Leknessund wins seventh stage as Pogacar extends overall lead in Vuelta

Andreas Leknessund won the seventh stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday after launching a brave attack on the final climb of the stage.

He used the help of Uno-X Mobility teammate Tobias Halland Johannessen to escape from Wout van Aert of Visma-Lease a Bike for the stage win.

After further extending his lead on Thursday, overall leader Tadej Pogacar and his UAE-Team Emirates squad allowed a breakaway to compete for the 149.8-kilometer stage.

23 riders were able to form a breakaway, with a group of five then riding off the front of the break.

The group with the main favorites finished over four minutes behind the escapees, with Pogacar sprinting clear in the closing meters to a further handful of seconds from his nearest rivals. The Slovenian now holds a lead of three minutes and 50 seconds over Enric Mas (Movistar) in second.

Saturday sees a relatively flat 172-kilometer stage from Pucol to Xeraco in the region of Valencia, until a second-category climb which starts around 30 kilometers from the finish.