Joaquim Rodriguez got safely through what could have been a dangerous day in the Vuelta a Espana. Several riders hit the deck but the Spaniard and his Katusha teammates all escaped the incidents.
Friday brought stage 7 in the 2014 Vuelta a España with a 169 km course full of unclassified climbs and another day of hot weather. At the start of the stage all 198 riders were still present at the start line at the end of a solid week of racing. Despite a few abandons on the stage, it’s a rare occurrence to see a full peloton still competing after seven days of racing, especially in consideration of the oppressive heat that has been present every day since last Saturday’s start.
"The stage profile was hard enough, and it was one more hot stage. The beginning of the race was pretty quick, so nobody could go in a breakaway till the first climb of the day. There were some crashes because of the high speed, Chris Froome was one of riders who was involved. So after these crashes the group slowed down because it was too dangerous for all. Finally a group of riders broke away. We tried to stay in the front all day, keeping Purito's position amongst the leaders. The finish was very fast, but Joaquim managed to finish safely together with the other GC contenders," said head sports director José Azevedo.
Tomorrow is one of the few stages that look good for the sprinters in the Spanish tour filled with climbs. Stage 8 is the longest in this year’s race at 207 km as the race begins to head north. The stage starts in Baeza and ends in Albacete and is basically flat with two sprint points and an uncomplicated finish.
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