Colombia-Coldeportes was offensive once again in the Vuelta a España, this time in stage seven, 191 km from Jodar to La Alpujarra. In a day which featured the first altitude finish of this year’s edition, Alto de Capileira, Carlos Julian Quintero attacked almost from the gun with four other riders, one of whom – Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo) – proved to be the strongest at the end, winning ahead of another cyclist who was part of the breakaway, Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida), and Fabio Aru (Astana).
 
For the Escarabajos, the best placed rider was Rodolfo Torres, 33rd, 1:33 behind the winner, followed by Fabio Duarte, 2:15 adrift. Torres is also the team’s best cyclist in the overall standings, 28th, 4:40 off the leader, Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge).
 
It took 14 kilometers for a breakaway to flee from the peloton, with Quintero, Lindeman, Koshevoy, Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural) and Jerome Cousin (Europcar) in it. At the front of the pack, Orica-GreenEdge was left to do all the work, letting the escape take a 13-minute gap. The peloton began chasing hard with only 50 km to go, once Astana and Movistar put down the hammer. As a result, the riders in the breakaway had just seven minutes over the bunch at the start of the 19-km long final climb. That group was reduced to just three men, due to Koshevoy’s attack, who was quickly followed by Lindeman and Cousin. Eventually, the French rider was distanced, and the victory came after a head-to-head fight between the other two, the Dutch taking the win thanks to an attack he launched 400 meters before the finish.
 
“We went into the right escape and we tried to give it all there," Carlos Quintero said, "but the hot temperatures and tough climbs made it really difficult, so we couldn’t get the result we were going for. This doesn’t mean we will stop trying”.
 
Valerio Tebaldi, the DS of the team, had once again words of praise for the aggressive approach of his riders: “For their determination in breakaway attempts, these guys would deserve much greater reward than they actually get. Today, Carlos rode according to our plan, managing to go into a breakaway which we believed that could succeed. In the end, Torres and Duarte showed encouraging signs, although they are still lacking something to stay with the main group right until the finish. Our goal is to keep improving in the following weeks”.
 
Saturday, August 29th, will see the peloton start from Puebla de Don Fabrique and head towards Murcia (189 km). The course gives a new opportunity to the attackers, with the Escarabajos expected to be again among the protagonists.