Marc Soler ends the Spanish drought in 'big'

MADRID, 24 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The UAE Team Emirates cyclist Marc Soler managed to end the drought in Spanish cycling in the grand tours with his victory this Wednesday in the fifth stage of La Vuelta a España, starting in Irún and ending in Bilbao over 187.2 kilometers, and which placed Frenchman Rudy Molard, from Groupama-FDJ, as the new leader of the race.

Marc Soler knew how to suffer, joining a breakaway late in which he had not initially managed to get in, and then attacking the demanding second-category Alto del Vivero on the second climb. There, the Catalan attacked to neutralize the British Jake Stewart and go alone to the finish line in Bilbao.

The Catalan thus ended a 'black' stage for Spanish cycling, which had not won a Grand Tour since Ion Izaguirre won Aramón Formigal in October 2020 in the Spanish round. Before this triumph, Soler himself had also managed to win in the same edition of the Unipublic test.

And it was not easy to end this 'curse'. The UAE cyclist was not in the initial breakaway, but started more than two minutes later, but managed to cut the difference to join a group made up of 18 runners and who gradually ran out of runners until the final selection.

When the breakaway had already gained a five-minute lead with the peloton, the fight for the red jersey put a bite into the stage, with the Groupama-FDJ team trying to control Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) so that Rudy Molard could keep this award.

To do this, they launched an attack with Jake Stewart, who led the race to the last pass, Alto del Vivero, where Soler read the situation and accelerated to go off alone and crown with an advantage that no one could take away from him.

Despite enjoying just 14 seconds, the Catalan was able to keep enough distance to win with some 'comfort' despite the efforts of the rest of the escapees to hunt him down, led by the South African Darryl Impey (Israel-Premier Tech), who led the comeback attempt.

For its part, the peloton with the favorites did not cause much trouble on the run. Jumbo-Visma was the one who was in charge of leading him, but without the intention of 'burning' excessively when seeing that his main rivals did not try to attack.

Along with Soler, the other proper name of the day was the Monegasque Victor Langellotti (Burgos BH), who took advantage of each port to 'chop' points and end up snatching the mountain jersey from the Spanish Joan Bou (Euskaltel Euskadi). The runner even tried to enter the final sprint for victory, but was unable to catch Soler.

This Thursday the sixth stage of this Vuelta Ciclista a España will be held, which will start from Bilbao and, after 181.2 kilometres, will end with the ascent to Pico Jano in San Miguel de Aguayo, a day that can make a difference between the favourites, since It passes through a second category port and two first category, ending at Pico Jano, an ascent of 12.6 kilometers at 6.55 percent.

-CLASSIFICATIONS.

-Stage.

1. MARC SOLER (SLO/UAE TEAM EMIRATES) 3:31:05.

2. Daryl Impey (SUD/Israel-Premier Tech)                a 4.

3. Fred Wright (GBR/Bahrain-Victorious)                 m.t.

4. Rudy Molard (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) m.t.

5. Lawson Cradock (USA/Team BikeExchange)    m.t.

-General.

1. Rudy Molard (FRA/Groupama-FDJ) 16:07:22.

2. Fred Wright (GBR/Bahrain-Victorious)                a 2.

3. Niklas Arndt (ALE/Team DSM)                           1:09.

4. Lawson Cradock (USA/Team BikeExchange) 2:27.

5. Primoz Roglic (SLO/Jumbo-Visma)                  4:09.