PREVIEW | Vuelta a Espana 2023 stage 7 - Will Filippo Ganna win his first World Tour bunch sprint?

Preview. Stage 7 of the Vuelta a Espana is a return to the sprinting days. A very fast stage is predicted, after the GC riders had a huge clash this afternoon, tomorrow will see a different set of stars coming to the front.

Stage seven will be a good sight for the peloton who find a flat stage. The first half of the day will largely be downhill which means the peloton can't afford to give the breakaway much of a gap, but the run-in to Oliva will be pan-flat.

However it's another day which finishes at significantly lower altitude than the start, 700 meters, which means fast speeds which favors breakaway. The opening half of the stage will be quite hilly in fact, featuring no categorized climb but plenty small hilltops where some fatigue will be created. However the second half of the day should be gentle enough to keep things under control.

Play along with our Fantasy Vuelta a España 7 2023. At least $435/€400/£ 345 in prizes! Click here to create your own Fantasy Vuelta a España team.

It is most likely a day for a bunch sprint, through roads the peloton will know very well. The riders pass through the outside of Gandia and then finish very close to the area where dozens of teams train throughout the winter. In the town of Olivia is where the finish line will be, not an overly technical finale but a nervous one. The final corner will come with 350 meters to go and there will certainly be a sprint towards that, and then a second sprint towards the line.

The Weather

Strong wind from the southeast. Luckily for the peloton however this is the opposite of what teams would need to make a difference. It'll be a cross-headwind and headwind throughout most of the day. The latter one mostly for the final kilometers, all the way into the final corner with 350 meters to go - there it'll be a crosswind sprint finish.

The Favourites

Kaden Groves - Winner of both sprints so far, with and without a leadout, on a flat and uphill sprint. No problems for the Australian so far, with Alpecin-Deceuninck fully focusing in him and no real competitive leadouts, it's hard to argue against a third win.

Main Competition - Juan Sebastián Molano and Alberto Dainese could be termed as his main competition, specially in a flat and pure sprint, however I'll add Filippo Ganna to that list after his second place yesterday, the Italian absolutely has the power and positioning ability, but maybe he'll benefit from a harder stage or sprint.

Outsiders - The race then includes a few outsiders. None of these are riders with the speed to beat Groves, but who knows, with a technical sprint ahead someone could surprise, specially as the final corner comes very close to the finish.

Edward Theuns, Milan Menten and Dries van Gestel have so far performed well and will be the Belgian group to chase a result in this sprint. To this we'll add to the mix Marijn van den Berg, Hugo Page, Lewis Askey, Ivan García Cortina and Orluis Aular.

Prediction Vuelta a Espana 2023 stage 7:

*** Kaden Groves
** Juan Sebastián Molano, Filippo Ganna
* Edward Theuns, Marijn van den Berg, Dries van Gestel, Alberto Dainese, Milan Menten, Ivan García Cortina

Pick: Kaden Groves