Ayuso responds with mountain stage win at Spanish Vuelta, Traeen keeps overall lead

CERLER, Spain (AP) — Spanish rider Juan Ayuso won a mountainous seventh stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Friday to bounce back from a poor performance the previous day, while Torstein Traeen of Norway kept the overall lead.

Ayuso attacked on an ascent with 11 kilometers (seven miles) to go and dropped the rest of a breakaway bunch on the way up to the category-one summit finish in the Pyrenees. He completed the up-and-down 188-kilometer (116-mile) trek from Andorra to Cerler, Spain, in 4 hours, 49 minutes.

The UAE Emirates rider, who won the Tirreno-Adriatico in March and the 2024 Tour of Basque Country, is one of Spain’s top young cycling talents. But he struggled on Thursday in the mountains of Andorra, falling 10 minutes behind and saying goodbye to any chance to challenging for the title.

“I don’t know if makes up for yesterday, but I can say that this win was about pride,” Ayuso said.

This was Ayuso’s first stage victory at the Vuelta, where he finished third overall at age 19 three years ago.

It was also a third straight stage win for the strong UAE Emirates team, which is excelling even without its top star and Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar. It won the team time trial on Wednesday and climber Jay Vine reigned in Andorra.

Traeen, who took over the red leader’s jersey from race favorite Jonas Vingegaard on Thursday, stuck with the group that included the two-time Tour de France winner on the way to Cerler.

Saturday’s stage is flat 163-kilometer (101-mile) ride for sprinters from Monzon Templario finishing in Zaragoza.

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