Among the most active riders of La Vuelta 24, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) has been rewarded for all his efforts with a thrilling stage win at the iconic Lagos de Covadonga, on day 16. The Spaniard got the better of his breakaway companions Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla) and Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) while the GC contenders battled it out.
Enric Mas (Movistar) opened the battle with 60 kilometres to go and eventually crossed the line with Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 58’’ ahead of Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)… The Australian retains La Roja with a margin of 5’’ on Roglic! The day was also marked by the withdrawal of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), who attacked again but had to abandon after a crash.
La Vuelta 24 returns to action for the last and third week with a brutal stage 16 to challenge the riders: 181.3km from Luanco, featuring three major ascents and 3,820m of elevation en route to the iconic finish at Lagos de Covadonga.
Van Aert attacks, crashes and attacks again
Attackers want to show themselves. Louis Vervaeke (T-Rex Quick-Step) attacks as soon as the flag drops and a fierce battle for the break ensues. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) is among the first attackers of the day but he’s caught in a crash early in the stage…
Still the Belgian star is among the 16 riders who manage to get away after they cover 46km in the first hour. Isaac Del Toro, Jay Vine, Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), William Junior Lecerf (T-Rex Quick-Step), Marco Frigo, Matthew Riccitello (Premier Tech), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny), Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Engelhardt, Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Max Poole, Martijn Tusveld (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) make the break with Van Aert.
Van Aert leads the way
Van Aert leads the way to the first summit of the day, the cat-1 Mirador del Fito (km 77.1), where he gets the better of Vine. The Belgian keeps pushing on the downhill and the valley, so much so that he opens 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 is caught ahead of the second ascent of the day, the cat-1 Collada Llomena. At the bottom, the peloton trail by 8’17’’, with Movistar setting the pace alongside Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale.
Mas attacks from far away, Van Aert goes down
The Spanish team sets a brutal pace up the Collada Llomena and Enric Mas (Movistar) attacks with 60km to go, just like Egan Bernal did in 2021. But his rivals quickly react. Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step) counter-attacks but he’s not successful either. Valentin Paret-Peintre (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) brings back some order.
Van Aert goes first at the summit (km 125), again. But he is caught in a heavy crash on the downhill, with Engelhardt and Del Toro. The Belgian star tries to resume racing but his injuries force him to stop and withdraw from La Vuelta 24, where he won three stages and illuminated the race in his debut in the Spanish Grand Tour.
Soler takes off, O’Connor resists
The peloton trail by 5’35’’ at the bottom of the final climb. Poole sets his pace and, rapidly, only Soler and Zana are in a position to rival with the young Brit… And nobody can react when Soler attacks inside the last 5km.
Meanwhile, Mikel Landa sets off with 8.5km to go. Enric Mas drives the chase and counter-attacks with 5km to go. Only Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) can follow him all the way to the line, while Ben O’Connor drops 58’’ and thus retains the overall lead with a margin of 5’’. – www.lavuelta.es
