After the second rest day of the Iberian round, Spaniard Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) took the victory in the 16th stage of the Vuelta a España 2024, disputed over 181.5 kilometers between Luanco and Lagos de Covadonga, an emblematic place remembered for the victories of the scarabajos; Lucho Herrera in 1987 and Nairo Quintana in 2016.
The Spaniard proved to be the strongest breakaway on the final climb in rainy and foggy conditions. Among the favorites, Ben O’Connor again lost time to his biggest rivals, but the Australian held on to his red jersey by a scant 5 seconds. The stage was overshadowed by a heavy crash of Belgian Wout van Aert, who had to abandon the race.
On the grueling day, the riders first faced two tough climbs with the Mirador del Fito (7 km at 8.1%) and the Collada Llomenia (7.6 km at 9.3%), before tackling Los Lagos de Covadonga, the grueling climb, which was climbed for the 23rd time in the history of the Vuelta, making it one of the most famous climbs in the Vuelta.
In the early stages, after a flurry of attacks, seventeen riders managed to break away after fighting for more than thirty kilometers. The breakaway of the day was led by Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Filippo Zana (Jayco AlUla), Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), William Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost), Fran Miholjević (Bahrain Victorious), Felix Engelhardt (Jayco AlUla), Simon Guglielmi (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Martijn Tusveld (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny).
Van Aert then embarked on an ambitious solo adventure. The green jersey wearer took a slight lead after a fast descent down the Mirador del Fito and decided to push on. The chasing group suddenly found themselves a minute down, but it was no cause for panic among the chasers. On the flat kilometers to the Collada Llomenia (7.6 km at 9.3%) – the second climb of the course – the chasing group managed to catch Van Aert again.
Later on, a heavy crash occurred. Felix Engelhardt was the first to go down, and Van Aert couldn’t avoid the Austrian. The Belgian crashed into the mountainside and ended up badly beaten. Van Aert got back on his bike, but soon found he could not pedal properly. Knee injuries, in particular, proved too severe and he was unable to continue.
The escapees, who were still in the fight for the win, proved to be neck and neck on the final climb. Vine, Poole, Soler, Zana and Del Toro: the best climbers decided to change the pace, picking off the leading group. The next acceleration was in charge of Soler, who ended up being the winning move.
The Spanish round will continue on Wednesday with stage 17, an undulating 141.5-kilometer fraction between Arnuero and Santander, which includes two second-category mountain prizes in the middle of the day.
La Vuelta Ciclista a España (2.UWT)
Results Stage 16 | Luanco – Lagos de Covadonga (181,5 km)
| 1 | Marc Soler | UAE Team Emirates | 4:44:46 |
| 2 | Filippo Zana | Team Jayco AlUla | 0:18 |
| 3 | Max Poole | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | 0:23 |
| 4 | Jay Vine | UAE Team Emirates | 0:57 |
| 5 | Ion Izaguirre | Cofidis | 1:02 |
| 6 | Isaac Del Toro | UAE Team Emirates | 1:29 |
| 7 | Marco Frigo | Israel – Premier Tech | 1:35 |
| 8 | Matthew Riccitello | Israel – Premier Tech | 1:47 |
| 9 | Enric Mas | Movistar Team | 3:54 |
| 10 | Richard Carapaz | EF Education – EasyPost | ,, |
Ranking General Individual
| 1 | Ben O’Connor | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 65:09:00 |
| 2 | Primož Roglic | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 0:05 |
| 3 | Enric Mas | Movistar Team | 1:25 |
| 4 | Richard Carapaz | EF Education – EasyPost | 1:46 |
| 5 | Mikel Landa | Soudal Quick-Step | 2:18 |
| 6 | David Gaudu | Groupama – FDJ | 3:48 |
| 7 | Carlos Rodríguez | INEOS Grenadiers | 3:53 |
| 8 | Mattias Skjelmose | Lidl – Trek | 4:00 |
| 9 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 4:27 |
| 10 | Pavel Sivakov | UAE Team Emirates | 5:19 |
Fuente: Revista Mundo Ciclístico