Marc Soler finally tastes victory at 2024 Vuelta a Espana on stage 16 as Red Jersey fight ignites on Lagos de Covadonga

On an incredibly dramatic day at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana, there was no shortage of action. The stage win went to UAE Team Emirates' Marc Soler, Wout van Aert dramatically crashed out and the GC fight ignited again!

With the peloton having been able to rest and recuperate yesterday, there were plenty of 'fresh' legs at the start of stage 16. As such, the fight for the breakaway was an intense one. In the end, 17 riders snapped the elastic including the likes of Wout van Aert, Marc Soler, Jay Vine, Isaac del Toro, Max Poole, Oier Lazkano and Filippo Zana among others.

With the lead group having built up over 10 minutes lead by the first King of the Mountains battle, UAE Team Emirates duo Vine and Soler attempted to put Van Aert into difficulty. In the end though, it was the Belgian who took maximum points, extending his lead in the classification.

Carrying on with his attack after the climb, Van Aert actually had more than a minute's advantage at one point. Deciding it wasn't in his best efforts to take on such a massive solo effort however, the Belgian waited up for the rest of the break with just over 75km to go.

On the second climb of the day, Movistar Team already began putting the pressure on in the peloton with the ultimate goal to launch Enric Mas into the Red Jersey. With 58km still to go, the Spaniard launched. Although all but the GC leaders were blown away, Mas failed to really snap the elastic with his attack, neither did a counter from Mikel Landa. In the break meanwhile, Van Aert was taking maximum points again at the top of the climb.

Moments later however, disaster struck for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike superstar, as on a wet and slippery descent, the Belgian slid out hard and was left incredibly bloodied. After attempting to carry on, he unclipped, waited for the team car and was sadly forced to abandoned the race.

As the mythical slopes of the Lagos de Covadonga arrived on stage 16, the breakaway still held a considerable advantage over the peloton of just under six minutes. Due to the sheer brutality of the climb however, it wasn't complete formality that they would battle it out for the stage win.

With the attacks starting to fly, Max Poole and Marc Soler were proving strongest in the lead group. In the Red Jersey group meanwhile, the first rider to make a move was Mikel Landa. As Enric Mas led the chase of his compatriot, race leader O'Connor began to drift further and further back. With 3km to go, Soler was a lone leader, with the quartet of Roglic, Mas, Carapaz and Gaudu around 40 seconds clear of the Red Jersey. 

The stage win though, was Marc Soler's with Filippo Zana beating Max Poole in the fight for second. In the Red Jersey battle, O'Connor was fighting hard to limit his losses to the likes of Roglic and Mas. In the end, the Australian crossed the line around 56 seconds down, doing just enough to stay in the race lead.