Three broken ribs and elbow injury: Marc Soler’s surprise Vuelta absence explained after training crash
CyclingFriday, 21 August 2026 at 16:00
Marc Soler’s absence from UAE Team Emirates – XRG’s 2026 Vuelta a Espana squad has been explained, with the Spaniard recovering from three broken ribs and an elbow injury suffered in a training crash just before he was due to return to racing.
The 32-year-old had been preparing to use the Vuelta a Burgos as his final test before the Spanish Grand Tour when he crashed the day before travelling to the race. According to MARCA, Soler suffered three fractured ribs, a heavy impact around the radial head and further damage to his elbow, immediately taking both Burgos and the Vuelta out of his programme.
That removes one of the Vuelta’s most reliable recent stage hunters from a UAE lineup built around Tadej Pogacar and Joao Almeida. Soler has won a stage in four of his last five appearances at his home Grand Tour, including at La Farrapona as recently as 2025.
He had also been pencilled in for the kind of dual role he has repeatedly filled for UAE: supporting the general classification leaders when required while retaining enough freedom to attack for victories of his own.
Four stage wins in Soler's last five Vuelta appearances
Soler has started the Vuelta seven times and collected four individual stage victories. His first came in 2020 before further successes followed in 2022 and 2024. Last season he added a fourth at La Farrapona, attacking from the breakaway before riding clear during the final part of the mountain stage.
Across his five most recent Vuelta appearances, only the 2023 edition passed without Soler winning a stage. He also finished ninth overall in 2019, but his more recent value at the race has come from attacking difficult breakaways without completely sacrificing his responsibilities around UAE’s GC leaders.
His 2026 season had already produced a solo victory on the opening stage of the Vuelta a la Region de Murcia and sixth overall at Paris-Nice, while he finished second in the mountains classification at Itzulia Basque Country.
His Giro d'Italia appearance ended after only two stages, but the Vuelta remained a major objective for the second half of the season. The Vuelta a Burgos had been intended as the final race test before Monaco. The crash came the day before he was due to travel to Burgos.
Soler has four Vuelta stage wins on his palmares
At least two more weeks before Soler can return to the road
Soler was treated at the Quiron Clinic in Barcelona and had his stitches removed on Wednesday. His elbow has progressed well enough for him to begin riding on an indoor trainer again.
Current medical estimates nevertheless put his return to outdoor training at a minimum of another two weeks, leaving any revised race programme dependent on how the rib and elbow injuries continue to heal.
UAE will therefore head to Monaco without a rider who has become one of their most productive Vuelta attackers. Pogacar and Almeida lead the eight-man selection, with Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov and Pablo Torres among the climbing strength still available around them.
Soler has progressed far enough to resume indoor work, but the crash that ended a run of four stage wins from his last five Vuelta appearances will keep him off the road for at least another couple of weeks.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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