Froome falters as Lindeman takes stage on first Vuelta a España mountain
Dutchman Bert-Jan Lindeman took victory from the breakaway as Chris Froome finished nearly 30 seconds behind his GC rivals


The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Thank you for signing up to The Pick. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo) took victory from the breakaway on the first mountain stage proper of the 2015 Vuelta a España, as Chris Froome's (Team Sky) overall hopes were dealt a blow after he failed to stay with his GC rivals on the category one summit finish.
Dutchman Lindeman took the biggest victory of his career after riding in a five-man break, also including Carlos Quintero (Colombia), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural), Jérôme Cousin (Europcar) and Ilia Koshevoy (Lampre-Merida) from the 12km mark.
The group established a maximum gap of over 13 minutes at one point, but more importantly, they reached the foot of the 19km finishing climb of Alto de Capileira with around six minutes of the peloton.
Cohesion then fell away from five riders as they began to attack each other, with Frenchman Cousin making the first move. It was short lived though, and as the likes of Quintero fell away, Koshevoy made the biggest move, reaching out on his own for a number of kilometres before Cousin and Lindeman rode back to him.
As the three approached the steep 14% ramps of climb's finale, Cousin appeared to take fall and was dropped his two breakaway rivals. Koshevoy lead Lindeman up the climb, but was unable to match the speed of the LottoNL man as he made on last dig to take victory on the biggest stage yet of the Vuelta.
Behind them, the GC battle raged into action in earnest at this tour, with Fabio Aru making the biggest move within the final kilometre to grab a handful of seconds from his fellow GC contenders.
Britain's Froome was the biggest casualty however, as the 2015 Tour de France winner failed to show the kind of climbing prowess which won him the yellow jersey back in July.
Froome finished 34 seconds back on Aru, but also lost 27 seconds to the likes of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Nairo Quintana (Movistar. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo, dropping out of the top-10 into 12th place overall.
Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) held on to his 10 second advantage in the red jersey over Tom Dumloulin (Giant-Alpecin), after both impressively stuck-it out with major players on the long and arduous climb to the finish.
The Vuelta's parcours look a little bit kinder for the riders as they head into stage eight, with a largely downhill start on the 182.5km course from Puebla de Don Fadrique to Murcia.
There's two category three climbs to overcome before the finish, but it could be another day for the breakway after Lindeman's success on Friday's mammoth test.
Vuelta a España stage seven: Jodar to La Alpujarra
1. Bert-Jan Lindeman (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, in 5-10-24
2. Ilia Koshevoy (Blr) Lampre-Merida, at 9 secs
3. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, at 29 secs
4. Jerome Cousin (Fra) Europcar, at 34 secs
5. Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, at 36 secs
6. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge
7. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar
8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar
9. Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
10. Nicolas Roche (Ire) Team Sky, all same time
Overall classification after stage seven
1. Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Green-Edge, in 21-55-13
2. Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, at 10s
3. Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin, at 33s
4. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, at 36s
5. Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, at 49s
6. Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, at 56 secs
7. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, at 57 secs
8. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, st
9. Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, at 1-18
10. Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, at 1-19
Selected others
12. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, 1-22
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Follow on Twitter: @richwindy
Richard is digital editor of Cycling Weekly. Joining the team in 2013, Richard became editor of the website in 2014 and coordinates site content and strategy, leading the news team in coverage of the world's biggest races and working with the tech editor to deliver comprehensive buying guides, reviews, and the latest product news.
An occasional racer, Richard spends most of his time preparing for long-distance touring rides these days, or getting out to the Surrey Hills on the weekend on his Specialized Tarmac SL6 (with an obligatory pub stop of course).
-
-
Here’s why cycling workouts with short recoveries are so effective - like this 30s on, 30s off session
Do this workout if you want to improve your ability to do short, sharp, repeated efforts with limited rest
By Andy Turner Published
-
CW Asks: Does e-bike racing have a place at the most competitive end of our sport?
Our editors reflect on the future of road cycling and the use of electric bikes in competition
By Anne-Marije Rook Published
-
'I thought I was more in the door than I was' - Luke Rowe bares all on Vuelta a España snub
Welshman will not race a Grand Tour this year after he missed out on selection by Ineos Grenadiers
By Tom Davidson Published
-
‘I hope I get a cow’ - Josh Tarling aiming for the top prize at World Championships
Welshman competing in elite men’s individual time trial on Friday afternoon
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
'All being well I’ll still be racing next year' but 'it's coming to an end' - Geraint Thomas on Ineos Grenadiers future
'It's nice to be arriving at a Worlds in decent nick' says the Welshman ahead of individual time trial in Stirling
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Carlos Rodriguez credits BMX skills with Tour de France stage win
Ineos Grenadiers rider dedicates his victory to his parents
By Vern Pitt Published
-
Chris Froome 'absolutely not' worth multi-million euro salary says his team boss
The four-time Tour de France winner was not selected for this year's Tour de France for performance reasons, Israel-Premier Tech boss Sylvan Adams says
By Chris Marshall-Bell Published
-
'We just have to keep trying': Ineos Grenadiers ready to attack at the Tour de France
'You never know' British team's DS Steve Cummings says anything is still possible at French Grand Tour
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Disappointed on stage one, pleased with stage two: Tom Pidcock gaining confidence at Tour de France
Ineos Grenadiers rider satisfied with performance on the road to San Sebastián after difficult opening stage
By Tom Thewlis Published
-
Tom Pidcock: Beating the likes of Pogačar and Vingegaard to a Tour de France stage would be ‘a step up’
Ineos Grenadiers rider heads into second Tour aiming for general classification and stage wins
By Tom Thewlis Published