Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) finally won a stage at the 2024 Vuelta a España, with another aggressive and audacious attack on the climb to Lagos de Covadonga.
The Spaniard was part of the 17-rider breakaway and then surged away on the steepest part of the 122km climb on stage 16. He distanced Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) and Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) in the final seven kilometres and then dived down the rain-soaked, misty descent to the finish line. Zana was second at 18 seconds, with Poole again the bridesmaid and third at 23 seconds.
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was part of the attack but sadly crashed out, suffering a knee injury.
Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale ) again had to fight to keep the red leader’s jersey but lived to fight another day by just five seconds.
The GC contenders marked each carefully until the final seven kilometres, when Mikel Landa (T Rex-Quick-Step) attacked. Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Enric Mas (Movistar), Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) joined him but O’Connor was distanced.
However, he refused to give up and fought for every second. The GC riders finished 3:54 down on Soler but O’Connor finished less than a minute behind them. That left him in red, with a lead of just 5 seconds on Roglič. Mas is third overall at 1:25, with Carapaz fourth at 1:46 and Landa fifth at 2:18.
Soler had finished third on three different stages in the last week but finally landed his first victory since the 2022 Vuelta.
“I’ve attacked a lot but this time I was able to finish it off,” Soler said. “It was a very, very high quality breakaway but I knew that if I got away, I had a chance. Max Poole followed me and the pace was high behind, but I did it.
“This is very special. I haven’t won a lot with this team and so after three years, to win at the Vuelta is special.”
How it unfolded
The steep climb to the finish at Lagos de Covadonga meant that stage 16 was always going to be a dramatic and aggressive day of racing in the Asturias region.
Van Aert was involved in a crash even before the stage began in earnest and that only heightened the tension in the peloton. There was again a race within the race, with riders looking to go in the break of the day in the hope of escaping the control of the GC contenders.
Astana's Harold Tejada was the first to go off the front when the flag dropped for the start of the 181.5km stage. He was joined by Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and others but they were soon chased down.
The elastic eventually snapped after a fast 35km of racing. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) was one of the first to move and an interesting 17-rider attack soon formed. The peloton allowed them to open a two-minute gap.
In the move were: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Isaac Del Toro, Jay Vine and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), William Junior Lecerf (T-Rex-Quick-Step), Marco Frigo and Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto-Dstny), Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Engelhardt and Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Max Poole and Martijn Tusveld (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis).
Riccitello was the best-placed rider in the break but an hour down on O’Connor and so not a threat; the peloton soon let them open a gap and to fight for the stage victory. Other riders like Van Aert and Vine were in a tussle for the mountain’s jersey, while some were key domestiques and adventurers.
O'Connor suffered a mechanical problem and briefly dropped off the rear of the peloton with 135 km to race but was quickly back, with his Decathlon AG2R team soon back leading the peloton.
On the first climb of the day, the Mirador del Fito, the break led by a whopping 9:25. Van Aert took 10 points to lift his total to 56, with Vine on 52. He wanted the blue polka-dot jersey, as well as the green points jersey. On the descent Van Aert went clear and pushed on alone. He opened a 50-second lead, perhaps to try to stay away to the next climb, but eventually drafted back to the breakaway.
The breakaway riders started the first-category Collada Llomena climb after 118km with a lead of 8:45 on the peloton.
Behind the GC group came alive briefly on the Collada Llomena when Movistar upped the pace. Mas attacked with 58 km to go, Roglič followed him and then Mikel Kanda also tried a move. It was a sign of what was to come on the climb to the finish.
Late drama
Van Aert again won the sprint to score maximum mountain points at the summit of the Collada Llomena, to extend his lead in the mountains competition. Little did he know that just a few kilometres later, on a fast, damp and so dangerous downhill curve, he would crash hard and be out of the race.
Engelhardt and Del Toro also went down, with the German riding on with a huge hole in his shorts. Van Aert managed to avoid them but rode into the rocky hillside at speed, hitting his right knee and other parts of body. He tried to ride on and then bend his knee but was clearly in too much pain. It was a tragic and sad moment for the Belgian, who has battled back from so many crashes and serious injuries.
Up front, some riders had been dropped from the attack but at least 10 were still fighting for the stage victory. After the descent and confirmation that Van Aert had abandoned the Vuelta due to his injuries, the break was still 6:30 clear. It was almost time for the 12.2km, 7% Lagos de Covadonga climb.
Vine rode for Del Toro and Soler before being distanced and switching his focus to the mountain points, then Frigo and Poole kicked away. Only six riders were left up front.
Soler got back on and then even got away with 7km to go, using his power to fight the pull of gravity. Poole and Zana were left to chase together as the visibility reduced and the rain came down but had missed their chance. Soler was away and charging towards victory.
The GC attacks began with five kilometres to go. Matteo Cattaneo set up Landa and then he surged away, hands on the drops in a show of pure Landismo. Mas soon reacted and Roglič joined him, along with Gaudu and Carapaz. O’Connor was suffering and suddenly couldn't hold the wheel.
Roglič, Mas, Carapaz and Guadu soon dropped Landa and drove on, with Roglič close to becoming virtual race leader, as O’Connor lost more than a minute. Carapaz and Mas were happy to help drive the pace in the fight for the podium places in Madrid.
Somehow, O’Connor was able to fight back on the flat section near the edge of Lagos de Covadonga, reducing his gap to below a minute.
His red jersey was hanging by a thread but he refused to give up. He drove to the line and stopped the clock 58 seconds down on Roglič. He kept the race lead by just five seconds.
Wednesday’s 17th stage to Santander is a chance for a breakaway or sprinters who can handle the mid-stage climbs. It gives O’Connor a chance to recover and prepare for another battle to keep the red jersey.
The odds are now against him but he is still in the fight.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
