Australian 24-year-old cyclist Mihael Storer (DSM) achieved the biggest victory of his career by triumphing in the seventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta, driven today from Gandia to Balcon de Alicante in a length of 152 km.
Storer was in the group of "runaways" that was created after about 30 kilometers and endured all six categorized climbs. On the last climb of the first category, Storer showed the most endurance and strength and reached the finish line 21 seconds ahead of second-placed Spaniard Carlos Veron (Movistar), and 59 seconds ahead of Russian Pavel Sivakov (Ineos Grenadiers).
The Slovenian Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) remained the leader in the overall standings, although he spent most of the stage behind the drivers who were on the run.
In the group with the biggest competitors, Roglič was three minutes and 33 seconds behind the winner.
That was enough for him to keep the red shirt of the leader with an eight-second advantage over the Austrian Felix Groshartner (Bora-Hansgrohe), who was seventh in the seventh stage and reached the finish line two minutes before Roglic, who kept a 25-second advantage over the Spaniard Enrico Mas (Movistar ) and 36 seconds ahead of Colombian Miguel Angel Lopes (Movistar).
The Vuelta lost one of its former winners today, as the 15-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Valverde was forced to retire for the second time in 41 appearances at the domestic Grand Tour race.
Valverde, the 2009 winner, fell 43 kilometers before the finish, briefly resumed the race, but then retired.
On Saturday, eight stages from Santa Pola to La Manga del Mar Menor (173,7 km) are scheduled, in which the sprinters will once again have the opportunity to fight for victory.
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