Maximiliano Richeze (Quick-Step Floors) took the victory in the final stage of the Vuelta a San Juan. Bauke Mollema of Trek-Segafredo secured the overall victory.
After coming out on top from a day-long break in Pocito, Richeze caught the peloton off-guard on stage 7, which was shortened just as the previous one because of the hot weather, with the mercury hitting again more than 40 degrees Celsius. On paper, the stage should have ended in a bunch sprint, and things were looking to go into that direction with three kilometers left, once the three-man breakaway was nullified.
But several riders had other plans and attacked, opening a 50-meter gap. Maximiliano Richeze covered those moves and with two kilometers to go found himself alone at the front, as the pack looked incapable of reacting. As a result, “El Atomico” soldiered on and went all the way to the finish, crossing the line for a fine solo win and punching the air in celebration.
Bauke Mollema arrived safely with the peloton in the final stage to clinch the overall victory.
“It was much harder than I expected actually,” said Mollema. “It was only 111 kilometers with no corners, so the whole day was a really fast circuit. We knew it was going to be warm like the last days, but it was less of an issue than yesterday with the longer stage. It was okay today, but the speed was high from the start; I think we did 49km/h average. It was a hard day.”
Vuelta a San Juan 2017 – stage 7 results:
| 1 | Maximiliano Richeze (Quick-Step Floors) | |
| 2 | Tom Boonen (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 3 | Matteo Malucelli (Androni-Sidermec) | ,, |
| 4 | Andrea Guardini (UAE Abu Dhabi) | ,, |
| 5 | Nicola Ruffoni (Bardiani-CSF) | ,, |
| 6 | Jose Luis Rivera (Municipalidad de Pocito) | ,, |
| 7 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Bahrain Merida) | ,, |
| 8 | Attillo Viviani (Italy) | ,, |
| 9 | Daniel Juarez (Asociacion Civil Mardan) | ,, |
| 10 | Mattia Viel (Unieuro Trevigiani – Hemus 1896) | ,, |
Final general classification:
| 1 | Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) | 18:02:09 |
| 2 | Oscar Sevilla (Medellin – Inder) | +14” |
| 3 | Rodolfo Torres (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) | +16” |
| 4 | Ricardo Escuela (Agrupacion Virgen De Fatima) | +20” |
| 5 | Rui Costa (UAE Abu Dhabi) | +26” |
| 6 | Laureano Rosas (Argentina) | +27” |
| 7 | Ramunas Navardauskas (Bahrain Merida) | +52” |
| 8 | Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) | +1’17” |
| 9 | Egan Bernal (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec) | +1’29” |
| 10 | Pieter Serry (Quick-Step Floors) | +1’31” |
