The Spaniard Juan Ayuso showed a remarkable recovery after his collapse in the Pyrenees only 24 hours previously to go it alone on the climb to the finish and triumph in stage seven of the Vuelta a España.
Torstein Træen retains the red jersey, holding a 2min 33sec lead over Jonas Vingegaard, who moved from fifth to second in the standings but without closing the gap to the Norwegian.
Ayuso, tipped to be one of the main challengers to Vingegaard, the pre-race favourite, had slipped way down the general classification after being dropped on the final climb on Thursday, but was back to his best on the 188km ride from Andorra la Vella to Cerler. The Italian Marco Frigo crossed the line more than one minute behind Ayuso in second, with another Spaniard, Raúl García Pierna, third.
Ayuso broke away early in the stage before he was joined by a group of 11 riders, including his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Jay Vine, the . Ayuso made his telling move 11km from the finish.
The 22-year-old, who finished third overall in 2022 and fourth the following year, was just eight seconds behind the then leader, Vingegaard, in second place before Thursday’s downfall. While Ayuso is still almost seven and a half minutes off the red jersey, he has managed to win his first individual Vuelta stage, following up the team time trial victory on stage five.
“It’s amazing to win a stage in the Vuelta, which is my favourite race,” Ayuso said. “The way I won the race, I will remember always. I’m super-proud.”
Vingegaard had managed to get away from Træen in the final kilometres, but the Bahrain Victorious cyclist fought back. “It was a decent day,” the Dane said. “It was not an easy day and we wanted to try to save our energy a bit, so we decided not to do anything today.”
Saturday’s stage eight will be a flat 163.5km ride from Monzón Templario to Zaragoza.
Elsewhere, there was positive news regarding the condition of Chris Froome, with Israel-Premier Tech posting that the British cyclist was in “good spirits” after successful surgery following a crash in the south of France that left him with a fractured vertebrae, collapsed lung and five broken ribs.
Froome, 40, crashed while on a training ride on Wednesday and was airlifted to hospital in Toulon, about 100 miles from his home in Monaco.
A statement from Israel-Premier Tech said: “Chris has successfully undergone surgery after his recent injuries. The procedures went as planned, and Chris is currently recovering in hospital under the care of his medical team. He is in good spirits and grateful for the excellent medical support he has received. Chris and his family would like to thank fans, friends, and the cycling community for their concern and kind messages during this time.”
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Froome’s injuries will end his season and could mean the end of one of the most successful Grand Tour careers in cycling’s history, with the four-time Tour de France champion in the final months of the five-year contract he signed when he left Ineos Grenadiers to join Israel Premier-Tech before the 2021 campaign.
Froome also won the Giro d’Italia in 2018 and the Vuelta a España in both 2011 and 2017 – all with Team Sky. Only four men have more Tour de France titles, with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin all five-time winners. Only Merckx, Anquetil and Hinault have more than Froome’s seven Grand Tour titles, which leave him tied with Induráin, Alberto Contador and Fausto Coppi.
However, Froome has never recovered his best form since a serious crash during the 2019 Critérium du Dauphiné, which left him in intensive care with a fractured femur, elbow, ribs and pelvis.
The last of his 46 professional career wins came at the 2018 Giro and his best result since that 2019 crash was third place on stage 12 of the 2022 Tour de France to Alpe d’Huez as Tom Pidcock took victory.
Froome broke his collarbone at the UAE Tour in February and had previously hinted that 2025 could be his final year of competitive racing. He last raced at the Tour of Poland this month, finishing 68th overall.