‘He’s found his calling’ – Dan Lloyd celebrates Geoff Soupe’s shock Vuelta a Espana Stage 7 victory

Dan Lloyd and Adam Blythe celebrated Geoff Soupe’s victory with a sprint finish in Stage 7 of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday.

The 35-year-old, of TotalEnergies, was a surprise inclusion for his team after injuries opened up a spot for him, but even then the Frenchman was expected to offer support rather than challenge for stage wins.

Nonetheless, with chaos around him after a crash and as other riders failed to find their rhythm, Soupe used his experience to time his run from a corner for a sprint that ran the best part of 400 metres to snatch victory.

Reflecting on the surprise result, Blythe said: “That bunched sprint was crazy, left and right, there was no clear leader, Kaden Groves had one man in front of him.

“Everyone was all over the show, Soupe’s already started his sprint on the right hand side. Soupe was just unbelievably strong coming out of it. It was just a complete and utter mess.”

Blythd suggested that his team-mate Dries Van Gestel’s form might have led Soupe to be a support sprinter, but in the end, the circumstances allowed Soupe to go for glory.

He explained: “I think Van Gestel has been kicking around the finishes the last couple of days. They were probably focusing on him thinking ‘you’ve been up there a couple of times’, a new strategy, so he might have been trying to lead out.

“WIth his team not anywhere near him he might have thought I’m just going to kick out. I also want to know where he gets that beard from, because it’s very strong.”

Lloyd added: “I still can’t get my head around the fact that Soupe’s won the stage here. I don’t know what odds he was at the start of the day, but very long.

“He’s just won his first ever Grand Tour stage. I wonder if he was trying to lead someone out. He wouldn’t come out of the corner, snapping out of it, if you were going for the stage win yourself, but like Adam was saying, to hold off that calibre of riders, no matter how messy it was behind, all the way from that corner, getting back up the speed to the finishing line, he’s found his calling.”

He said: “I don’t have too much to say, very disappointing. Robbe crashed hard off my wheel, so I hope he’s OK. A lot of us couldn’t sprint.

“I think us as riders are taking the risks, because we want to win, which is why we crash.”

Soupe was understandably delighted, and said: “It’s incredible for me, for the team, because normally because I don’t do the Vuelta for this year, but… the team decided to pick me for the Vuelta, and I don’t think it is possible to win a stage, because it’s really fast in the sprint, yet today, it’s really nervous in the final, we have a lot of roundabouts and wind, so in the final it’s a sprint.

“It’s always special but always a surprise.”