alasdair Fotheringham has more here.

General classification after stage 6

1 Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 21:40:35

2 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:08

3 Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:51

4 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:41

5 Stef Cras (Bel) TotalEnergies 0:01:48

6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:58

7 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:06

8 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana-Qazaqstan 0:02:23

9 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep 0:02:47

10 Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar 0:02:50

11 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:52

12 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:58

13 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:03

14 Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:06

15 Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:08

The peloton has gathered in Utiel for the start. Roll-out is at 12.50 local time, with the peloton due to hit kilometre zero at 12.57.

Yesterday's tumultuous stage to Javalambre has changed the complexion of this race. Jumbo-Visma possibly have a third leader in Sepp Kuss; they've certainly recouped their early losses on Remco Evenepoel. But the Belgian limited the damage well on the upper reaches of the climb to stay in the hunt, while Juan Ayuso finished like a train to prove he's still firmly in contention. Philippa York has assessed the day and the race so far and you can read her analysis here.

The peloton is making its way through the neutralised zone in Utiel in the heart of Valencia wine country. The route drops from the gently rolling hills of Utiel-Requena wineries to the coastal town of Oliva.

-200km

Stage 7 of the Vuelta a España is formally underway. The opening hours of yesterday's miniature epic were characterised by high speed, constant attacking and splits in the peloton, not to mention some untimely abandons. We can expect a rather calmer start to proceedings here. One imagines it won't take quite as long for the break to establish itself.

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) duly attack from the flag and they open a small gap over the peloton. The sprinters' teams would certainly be happy with this configuration for the early break.

-197km

The escapees' lead quickly grows to half a minute and it looks as though the day's pattern has already been established.

-195km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 1:17

Herrada and Okamika are both almost an hour off Lenny Martinez's overall lead, so this is a very comfortable situation for Groupama-FDJ to boot.

-191km

The leading duo continue to pad out their advantage in these opening kilometres, with the peloton content to leave them to it. The gap is now out to two minutes. 

Alpecin-Deceuninck take up the reins at the head of the peloton on behalf of Kaden Groves, who is chasing his third stage win of the Vuelta this afternoon. Already a winner at the Giro d'Italia in May, the Australian is enjoying a fine season.

-186km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 2:30

Remco Evenepoel was looking to farm out the red jersey and he achieved that much yesterday by passing the tunic to Lenny Martinez. However, the Belgian also conceded ground to Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard after struggling on the final climb. At one point, Evenepoel looked set to ship minutes to the Jumbo-Visma duo but, not for the first time on a mountain pass, he managed to finish strongly and limit the damage. He remains - just - ahead of his Jumbo rivals on GC and he was keen to characterise the climb as a simple jour sans. “I could actually speed up in the last two kilometres, so it was a bit strange. Let’s say it was a bad moment,” Evenepoel said. “If this was a bad day, then it’s ok.” Our man in Spain Alasdair Fotheringham has the full story here.

-170km

30km into the stage, the break's advantage has stabilised at 2:30, with Alpecin-Deceuninck setting the tempo in the peloton.

An Australian sprinter is the favourite to win today and another has made the headlines away from the Vuelta. Sam Welsford has confirmed his transfer from DSM to Bora-Hansgrohe at season's end. Simone Giuliani has more here.

-161km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 2:30

Red jersey Lenny Martinez is in his first year as a professional, but his potential was obvious long before he assumed the race lead yesterday. The son of mountain bike great Miguel Martinez, his garlanded his short amateur career with some stand-out climbing performances, most notably when he won the Giro della Valle d’Aosta last year. He also won a pair of stages at the Ronde de l’Isard and placed third at the U23 Giro d’Italia. This season, meanwhile, Martinez won CIC - Mont Ventoux a couple of days after some assured climbing displays at the Critérium du Dauphiné.

-150km

Martinez is sitting comfortably in the peloton, which is currently chugging along contentedly, 2:30 behind the escapees José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH).

Sepp Kuss is riding his third Grand Tour of the year. After saving Primoz Roglic's Giro d'Italia on Monte Bondone and playing a key role for Jonas Vingegaard at the Tour de France, the American is now the best placed Jumbo-Visma rider on GC, 8 seconds behind Martinez and almost three minutes up on Roglic and Vingegaard. All of sudden, Kuss seems to have become a potential winner of this race, even if he downplayed the idea yesterday. Alasdair Fotheringham has more here.

-142km

Alpecin-Deceuninck continue to set the pace in the peloton and their efforts have seen the break's lead contract inside two minutes.

A crash in the peloton sees a trio of Ineos Grenadiers riders hit the ground, but they have all remounted.

The road is still dropping gently towards Valencia. The race hits the outskirts of the city with 70km or so to go and from there, the route follows an entirely flat profile as it hugs to the coast on the way to the finish in Oliva.

Geraint Thomas, incidentally, was one of the Ineos riders who went down in that earlier crash. He has reportedly returned to the bunch, but we will hopefully get confirmation on his condition once live television pictures begin shortly.

-125km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 2:08

Live television pictures begin and we can see Geraint Thomas at the rear of the bunch with his Ineos teammates, but he doesn't appear to be in any particular distress. 

-118km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 2:08

-113km

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) continue to rail against the odds at the head of the race, but their lead is slowly beginning to shrivel. The gap drops a little to 1:43.

A brief moment of consternation in the break for Ander Okamika, who suffers a puncture. He stops for a wheel change and begins chasing back up to Herrada, who will surely wait for his companion.

-110km

Okamika rejoins Herrada at the head of the race, and the two escapees resume their working alliance.

Alasdaier Fotheringham reports that Ineos DS Xabier Zandio has just been interviewed on TVE's coverage. Zandio said that Thomas is "fine" after his crash: 'The crash won't help him, but he seems to be ok.'" 

Thomas wheels to a halt at the back of the peloton. The low pace at the time being allows Thomas to stop and gets some treatment to a cut on his left knee. He sets off again with some words of encouragement from Steve Cummings. 

-106km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 1:32

Thomas sits on Jonathan Castroviejo's rear wheel as he makes his way back up to the bunch, which is still being led by Alpecin-Deceuninck.

Thomas is still half a minute or so behind the peloton. There is no particular urgency in his pursuit for now, but it still feels like a sign that his crash may have been more consequential than first anticipated. 

-100km

Into the final 100km for the two escapees José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), who still have a lead of 1:38 over the peloton. The pace has been relatively sedate thus far, with the average speed just north of 39kph. After yesterday's full-on, flat-out racing, an afternoon of detente was always more or less a certainty here.

The peloton ambles through the feed zone. The exposed coastal roads after Valencia will doubtless add a little tension to proceedings, but it's all decidedly relaxed for the time being. 

-96km

Thomas has rejoined the bunch, which is still 1:33 down on the two leaders.

-92km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 1:14

José Herrada (Cofidis) is riding his eighth and final Vuelta. Indeed, the Spaniard has confirmed that this Vuelta will be the final race of his career. His younger brother Jesus will remain with the team, he has a contract with Cofidis for another two seasons.

The television motorbike lingers alongside Remco Evenepoel, who smilingly calls his friend and teammate James Knox by a playfully rude epithet for the benefit of a global television audience. Seems a little harsh, Knox has always been an affable and engaging interviewee. 

-85km

Break:

José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 1:15

-81km

The race approaches the hinterland of Valencia on its way to the coast, where this stage might - might - ignite in something a little more entertaining than the procession we've seen so far. The average speed to this point is 39.3kph, and the race is almost quarter of an hour down on the slowest estimated schedule.

-74km

Herrada and Okamika are in the outskirts of Valencia, where their lead over the peloton has contracted to 45 seconds.

-69km

It's almost all over for José Herrada (Cofidis) and Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH), whose lead over the bunch has dwindled rapidly on the road around Valencia and they will be caught just as the race hits the coast. 11 seconds the gap.

-68km

Herrada is caught by the bunch. Okamika presses on for a little longer, but he won't last far. There has been a definite increase in urgency in the peloton now that the race hits the coast and the consequent risk of crosswinds.

-63km

Okamika looked all but caught a kilometre or two ago when the bunch sped up ahead of the coast, but now the pace has abated again and he has stretched his buffer out to 45 seconds all over again.

-60km

Break:

Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 1:05

It looks set to be predominantly a headwind on this coastal approach to the finish, and so the risk of splits in the peloton has diminished accordingly, but the GC men will still have to be vigilant in the finale.

-57km

The GC men are moving up towards the head of the bunch, as a precaution more than anything else. The gap to Okamika stands at 1:08.

Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic are parked towards the head of the bunch. A delegation from Groupama-FDJ is also up there around red jersey Lenny Martinez.

Out in front, the former triathlete Ander Okamika presses on alone, 1:05 ahead of the peloton.

Geraint Thomas was a faller earlier on the stage and he stopped for treatment to his right knee a little later, but the Welshman is safely at the rear of the peloton at the moment, chatting with James Knox.

-52km

Break:

Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 1:05

-50km

Into the final 50km for Okamika, who still holds a lead of a minute over the peloton. The GC riders are generally massed towards the front, mindful of a few changes of direction ahead of the intermediate sprint that might see the wind become a factor.

-46km

Alpecin-Deceuninck have resumed their pace-making at the head of the bunch on behalf of Groves. The gap to Okamika has dropped to 44 seconds.

-45km

The speed picks up further in the bunch ahead of a couple of sharp turns around a headland outside Cullera. The changes in direction might - might - lead to splits, though it seems unlikely.

-44km

Break:

Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH)

Peloton at 0:18

-42km

The bunch closes to within touching distance of Okamika for the second time, and on this occasion, there is no hope for him. The Basque is about to be caught by the peloton. 

-41km

It's finally all over for the man El Pais has called El rey de las fugas - 'the king of the breakaways.' Ander Okamika is, by some distance, the day's most aggressive rider.

-40km

Tension in the peloton as they wind around the headland near Cullera and face brief exposure to some crosswinds.

-38km

The intermediate sprint - which includes time bonuses of 6, 4 and 2 seconds - comes with 34km to go. It will be interesting to see if Evenepoel or any other enterprising GC contender is minding to snaffle a little time.

-36km

Delegations from UAE, Alpecin and Bahrain are all prominent towards the head of the peloton ahead of this intermediate sprint.

-34km

Alpecin-Deceuninck drive the race into the intermediate sprint on behalf of green jersey of Kaden Groves, who takes the maximum points very comfortably ahead of Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost), while Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) takes third and, with it, two bonus seconds. 

Those two seconds see Vingegaard move to within three seconds of Evenepoel on GC. More than anything, mind, it has the feel of a little message from the Dane.

-30km

Into the final 30km and the bunch is spread across the road again as it rides into a block headwind. It's impossible to see envisage anything other than a bunch sprint here.

-27km

As the kilometres tick by, the headwind continues to discourage any would-be attackers, but the succession of roundabouts might yet cause some issues for the peloton.

For now, the sole entertainment is being provided by Evenepoel, who jokingly tugs at teammate Pieter Serry's saddle near the back of the peloton. 

-25km

Geraint Thomas, who was struggling near the back earlier on after his crash, is now tucked in safely towards the head of the bunch.

-22km

Delegations from Alpecin, DSM, Lotto-Dstny and Jumbo-Visma occupy the real estate at the head of the peloton.

-20km

Into the final 20km with the peloton still massed together. A bunch finish is inevitable, but the GC men will be eager to avoid any late surprises on a run-in that has a some tricky sections to navigate.

The on-screen graphic tells us the average speed over the past 20 minutes has been 37kph, which tells all we need to know about the wind direction.

-16km

The peloton is still spread across the road as the race enters the final 10 miles, but the roundabouts on the run-in will still create anxiety for the GC men.

-13km

The host broadcasters opts to show a long, lingering shot of Playa de Gandia, safe in the knowledge that the bunch will remain grouped against the headwind. 

-11km

A touch of wheels near the head of the peloton sees a number of riders come down, and Sepp Kuss is also caught up the incident.

Kuss is chasing back on and he has fallen in with a platoon of Arkea-Samsic riders, who look likely to bring him back to the bunch. Jetse Bol and Pierre Latour were among the riders who fell.

-8km

Kuss has made it back to the bunch. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) was reportedly also held up by the crash, though the Belgian was not a faller.

Groupama-FDJ take up the reins at the head of the bunch and the peloton starts to line out a little.

-7km

Delegations from Lotto-Dstny, Groupama-FDJ and Ineos are all massed towards the front of the peloton, where there has been a definite uptick in urgency over the past 5km or so.

-6km

The course becomes more complicated from this point on, with narrower roads and considerably more twists and turns. Vigilance is the byword for the overall contenders from here to the 3km to go marker.

-5km

A mass crash in the peloton, with a number of riders going down, including Thymen Arensman (Ineos) and Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ).

Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck) seemed to be the first rider to fall after clipping the wheel of his teammate Kaden Groves. There also appear to be some DSM riders caught up in the incident.

-3.5km

Arensman is still on the ground receiving treatment, while up the road, Alpecin-Deceuninck are driving the pace for Groves.

-3km

Into the final 3km. It's not clear if any other GC men were caught up in that crash, but it looks as though the unfortunate Arensman's Vuelta is over.

-2km

Alpecin-Deceuninck lead into the final 2km, with delegations from Intermarche and EF Education-EasyPost well positioned.

-1km

Alpecin fade from the front and now it's Intermarche who take over and lead the race towards the flamme rouge.

Kaden Groves enters the final kilometre in fourth wheel, tucked in behind his lead-out man. Who can deny the Australian?

UAE lead it out for Molano but no one team has control of this sprint...

Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies) hits out from a long, long way out... Groves has dropped out of contention on the final corner.

Geoffrey Soupe (TotalEnergies) wins stage 7 of the Vuelta a España after a chaotic bunch sprint.

Venezuelan champion Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) was closing rapidly but he just ran out of road and had to settle for a close second place. Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) took third.

Sebastian Molano (UAE Team Emirates) took fourth. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who took the last corner a little wide, had to settle for fifth.

Soupe took a neat, inside line through that last right-hand bend and then he struck out with venom from over 200m out. It was a long, long way to go, but he backed himself and held on for the win. Aular came late and came very quickly, coming off the wheel of Theuns, but he was half a wheel behind Soupe at the finish.

Result

1 Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) TotalEnergies 4:46:29

2 Orluis Aular (Ven) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

3 Edward Theuns (Bel) Lidl-Trek

4 Juan Sebastian Molano (Col) UAE Team Emirates

5 Kaden Groves (Aus) Alpecin-Deceuninck

6 Marijn van den Berg (Ned) EF Education-EasyPost

7 David Gonzalez (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA

8 Hugo Page (Fra) Intermarché-Circus-Wanty

9 Filippo Ganna (Ita) Ineos Grenadiers

10 Matevz Govekar (Slo) Bahrain Victoriouss

Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) finished safely in the peloton to retain the red jersey, eight seconds clear of Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), who recovered from a late crash. Thymen Arensman (Ineos) has been forced to abandon the race after his late fall.

Kaden Groves lost lead-out man Robbe Ghys to crash on the run-in. “I don’t have too much to say, it was pretty disappointing,” Groves tells Eurosport after placing 5th. “Robbe crashed hard off my wheel, I hope he’s ok. I was without a teammate. Then the Caja Rural guy came hard around the last corner and almost caused a big crash, so a lot of us couldn’t sprint. I don’t think it was too dangerous. We as riders are the ones taking the risks. We all want to win and that’s why there are crashes.”

General classification after stage 7

1 Lenny Martinez (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 26:37:04

2 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:08

3 Marc Soler (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:51

4 Wout Poels (Ned) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:41

5 Stef Cras (Bel) TotalEnergies 0:01:48

6 Mikel Landa (Spa) Bahrain Victorious 0:01:58

7 David de la Cruz (Spa) Astana-Qazaqstan 0:02:23

8 Jefferson Cepeda (Ecu) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:02:30

9 Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal-QuickStep 0:02:47

10 Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:50

11 Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar

12 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 0:02:58

13 Hugh Carthy (GBr) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:03

14 Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates 0:03:06

15 Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:03:08

Geoffrey Soupe on the biggest win of his career: “It’s incredible for me and for the team because normally I wasn’t going to ride the Vuelta this year, but Alexis Vuillermoz crashed on the Tour de l’Ain, so the team decided to pick me to the Vuelta. I didn’t think it was possible to win a stage because it’s really fast in the sprint. Today it was really nervous in the final, a lot of roundabouts and wind in the final. It’s a Grand Tour sprint, it’s always special, but also a surprise.”

This is the fourth win of Soupe's career, and his first outside of Gabon. He won his very first professional race, the opening stage of the Tropicale Amissa Bongo in 2011, but then he had to wait a dozen years for his next win – which, coincidentally, came on the opening day of this year’s Tropicale Amissa Bongo, and he would go on to add the overall title.

The 35-year-old Soupe has spent much of his career in the service of others, most notably Nacer Bouhanni during his time at FDJ and Cofidis. He has continued as a very reliable lead-out man at TotalEnergies, but he showed fine instincts here to claim the biggest victory of his career.

A full report, results and pictures from today's stage are available here.