"It was just a complete and utter mess" - Adam Blythe impressed by Geoffrey Soupe's calmness amongst the chaos on stage 7 sprint at La Vuelta
Cycling
Geoffrey Soupe took a shock bunch sprint win on stage 7 of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana, taking his first Grand Tour victory in the process at 35 years of age.
Predominantly a leadout man for the majority of his career, has the TotalEnergies rider now found his true calling as a bunch sprinter? “That bunched sprint was crazy," Adam Blythe said post-stage on the Breakaway as part of Eurosport's coverage of the Vuelta a Espana. “Everyone was all over the show. Soupe was just unbelievably strong coming out of it. It was just a complete and utter mess.”
Dries van Gestel has been the main sprinter for TotalEnergies so far at the race and the call for Soupe to sprint was a last minute decision. “With his team not anywhere near him, he might have thought; I’m just going to kick out," explains Blythe. "I also want to know where he gets that beard from, because it’s very strong.”
Blythe's Breakaway companion Daniel Lloyd was impressed by Soupe's calmness in and amongst the chaos. “I still can’t get my head around the fact that Soupe’s won the stage here," he says disbelievingly. "I don’t know what odds he was at the start of the day, but very long. He’s just won his first ever Grand Tour stage. Like Adam was saying, to hold off that calibre of riders, no matter how messy it was behind, all the way from that corner, getting back up the speed to the finishing line, he’s found his calling.”
Geoffrey Soupe
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) September 1, 2023
— Was not supposed to take part in #LaVuelta23
— In January, took first pro win in 12 years
— Has been working for teammates - esp. sprinters (Demare, Bouhanni) - all these years (pro since 2011)
— 🏆 is good reward for commitment to teampic.twitter.com/G4O0lMWDm4
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
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- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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