Marc Soler takes big win in Bilbao as breakaway succeeds and Rudy Molard takes over race lead
Cycling
The Vuelta a Espana has seen it's first successful breakaway today in the Basque Country, a hilly day that favoured the climbers and puncheurs, and has seen UAE Team Emirates' Marc Soler succeed as he rode solo into the finish in Bilbao to take the stage win. Rudy Molard took advantage of the move to jump into the red jersey.
The temperatures were almost into the 40 degrees and the first hour of racing was furious as the riders knew a breakaway win was almost certain on the day. 18 riders went up the road eventually with an interesting mix of rouleurs, sprinters, puncheurs and climbers, which got a maximum gap of over five minutes and has the fight for the stage win and red jersey present there.
There was relative organization into the first ascent of the Alto del Vivero, with Lawson Craddock and Victor Langellotti going clear close to the summit, however being caught by the chasing group afterwards. 12 riders went towards the final ascent in contention for the win, with Jake Stewart making a move before the climb - so as to favour Rudy Molard who had both win and red jersey as a goal.
Stewart entered the final climb with 40 seconds of advantage. However as the attacks came from behind, the gap faded, as Marc Soler went solo over the climb, with Fred Wright and Rudy Molard battling behind for the red jersey - with only four seconds separating them at the start of the day. With the Frenchman refusing to work the chase was never organized, with riders joining from behind towards the flat section.
Individual attacks almost closed the gap to Soler inside the final kilometer, but Fred Wright had no collaboration. The British sprinted to third place, as Daryl Impey crossed the line first in the chasing group, and behind Rudy Molard has taken over the race lead due to the bonifications he took on the bonified sprint. The peloton arrived over five minutes behind with no intent on chasing the group, as Jumbo-Visma gave up the race lead for now.
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