Team Emirates rider Ayuso dominates 7th stage as Traeen maintains lead

Spaniard Juan Ayuso powered to stage seven Vuelta a Espana victory on Friday, securing a third straight victory for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

Torstein Traeen of Bahrain Victorious held on to the leader’s red jersey, finishing in a group along with general classification favourites Jonas Vingegaard and Joao Almeida.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Ayuso, who fell out of the running for the overall race on Thursday but later said he had not planned to compete for it anyway, made an early attack.

Ayuso, perhaps upset at not being chosen as his team’s leader for the race behind Almeida, flexed his muscles on the mountainous 188-kilometre run from Andorra La Vella to Spanish village Cerler, one of the race’s toughest stages.

He formed part of the day’s break that contained stage six winner Jay Vine and Mads Pedersen among others, with 140 kilometres remaining.

The break stayed clear with Bahrain Victorious and Traeen happy to let them stay up the road.

Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard, favourite to win the race, and his likely closest rival Almeida were content to hang back in the peloton.

Ayuso attacked with 11 kilometres remaining and although Marco Frigo bridged the gap, the Spaniard dumped the Israel Premier Tech rider with a second burst.

The 22-year-old crossed the finish line with his fingers in his ears. Frigo came in second, one minute 15 seconds behind Ayuso, while Arkea’s Raul Garcia Pierna secured third.

Almeida made a bid to gain some time but Vingegaard, Traeen, Sepp Kuss and others caught up with relative ease.

Riders will get some relief on Saturday as a relatively flat stage eight stretches 163.5 kilometres from Monzon Templario to Zaragoza.

Meanwhile, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will line up for the Bretagne Classic on Sunday, with the likes of Jan Christen, Isaac del Toro and Brandon McNulty all ready to defend the team’s title from 2024.

Beginning and ending in Plouay, the 89th instalment of this French one-day race will test the peloton with another hilly course that suits the climbers. Heading into this year’s race as the defending champions, the Emirati squad will line up with a wealth of talent. Bringing the experience, Tim Wellens will make his eighth start at the Bretagne Classic, and on the other end of the spectrum, Isaac del Toro will make his race debut.

Froome hospitalised after training crash in France: Four-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome has been airlifted to hospital and will undergo surgery after suffering multiple injuries in a training crash in southern France, his Israel-Premier Tech team said Thursday.

The 40-year-old British rider was taken to hospital on Wednesday afternoon by helicopter following a crash near Toulon.

“Chris Froome was airlifted to hospital in Toulon yesterday afternoon following a serious training crash (no other cyclists or vehicles were involved),” his team said in a social media post.

“Fortunately, Chris is stable and did not sustain any head injuries, however, scans have confirmed a pneumothorax, five broken ribs, and a lumbar vertebrae fracture, for which he will undergo surgery this afternoon. “We will update on Chris’ condition following surgery.”

French newspaper L’Equipe reported that Froome was conscious on arrival and was able to speak to medical staff.

A member of the Israel-Premier Tech team since 2021, Froome took part in the Tour of Poland earlier this month and finished 68th overall.

Since a heavy crash at the Criterium du Dauphine in 2019, Froome, who enjoyed his finest moments with Team Sky, has never managed to regain his best form. His last victory dates back to 2018 when he won the Giro d’Italia to complete a career clean sweep of cycling’s Grand Tours.

Agencies