Madrid, Sep 2 Geoffrey Soupe of TotalEnergies sprinted to a surprise win at the end of the seventh stage of the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race.
The French rider, who wasn't among the pre-stage favorites, took advantage of some confusion caused by the last corner as the riders hurtled through the town of Oliva in eastern Spain at the end of a flat 201 kilometers stage, reports Xinhua.
It was clear from the start of the day that the riders were looking to recover strength after Thursday's tough stage up the Pico del Buitre stage and ahead of another tough day of climbing on Saturday.
Consequently, the race was around half an hour behind the predicted schedule when it reached the last 10 kilometers, where a fall saw Thursday's winner and second overall, Sepp Kuss of Jumbo Visma, hit the floor.
Kuss was quickly on his feet, but after a placid day, the peloton was suddenly nervous and those nerves worsened with five kilometers left when another fall left Thymen Arensman of Ineos Grenadiers sprawled on the floor and out of the race.
The narrow curving streets of Oliva further spread out the riders, with a limited group going into the last bend, where Kaden Groves of Alpecin-Deceuninck, winner of the two sprints so far in the race, was blocked in and unable to challenge.
That saw things open up for Soupe, who moved a couple of bike lengths clear and just able to hold off the late challenge of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA's Orluis Aular and Edward Theuns of Lidl-Trek.
Lenny Martinez from Groupama FDJ is still the overall leader, with Kuss eight seconds behind in second ahead of a testing stage eight on Saturday.
Stage eight starts in the coastal town of Denia and contains three second and a first category climb, which could see time differences between the overall favorites, especially bearing in mind a weather forecast that predicts heavy rain for the region.
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