BARCELONA: Geoffrey Soupe came out on top in the predicted sprint finish to win a crash-ridden stage seven of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday.

The French Total Energies rider sped down the left into the final corner with 300 metres to go before out-sprinting Orluis Aular and Edward Theuns, with Australian Kaden Groves finishing in fifth place as he tried to win his third stage of the tour.

Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter Groves seemed well-placed to win but was passed on the final corner, finishing fifth.

French rider Soupe, of the TotalEnergies team, got his wheel over the line in a photo finish as Aular almost caught him, securing his biggest career win to date.

Frenchman Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) held onto the leader’s red jersey with an eight-second gap to Sepp Kuss. Spaniard Marc Soler is in third place, 51 seconds adrift of the leader.

Saturday’s stage eight is a mountainous 165-km ride from Denia to Xorret de Cati.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023