O’Connor maintains his lead
Belgium’s Wout van Aert secured his second triumph at this year’s Vuelta a Espana by executing a thrilling late surge during Van Aert.
Ben O’Connor from Australia, representing Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale, maintains his overall lead in the red jersey, following his remarkable solo triumph in stage six.
On Friday, Van Aert narrowly outpaced Mathias Vacek and Pau Miquel, with the assistance of his teammate Sepp Kuss, who closed the gap on the then-leader Marc Soler, setting the stage for the Belgian’s victorious attempt.
Pavel Sivakov was leading as the race entered the final 200m, but was overtaken by Aleksandr Vlasov before Van Aert from Visma-Lease a Bike propelled himself to the front.
In the green jersey standings, Van Aert leads Australian cyclist Kaden Groves by 41 points, extending the 13-point advantage he held after stage six.
The race will resume on Saturday with a 159km stage from Ubede to Carzorla.
