🇪🇸: @lavuelta Stage 15 🚩 Pamplona - 🏁 Lekunberri , 158.5 km. ⏰: 13:20 - 17:30(CEST) ⚠️: Another hilly and explosive day in Spain, which includes a double ascent of Zuarrarrate. 📺: @eurosport #LaVuelta23 #WeAreUAE
"This time I have to push every day for the first time" - Marc Soler testing himself for the first time in Grand Tour GC
CyclingSunday, 10 September 2023 at 12:01
Marc Soler is testing himself as a Grand Tour contender. Off the back of a successful breakaway on the Javalambre stage at the Vuelta a Espana, the Spaniard continues to ride on and remains well within the Top10 after two weeks of tough racing.
"This year the Vuelta is going to be very tough for me. It will be even harder than in other years, because this time I have to push every day for the first time," Soler told EsCiclismo. "During other editions I was sometimes able to ride in service or simply let the favorites group ride. Now that I am participating for the [GC] classification, that is of course no longer possible. But it's going well, even though the Col du Tourmalet seemed to take forever."
He struggled on stage 13 where he fell frmo second to sixth. The team's focus has since switched onto his teammate however. "I see that Juan Ayuso is getting better every day. Just like last year, he will also be super good in the last week," Soler believes. On stage 14 he and João Almeida were dropped as Ayuso attacked the Port de Larrau after the team's work, however with Jumbo-Visma covering the moves the group arrived compact to the finish.
Soler has commented on the comeback of Remco Evenepoel who took the victory on the day, having been asked. "It is a shame that Evenepoel is no longer high in the classification. That would have given us more options. But on the other hand, there is also one less rival for us," he concluded.
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