Breaking news; Ben O’Connor suspended from race for causing Wout van Aert crashe…….
Marc Soler found a superb late surge to win stage 16 of the Vuelta a España, on a dramatic day in the mountains with Primoz Roglic cutting Ben O’Connor’s overall lead to just five seconds as Wout van Aert crashed out of the race
Soler (UAE Team Emirates) was first to reach the summit finish at Lagos de Covadonga, in a time of 4hr 44min 46sec. “To win at home in the Vuelta is very special,” Soler told Eurosport.
The Spaniard burst clear of a breakaway group with five kilometres of climbing to go and he proved unstoppable. Italy’s Filippo Zana (Jayco-Alula) and Britain’s Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) came home in second and third place respectively.
“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.”
Primoz Roglic, who trailed Ben O’Connor by 1min 3sec at the start of the day, began to build a lead over his title rival on the uncategorised final climb.
