What a response! Juan Ayuso bounces back in style at La Vuelta with stunning stage 7 solo win

On a frantic and thrilling day at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana, Juan Ayuso hit back hard from his stage 6 disappointment by powering to a solo summit finish win on stage 7, destroying the breakaway. In terms of the GC fight, despite attacks by Joao Almeida and Giulio Ciccone, Torstein Traeen retains the Red Jersey.

The stage began exactly as expected – with relentless attacking from the very start. Gal Glivar, Edward Planckaert, Pierre Thierry and Jonas Gregaard were the first to establish daylight, but their slender advantage evaporated quickly as the road tilted upwards towards the first climb of the day, the long Port del Cantó (24.9km at 4.4%).

As soon as the gradients arrived, the race exploded. UAE Team Emirates lit things up with Juan Ayuso repeatedly on the move, his determination to make the breakaway absolutely clear. Eventually, he forced a gap of around 20 seconds, while Visma | Lease a Bike, wary of his threat, immediately moved to control the pace behind.

A handful of others tried to get across – Jay Vine among them – but each time the peloton closed ranks. Only Ayuso remained out front, dangling in front of what was already a much-reduced peloton of around 50 riders with 160km to go. Raúl García Pierna briefly managed to bridge before being reeled back, leaving Ayuso alone again with 25 seconds in hand.

Mads Pedersen was the first to make a successful move from the bunch, bridging to Ayuso just before the KOM line at the summit of Port del Cantó. Ayuso still crested first to take the points, before a larger chasing group formed on the descent and eventually swelled into a strong 12-man breakaway. Alongside Ayuso, Pedersen and Vine, the move featured Sean Quinn, Damien Howson, Harold Tejada, Brieuc Rolland, Joel Nicolau, Raúl García, Kevin Vermaerke, Eduardo Sepúlveda and Marco Frigo. Their cohesion quickly told, and they built a lead of more than two minutes as the valley roads approached.

By the time the race entered the second climb of the day – Puerto de la Creu de Perves (5.7km at 6.3%) – their advantage had ballooned to over four minutes. Bahrain Victorious, not wanting to cede the red jersey too easily, began to pull on the front of the peloton, but their work barely dented the margin. Jay Vine added to his tally in the mountains classification by taking maximum points on the climb, Nicolau and Quinn following.

The gap continued to hover at around four minutes as the day’s third ascent, the Coll de l’Espina (7.2km at 5.7%), loomed. With 50km to go, the break hit the climb with Bahrain still tapping out the tempo behind, but unable to bring the difference down. The advantage held firm at 4:20, strengthening the belief that the stage win would once again come from the escape.

Inside the breakaway, Jay Vine launched an attack on the climb with 45km to go, ensuring he collected the KOM points with little contest. He crested alone before the others regrouped on the descent, while Bahrain’s work finally made a dent in the peloton, shaving the gap down to 3:20 as the race rolled towards the finale.

As the race entered the final 30 kilometres, however, the breakaway reasserted its advantage, stretching the lead back out to 4:20. With both Ayuso and Vine in the move, UAE Team Emirates looked well placed to fight for the stage win, especially with the peloton seemingly content to let the escapees decide the day.

As the riders approached the final 15 kilometres, little had changed in the balance of power. The breakaway still held a commanding advantage of over three minutes, with the peloton seemingly resigned to the fact that the day’s winner would emerge from the escape. Mads Pedersen swept up the intermediate sprint points, fulfilling his personal goal for the day, before sitting up on the lower slopes of the final climb, his job done.

The last ascent to Cerler (12.1km at 5.9%) immediately began to bite. Pedersen was the first to crack, while Jay Vine settled into a metronomic rhythm on the front, setting things up perfectly for UAE teammate Juan Ayuso.

Just as the gradients stiffened, Team Visma | Lease a Bike moved to the front of the bunch, accelerating to ensure prime positioning at the foot of the climb. With Jonas Vingegaard firmly in red, there was intrigue as to whether they might actually open up the race – or whether it was simply to stay out of danger.

But the main fireworks came from the break. Ayuso launched his attack, surging clear of his companions with trademark explosiveness. Marco Frigo was the only one able to respond, clawing his way across, but Ayuso was not in the mood for company. He kicked again, shedding the Italian and riding alone with more than nine kilometres still to climb. By 9km to go, the situation was clear: Ayuso led solo, determined to convert UAE’s aggressive strategy into a stage win.

As the stage neared its finale, Ayuso's stage win was secured, whilst his teammate Almeida was landing jabs behind. A big attack from the Portuguese distanced the Red Jersey of Torstein Traeen, but notably both Jonas Vingegaard and Giulio Ciccone were quick to respond and ultimately things were back together heading into the final 3km.

There was no doubting the big winner of the day though, that was Juan Ayuso who secured the first ever Vuelta a Espana stage win of his career.