"After yesterday's wear and tear I was here to help" - Marc Soler rides to third on the day after McNulty and Vine disaster

Marc Soler has been searching for a stage win all throughout the Vuelta a España, in a UAE Team Emirates that has given a free role to virtually every rider since the start of the race. Today he was again relatively close, but his third spot was nothing but a consolation prize after the team saw it's two main contenders crash out in sight of the final climb.

In the penultimate climb of the day Soler pulled his two teammates Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine back to the front of the race after Wout van Aert attacked with a few other riders. Then he attacked several times to put the pressure on his rivals. All of this was to give Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine a better chance of winning on the day. But with only 7 riders in the head of the race, the duo crashed with 18 kilometers to go and left UAE empty-handed.

On the final climb Soler rode at his pace but he no longer had the legs to match the accelerations of Michael Woods and Mauro Schmid who were second and third on the day. Soler was third. "I gave my best, I was trying to help Jay and Brandon as much as possible, in the end they crashed, let's hope they are okay".

"After yesterday's wear and tear I was here to help, I closed a gap that I spent a lot, give the maximum until I couldn't. We had to play our trump cards, try to take Jay and Brandon the most rested, it was a pity," he concluded.