Cycling-Norway's Leknessund solos to Vuelta stage-seven win, Pogacar extends lead

Norwegian Andreas Leknessund launched ​a successful solo attack on ​the final climb to ‌the summit ​finish of Aramon Valdelinares to win stage seven of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday, ‌ahead of teammate and compatriot Tobias Johannessen on a day when their country was mourning the death of King Harald. Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) made his move from ‌a five-rider breakaway 7.5 km from the finish at the end ‌of the 149.8-km ride from Vall d'Alba and pulled away to win his first Grand Tour stage on his Vuelta debut.

"It's been a special day for the team ⁠and ​also for the ⁠whole of Norway," Leknessund said. "Obviously it's only a small thing in the bigger picture ⁠but still, it makes the day more special."

Johannessen came in 34 seconds behind, having ​left Belgian Wout van Aert in his wake close to the ⁠finish, with the Visma-Lease a Bike rider having to settle for third after he ⁠had ​made the initial attack from the off and spent most of the day out in front with Leknessund. Tadej Pogacar, winner of three ⁠stages already, was happy to sit back in the peloton before pulling ⁠away from his ⁠GC rivals approaching the summit to gain more seconds. The Slovenian now leads Spaniard Enric Mas by three ‌minutes and ‌50 seconds.