Vuelta a Espana 2019: Alejandro Valverde wins stage seven as Miguel Angel Lopez reclaims red jersey
Primoz Roglic gained time on the leader with a second-placed finish
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Your support makes all the difference.Miguel Angel Lopez reclaimed the Vuelta a Espana leader’s red jersey as Alejandro Valverde claimed a superb stage seven victory at the summit of the Mas de la Costa.
The reigning World Champion crossed the line ahead of Primoz Roglic as the pair distanced themselves on the brutal slopes at the end of the race.
Astana’s Lopez finished ahead of Nairo Quintana in third to secure the red jersey with a six-second advantage to Roglic of Jumbo-Visma in second on the general classification. Valverde’s victory takes the Movistar rider into third, 16 seconds behind Lopez.
Dylan Teuns, leader coming into the stage, was dropped on the penultimate climb and dropped out of the GC top ten.
The group of favourites reeled in a strong breakaway on the arduous final climb, a four kilometre ramp that averaged a gradient of 12 per cent.
Philippe Gilbert and Serigo Henao were the last to be reined in as the leading quartet showed their climbing prowess, exploding past the pair on the rougher surfaces of the Mas de la Costa.
Quintana was the primary agressor, threatening to dislodge team mate Valverde on several occasions as the veteran clung on to the back of the group.
But cling on he did as Roglic expended energy marking the moves, and the Spaniard produced the definitive attack inside the final 500 metres to take victory ahead of Roglic, with Lopez and Quintana crossing the line six seconds later.
It is ten years since Valverde won his to date only Grand Tour, the Vuelta in 2009. The 39-year-old has announced his intention to retire in 2021..
It is the third time Lopez has taken the red jersey in the race’s first week.
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