Ayuso triumphs in Vuelta stage seven, Traen keeps red jersey

Spaniard Juan Ayuso powered to a solo stage seven Vuelta a Espana victory on Friday, securing a third straight stage win for Team UAE.

Torstein Traen of Bahrain Victorious held on to the leader's red jersey, finishing in a group along with general classification favourites Jonas Vingegaard and Joao Almeida.

Today, @juann_ayuso showed his true class, getting on the front foot from the first climb to the last 🧨 #LaVuelta25

Following in the wheel tracks of @JayVine3, Juan delivered another UAE Team Emirates-XRG breakaway masterclass 💥

🥇 Three from three. #WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/EYWJEVizKq
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) August 29, 2025

Team UAE's Ayuso fell out of the running for the overall race on Thursday despite being among the pre-race favourites.

Ayuso later said he had not planned to compete for the overall title anyway, and made an early attack here.

Ayuso, perhaps upset at not being chosen as his team's leader for the race behind Almeida, flexed his muscles on the mountainous 188-kilometre run from Andorra La Vella to Spanish village Cerler, one of the race's toughest stages.

He formed part of the day's break that contained stage six winner Jay Vine and Mads Pedersen among others, with 140 kilometres remaining.

The break stayed clear with Bahrain Victorious and Traen happy to let them stay up the road.

Two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard, favourite to win the race, and his likely closest rival Almeida were content to hang back in the peloton.

Ayuso attacked with 11 kilometres remaining and although Marco Frigo bridged the gap, the Spaniard dumped the Israel Premier Tech rider with a second burst.

The 22-year-old crossed the finish line with his fingers in his ears.

💪 Ayuso bounces back after his defeat yesterday, while not much changes in GC. Relive stage 7️⃣ in 1 minute

💥 El triunfo de Ayuso para reivindicarse y los movimientos entre los favoritos... sin grandes diferencias. Revive lo mejor de la etapa 7️⃣ en un minuto#LaVuelta25 pic.twitter.com/7HMr2sf7Ii
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 29, 2025

Frigo came in second, one minute 15 seconds behind Ayuso, while Arkea's Raul Garcia Pierna secured third.

Ayuso's stage win was his first in the race and a second in a Grand Tour, following a victory at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year.

"I think it was one of my best wins, considering the difficulty," said Ayuso, who foraged alone for the first hour, waiting for riders to join him to create the break.

"I had to do the first hour of the race by myself... I think I was able to do a very good job and finish it off...

"It's amazing... to win a stage here in the Vuelta, it's my favourite race, I'll always remember it and I'm very proud."

Here from Juan Ayuso:

🇬🇧: "It's amazing. After the Giro, when I won my first Grand Tour stage, to win a stage here in La Vuelta, which for me is my favourite race. And especially the way I won it today is something I think I'll remember always, and I'm just super proud."

🇪🇸:… pic.twitter.com/XOYDdXK5OL
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 29, 2025

Almeida made a bid to gain some time on his rivals but Vingegaard, Traen, 2023 Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss and others caught up with relative ease.

"It was a decent day in total, it was not an easy day. We want to still try to save our energy a bit, so we decided not to do anything today," said Visma-Lease a Bike's Vingegaard.

"We want to save the team for the second and third week."

Traen holds a two-and-a-half minute lead on Vingegaard at the top of the general classification.

After back-to-back mountain stages riders will get some relief on Saturday as a relatively flat stage eight stretches 163.5 kilometres from Monzon Templario to Zaragoza.

STAGE 7 RESULTS

1. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates - XRG 4:49:41

2. Marco Frigo (ITA) Israel - Premier Tech +1:15

3. Raúl García (ESP) Arkéa - B&B Hotels +1:21

4. Harold Tejada (COL) XDS Astana Team +1:28

5. Sean Quinn (USA) EF Education - EasyPost "

6. Kevin Vermaerke (USA) Team Picnic PostNL "

7. Eduardo Sepúlveda (ARG) Lotto "

8. Brieuc Rolland (FRA) Groupama - FDJ +2:17

9. Marc Soler (ESP) UAE Team Emirates - XRG +2:30

10. Tom Pidcock (GBR) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team +2:35

11. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale "