2024 Vuelta a España Stage 16 Results & Recap
Stage 16 of the 2024 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Soler Solos to Stage 16 Victory
Marc Soler won the race to the iconic Lagos de Covadonga from the breakaway. He shook off Filippo Zana and Max Poole within the last 5 kilometers to solo to victory.
“I narrowly missed out on victory several times and finally I made it," Soler said. "I tried to accelerate several times [on the climb to the Lagos de Covadonga]. Max Poole also tried it several times, and in the end, I was able to take this advantage. It's always high-level breakaways, but, well, I knew I had one or two attacks, and that's all. I tried it once. Then [Poole] also maintained a strong pace, and finally, I set off and didn’t look behind. I dedicate this victory to my wife, and my children, and I'm very happy. It’s a very special victory because I haven’t won a lot with this team, and after two years, winning here in La Vuelta is special.”
There was a lot of movement from the start, but the breakaway took over 30 kilometres to establish itself. Jay Vine, Wout van Aert, Marc Soler, Max Poole, Isaac del Toro, William Junior Lecerf, Marco Frigo, Matthew Riccitello, Darren Rafferty, Oier Lazkano, Fran Milholjevic, Felix Engelhardt, Filippo Zana, Simon Gugliemi, and Martijn Tusveld opened up a lead of several minutes before Ion Izagirre and Sylvain Moniquet also made it across.
Van Aert outsprinted Vine for KOM points at the Mirador del Fito. The peloton trailed at 10 minutes at that point.
The peloton closed in to under seven minutes on the Collada Llomena before Enric Mas jumped clear in the last 2 kilometres. Mikel Landa went on the counter-attack as his compatriot was brought back. He then stopped his efforts while van Aert extended his KOM lead at the summit.
Engelhardt hit the deck in the descent, and he took van Aert and Del Toro down with him. The KOM leader and leader of the points classification is was too much pain to continue the race.
The lead group went down to Tusveld, Poole, Frigo, Izagirre, Soler, Zana, Riccitello, Vine, Lecerf, Miholjevic, Del Toro and Gugliemi as they tackled the finish climb. The peloton was six minutes in arrears.
Shortly, Poole, Frigo, Del Toro, and Zana headed out together. Soler and Riccitello regained contact just inside the last 10 kilometres. Izagirre also made it across.
Then Soler upped the pace. Poole was right on his wheel, followed by Frigo and Zana. And when the young Brit accelerated, the only rider still on his wheel was Zana.
Soler made it back with 7.6 kilometres to go, and when he started setting the pace, Zana was dropped. For a moment, the Italian clawed his way back in contention.
Meanwhile, Mikel Landa attacked lower down the mountain. His solo adventure didn't last long, but when the rest caught up, it was without red jersey Ben O’Connor. There were still more than six kilometres left to climb at the point.
Primoz Roglic then neutralised an attack by Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz. Soler shook off Poole and Zana within the last five kilometres.
With those last two moves, the stage was set. Soler soloed to victory, while O’Connor gave it everything to limit his losses. In a way, he succeeded, as the Australian held onto the red jersey with a five-second lead over Roglic.
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