Soler wins in Lagos de Covadonga, O'Connor resists, and Wout van Aert abandons La Vuelta 2024

Intense sixteenth stage of La Vuelta a España 2024 in which we have had everything. Adventure with a high-level breakaway. Emotion with the fight for the red jersey decided by seconds; Epic, in a typically Asturian day with cyclists climbing the mythical ramps of Lagos de Covadonga in the fog; and also drama, that of Wout van Aert totally broken, with his knee shattered, having to abandon La Vuelta 2024 when he was leading two classifications: points and mountain. In any case, a great day of cycling.

O'Connor clings to the epic on the ramps of Lagos de Covadonga

Tremendous stage that the cyclists of La Vuelta a España 2024 have made us enjoy on what may be the most iconic stage of this race, the most recognizable summit that even transcends mere cycling fans, the Lagos de Covadonga. A mythical summit that was reached after leaving Luanco and ascending, first, the traditional Mirador del Fito and then repeating the route that was so successful in the 2021 Vuelta, climbing the tough Collada Llomena as a prelude to Lagos de Covadonga.

As it could not be otherwise, the stage started at full speed, with a lot of tension that, for example, caused a fall of Wout van Aert. Even so, the Belgian remained ambitious and, when the break of the day was formed, again numerous, 17 units, and of quality, there was the Visma-Lease a Bike cyclist. Alongside him, other familiar names from recent days: Del Toro, Jay Vine, Marc Soler, Marco Frigo, Riccitello, Lazkano, Max Poole...

They began to make their way with the permission of the peloton, facing in harmony the ascent to the Mirador del Fito. Upon reaching the top, Wout van Aert accelerated to break the tie with Jay Vine at the top of the mountain classification, he stood out in the descent and, seeing that no one was coming from behind, he lowered his head and began to make his way, even opening a 1-minute gap. However, behind them, they managed to close the gap so Wout decided to stop and save energy for the rest of the stage.

They arrived at the Collada Llomena where the breakaway began to disintegrate due to the pace. At the same time, in the peloton, it was Movistar who took the lead, at the same time they made a tactical move to stop Lazkano from the breakaway in order to use him later. An action that showed that Enric Mas was going to attack on the climb, daring, but with a questionable tactical execution, at least in terms of playing with the element of surprise.

Following the script, Enric Mas launched his attack midway up the climb. No one initially followed, but Roglic preferred to gradually reach him, with Mikel Landa and O'Connor on his wheel. An attack that the Basque rider would support but was neutralized by Sivakov and, behind him, the rest of the group. Ben O'Connor then decided to make the last man who was still with him work, a willing Valentin Paret-Paintre who managed to neutralize the attacks for the rest of the climb.

On the other side, it started to rain which, combined with the steep gradient and the peculiar layout of the secondary roads of Asturias, turned the descent into a technical challenge. And this is where the escapees were when a rider from the breakaway crashed. Wout van Aert was right behind him, he had to straighten his bike and went straight into the slope, getting up with his knee completely shattered. He initially got back on the bike but, a few hundred meters later, unable to even clip in, he got off the bike and waited for his team car to arrive.

A few minutes of uncertainty sitting in the team car trunk, with his directors encouraging him and visible signs of pain that even caused him a slight dizziness led to the inevitable decision that deprived us of what was undoubtedly the most spectacular cyclist of La Vuelta. Wout van Aert's abandonment, with which, once again, bad luck strikes in a season to forget and just when he seemed to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now his participation in the European Championship and, above all, the World Championship, is up in the air.

Returning to the race, tranquility became the norm in the approach to Lagos de Covadonga, and both the peloton and the breakaway left the decision of the race for these ramps, with the escapees arriving with almost 6 minutes of advantage, practically guaranteeing them to fight for the stage victory.

It was Jay Vine and Max Poole who took the lead at the beginning of the climb, with Marc Soler, who, as has been happening in recent days, struggled with the change of pace from flat to uphill and took some time to start moving up to the front. Darío Frigo then attacked, going ahead with Del Toro, Zana, and Poole, and once again, in a steady effort, Marc Soler managed to catch up, catch his breath, and decide that he was not going to be caught for a third time, being the one to make the move.

An action that initially only served to drop his teammate Del Toro, and he even had to endure Max Poole's counterattack in a true display of good cycling. An exhibition of skills that Marc Soler would culminate again with another strong attack just before reaching the fearsome Huesera, which would allow him to open a generous gap, albeit with a tough Max Poole resisting on his wheel trying to spoil a day of glory that seemed closer and closer.

And it would be in another key section of the climb to Lagos de Covadonga, the tough ramp of the Mirador de la Reina, where Marc Soler launched a new challenge that, this time, allowed him to go solo with a lead that, from this moment on, would increase second by second until achieving a victory that puts him in the history books, on the most mythical summit of La Vuelta and in a 2024 edition where the glory of victory seemed to elude him. Few cyclists have been in the breakaway and have sought the stage victory more than Marc Soler. Finally, all the effort has paid off at the right moment.

Scratching every second

Meanwhile, we had forgotten about the peloton, which had started the climb led by a Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale that had managed to regroup in the long descent of Collada Llomena and set a hard pace in the first kilometer. Was it a bold move by a Ben O'Connor with good legs or a bluff to try to scare his rivals and prevent attacks? We wouldn't have to wait long to find out.

Shortly after the start of the ascent, the TRex-QuickStep took over again, showing the brave attitude they displayed a couple of days ago in Pajares. Their work resulted in the expected attack by Mikel Landa, holding on down below, as the Landismo dictates, and opening a small gap as no one followed him. A few minutes that made us dream that the feat could be achieved.

But this uncertainty did not last long, as at the beginning of the Huesera, it was Enric Mas who accelerated. A first time that only served to break the group, and then within the inhuman ramps of the known slope, another small acceleration that, this time, got rid of Ben O'Connor. Meanwhile, Roglic, Carapaz, and Gaudu stayed on the wheel of the Mallorcan rider who led them to Mikel Landa. The Basque rider managed to hold on to this group until, incredibly but true, the third acceleration of Enric Mas on the way to the Mirador de la Reina, which even showed that Roglic does not seem to be at 100%, limiting himself to holding on to Carapaz's wheel while Gaudu struggled.

Another battle would begin there, that of Ben O'Connor to hold on to the lead in a climb of true agony. And, as he has done in recent days, in the final part, the Australian found his best version and managed to save the red jersey by just 5 seconds. Clearly insufficient with all the mountain stages remaining in La Vuelta 2024 and, above all, with the supposedly better performance of Primoz Roglic in the time trial.

Now the ball is in Enric Mas's court, who has shown that he arrives with good legs and has exposed the incipient weakness of the Slovenian. However, his poor time trial abilities force him to be very ambitious in the remaining stages, especially on Saturday's stage as he needs at least a minute's advantage over Primoz Roglic to have a chance of winning the race.

Stage 16 Classification

1. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) 4h44'46''
2. Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) +18''
3. Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) +23''
4. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) +57''
5. Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) +1'02''
6. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) +1'29''
7. Marco Frigo (Israel-PremierTech) +1'35''
8. Matthew Riccitello (Israel-PremierTech) +1'47''
9. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +3'54''
10. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +3'54''

General Classification

1. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) 65h09'00''
2. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +05''
3. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +1'25''
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'46''
5. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +2'18''
6. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +3'48''
7. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +3'53''
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +4'00''
9. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +4'27''
10. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) +5'19''