Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) took precious seconds on the first uphill finish of this Giro d'Italia while Primoz Roglič (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) conceded time on a climb that should have been tailor-made for him.
The finish to Tagliacozzo saw a select group approach the line, including a healthy crop of team GC leaders. Ayuso and Roglič were there, of course, plus Ineos' Egan Bernal and Thymen Arensman, Lidl-Trek's Giulio Ciccone, both Yates brothers, and a superb Isaac del Toro, who ended up crossing the line in second place.
Bernal was the first to give it a real go with 1 km to go, but he was hauled back by Ayuso, who then blasted ahead and took four seconds, plus bonus seconds.
The pink jersey fell off the shoulders of Mads Pedersen and landed on Roglič headed into Stage 8.
Ayuso didn't so much attack as ride everybody off his wheel.
How it happened
- Stage 7 featured 3,390m of climbing over 168 km, ending with the race’s first summit finish on the 11.9 km climb to Tagliacozzo.
- The Roccaraso climb sparked early attacks, with mountain leader Lorenzo Fortunato taking max points to extend his KOM lead.
- A seven-man breakaway formed, including Scaroni, Tonelli, Garofoli, Prodhomme, Double, Leemreize, and Tarozzi.
- Alessandro Tonelli led the first intermediate sprint in Sulmona and was active throughout, targeting sprint and fuga points. Paul Double crested Monte Urano and Vado della Forcella first, scoring key mountain points and confirming strong climbing form.
- The breakaway’s lead grew to 4 minutes, but was steadily reduced by Lidl-Trek and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe controlling the peloton.
- Tonelli took the second intermediate sprint at Ovindoli, continuing to rack up points and prizes.
- David Gaudu and Romain Bardet both crashed on the descent, but rejoined the peloton before the final climb.
- The peloton closed to within 1:30 entering the final 30 km, setting the stage for a tense summit finish to Tagliacozzo.
- Ineos Grenadiers took control on the final climb, reducing the gap to 40 seconds as the breakaway began to splinter.
- Bahrain Victorious upped the tempo, reeling in the last of the breakaway with 5 km to go as the gradient steepened.
- UAE Team Emirates took charge with 2.5 km left, Rafał Majka setting up Ayuso and Yates amid a thinning lead group of GC favorites.
- Giulio Ciccone launched the first major GC attack, marked quickly by Bernal, with Arensman then leading the group to the final kilometre.
- Juan Ayuso delivered a devastating finishing kick, dropping all rivals to win solo ahead of teammate Del Toro and Bernal.
Brief analysis
- Red Bull took the, uh, bull by the horns and did most of the work keeping the day's breakaway in check (with some help from Trek), never giving them more than a handful of minutes. The team, now missing Jai Hindley after his crash and abandonment on Thursday, used up all its strength before the final climb.
- UAE, in contrast, didn't have to do much at all throughout the day and had more than half its eight-man squad still present in the finale. Ayuso and Yates were there, of course, but also Del Toro, Majka, and McNulty ready to help. On the evidence of just one mountain stage, UAE is by far the strongest team in this race.
- On paper, the final climb into Tagliacozzo was a perfect Roglič climb. Sit, sit, sit, sit, sprint, win. We've seen it dozens of times. But the punch never came at the finish. "I was a bit behind, yeah, but I didn’t really fight much, eh?" Roglic said after the finish, before then correcting himself somewhat: "You always try to give your best, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose," he said. "I enjoyed it today. I'm happy."
- Was Roglič trying to avoid getting the pink jersey? Perhaps, though he wouldn't admit to it. He did seem completely open to the idea that a rival might take it in the coming days.
- Bernal looked stronger than he has since his horrific crash. The field behind Roglič and Ayuso remains wide open and if this form continues, it could be a very good Giro for the Colombian.
Arensman pulled a short leadout and then released Bernal with 800m to go. UAE's Isaac del Tor was all over him though.
Quote of the day
"I knew I only had one attack — I couldn’t afford to mess around with one, two, or three tries. In these explosive finales, you’ve only got one bullet, so I waited for others to go first. When I saw my moment, I went full gas to the finish.”
- Juan Ayuso on his late and successful move
What's coming up
Stage 8: Giulianova to Castelraimondo - 197 km
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