2020 Vuelta a Espana – Stage 7 – Highlights, Report, Results
Highlights
Report
Mike Woods rode his way to a solo victory after a perfectly timed attack in the closing stages of stage 7 of the Vuelta a España. This is the Canadian’s second career stage victory at the Vuelta.
If week one told us anything about how this year’s Vuelta was going to be raced, it’s that it was going to be a fast and furious race. Cold weather, strong winds, heavy rain, tough mountain top finishes and a seemingly endless barrage of attacks made the first week enthralling to watch.
One day after the rest day, yet another hard stage lay ahead for the peloton who had to tackle the Puerto de Orduña, a category one climb, twice. The 160km stage from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Villanueva de Valdegovia in the Basque Country in the Northern regions of Spain, got off to a fast and furious start. The stage profile favored a strong breakaway, which meant that it took time for the break to settle. But with just under 100km to go, a large breakaway formed at the front involving around 35 riders from a host of teams.
Mike Woods and Magnus Cort were the two riders representing EF Pro Cycling in the front group, which never managed to build a sizable gap over a peloton. But as the kilometers ticked by, it seemed more and more plausible that the breakaway might make it to the line.
It was on the second ascent of the Puerto de Orduña that Mike Woods decided to launch his move. After riding solo for much of the climb, the Canadian was joined by four other riders, Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Omar Fraile (Astana), and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) near the top of the climb.
With around five kilometers to go, the quintet was still riding strong together, but with a charging bunch of riders closing in behind, attacks started to fly out of the group. It was with just over one kilometer to go that Woods launched his decisive attack which would see him cross the line solo.
The smile said it all at the line said it all, and so did the embrace from Hugh Carthy. What a ride. What a race.
Results
Stage
| 1 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling | 03:48:16 |
| 2 | Omar Fraile Matarranz (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 00:00:04 |
| 3 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:00:04 |
| 4 | Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R la Mondiale | 00:00:08 |
| 5 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 00:00:08 |
| 6 | Rui Costa (Por) UAE Team Emirates | 00:00:13 |
| 7 | Alex Aranburu Deba (Spa) Astana Pro Team | 00:00:13 |
| 8 | Ide Schelling (Ned) Bora-Hansgrohe | 00:00:13 |
| 9 | Kenny Elissonde (Fra) Trek-Segafredo | 00:00:13 |
| 10 | Davide Formolo (Ita) UAE Team Emirates | 00:00:13 |
General Classification
| 1 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 28:23:51 |
| 2 | Hugh Carthy (GBr) EF Pro Cycling | 00:00:18 |
| 3 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation | 00:00:20 |
| 4 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:00:30 |
| 5 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:01:07 |
| 6 | Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 00:01:30 |
| 7 | Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:01:42 |
| 8 | Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott | 00:02:02 |
| 9 | Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team | 00:02:03 |
| 10 | George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma | 00:02:39 |
Points
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma | 79 |
| 2 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 61 |
| 3 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation | 57 |
| 4 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 48 |
| 5 | Michael Woods (Can) EF Pro Cycling | 45 |
Mountains
| 1 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 27 |
| 2 | Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma | 24 |
| 3 | Tim Wellens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 19 |
| 4 | Richard Carapaz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers | 18 |
| 5 | Daniel Martin (Irl) Israel Start-Up Nation | 16 |
Young Riders
| 1 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 28:24:58 |
| 2 | David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ | 00:02:40 |
| 3 | Gino Mäder (Swi) NTT Pro Cycling | 00:02:57 |
| 4 | Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana Pro Team | 00:05:27 |
| 5 | Kobe Goossens (Bel) Lotto Soudal | 00:12:36 |