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
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