Stage 7 of the Vuelta started in a parking lot which is pretty typical but the parking lot was shared between the local theater and a funeral home. And there was a funeral this morning. Eek. Fortunately it was well before sign on began. Still…
Bob Jungles was the first to sign on.
The Movistar riders were awfully bubbly today. Below: Imanol Erviti.
Adriano Malori.
Jose Herrada.
Birthday boy Andrey Amador.
Patrick Gretsch.
Haimar Zubeldia.
John Degenkolb rode off the climb yesterday before he was awarded his jersey so arrived at sign on this morning in his green shorts but regular white jersey to receive the sprinter's jersey.
The Garmin boys all had their game faces on so I could tell they were planning something for the stage. In the end, a crash and then a moto running over Ryder Hesjedal's back tire did the team no favors, but Hesjedal still managed to win the bunch sprint and finish the stage in second place. Below: Johan Vansummeren.
Peter Kennaugh.
Chris Froome in the white jersey.
Esteban Chaves.
In no time, the place was bonkers with riders coming and going, people screaming for autographs (I'd stopped!), and the media weaving in and out to seek out specific riders.
I hustled to catch the start. Below: Cannondale.
Lampre.
Mikel Nieve.
Adam Hansen and Jurgen Van Den Broeck.
I made it a bit further up the road and saw the neutral start get under way.
Today's 14 autographs came from: 2 Winner Anacona, 9 Jose Serpa, 36 Paul Martens, 38 Maarten Tjallingii, 95 Laurent Mangel, 96 Cedric Pineau, 144 Bart DeClercq, 154 Imanol Erviti, 157 Adriano Malori, 158 Javier Moreno, 182 Esteban Chaves, 188 Ivan Santaromita, 207 Chris Anker Sørenson, and 215 Yaroslav Popovych.
And that wraps up the Vuelta for me! I'm sad to leave the race as the stages up north are bound to be exciting, but I'm in my way to my next race so I've got nothing to complain about!