photo credits @La Vuelta
Marc Soler triumphed in stage 16 of the Vuelta a España today, with a late breakaway, while Ben O’Connor’s lead was reduced to razor-thin, with Primoz Roglic just five seconds behind.
In the final five kilometers, Soler saw an opportunity to surge ahead and opened up an unbridgeable gap at the front, with Filippo Zana and Max Poole taking second and third, respectively.
“It’s a very special victory because I haven’t won a lot with this team and after two years, winning here in La Vuelta is special,” Soler said.
“I tried to accelerate several times (on the climb to the Lagos de Covadonga), Max Poole also tried it several times and in the end I was able to take this advantage.”
Roglic sensed an opportunity in the rainy mountains from Luanco to Lagos de Covadonga, finishing 11th —nine places ahead of O’Connor – cutting nearly a minute off the Australian’s overall lead.
Meanwhile, Wout van Aert was forced to withdraw from the Vuelta following a crash during a descent, where he sustained injuries to his legs and arms. The accident occurred with more than 50km left in the stage.
At the time of his withdrawal, he was leading both the points and King of the Mountains rankings.
Van Aert led the way to the first summit of the day, the Mirador del Fito, where he got the better of Vine. The Belgian rider kept pushing on the downhill and the valley, so much so that he opened a gap of 1’15’’ to his former breakaway companions, while the peloton trail by 10’10’’. The chasers and the bunch, led by Ben O’Connor’s Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, up the ante.
Van Aert was caught ahead of the second ascent of the day, the Collada Llomena. At the bottom, the peloton trails by 8’17’’, with Movistar setting the pace alongside Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
The Spanish team set a brutal pace up the Collada Llomena, with Enric Mas (Movistar) attacking with 60km to go. But his rivals quickly reacted, with Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) counter-attacking to no avail.
Van Aert was later the rider over the summit, but he was caught up in a heavy crash along the descent with Engelhardt and Del Toro. Van Aert tried to resume racing but his injuries forced him to withdraw from the race.
With the peloton trailing by 5’35’’ at the bottom of the final climb, Poole set a high pace, with only Soler and Zana in a position to rival the young Brit. But, no one was able to react when Soler attacked inside the last 5km.
In the meantime, Landa set off with 8.5km to go, while Mas chased in earnest with 5km to go. But, only Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Roglic could muster the chase, while O’Connor dropped 58’’ but still managed to retain his overall lead.
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