Sixto Núñez won stage 7 of the Vuelta del Uruguay, from a reduced group that splintered on the short but windswept route from Paysandú to Mercedes along the country's western border with Argentina. The group was largely led by Funvic's men, with the Brazilian team placing three riders in the top 6 but none in the top 3, reminiscent of Cofidis in Turkey all those years ago with 3 out of a group of 5 trying to win the stage without taking the jersey, and ending up with 3rd 4th 5th and the leader's jersey that they didn't want. Nahuel Hernández with his time bonuses for 2nd moved up into 5th on the GC.
In the crucial ITT in Ombués de Lavalle, at 25km in length, Agustín Moreira reinforced his position as the pre-eminent man against the clock in Uruguay right now, taking his second chrono stage win and his third outright, but even after this win his being over 3 minutes down on the GC after missing the selection in stage 2 and then not making the split in the péloton in stage 7 and losing a further 1'57", meant he was no longer a threat to take the maillot oro from young Agustín Alonso, who has defended highly creditably against more experienced and... let's say sometimes more dubious opposition. Sixto Núñez, fresh from his stage 7 victory was 2nd at +28", and André Gohr of Funvic 3rd at +31" - both of whom of course made the stage 7 split - but young Alonso is not the national champion against the clock for nothing, and against his closest GC rivals, he gained time - a mere 2 seconds on Pablo Troncoso but almost a minute on Fernando Méndez, so he is in the driver's seat going into the final weekend.
In the afternoon semitappe, Nahuel Soares took his second stage victory in a sprint in Trinidad, ahead of Anderson Maldonado and Sebástian Rodríguez. Going into the final weekend, 23-year-old Alonso leads by 14" from Troncoso and 55" from Méndez, with Jorge Bravo at +1'21" the only other rider within 2 minutes. However, both final weekend stages are 190km or so in length (194 and 188) and if the wind blows it could be a challenge, there are a few strong riders like Núñez, Gohr and Nahuel Hernández within 3 minutes, and Moreira, with his team having had a disastrous race by their standards, with long-time stalwart and 2-time winner of this race Richard Mascarañas now retired and Matías Presa fairly anonymous on his return from suspension, he will surely be hunting success to ape his father.
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