Soler takes solo Vuelta stage 14 win, Vingegaard bites back / Photo: Miguel RIOPA - AFP
Soler takes solo Vuelta stage 14 win, Vingegaard bites back
Marc Soler powered to an impressive solo victory in the Vuelta a Espana stage 14 on Saturday, as Jonas Vingegaard extended his general classification lead by two seconds.
UAE Team Emirates rider Soler drove alone up to the summit finish at Farrapona after a 136 kilometre run from Aviles.
Vingegaard beat Vuelta rival Joao Almeida in a sprint finish to claim second, with the Portuguese third. He now trails the Dane in the overall standings by 48 seconds.
Ahead of the day's racing, the Israel-Premier Tech team announced they would be taking their name off of their kit, using only their logo in the face of frequent pro-Palestinian protests in the first two weeks of the race.
There was some disruption during the neutralised start as riders slowed to a halt to travel down a narrow road lined with people waving Palestinian flags.
Once racing started, around 30 riders escaped the peloton after 22 kilometres, with the gap growing to six minutes with 60 kilometres remaining.
Ahead of the huge 17 kilometre Farrapona climb at the tail end of the stage, UAE's Soler attacked to take a solo lead.
The Spaniard pushed on to put more than a minute between himself and his closest pursuer Johannes Staune-Mittet.
The Norwegian dropped away and the Spaniard had too much for anyone else to match and became the fourth UAE rider to win a stage at this year's Vuelta.
Almeida, Vingegaard and Jai Hindley shared a pulsating battle for the bonus seconds behind Soler.
Vingegaard sprinted beyond the Portuguese to claim the six bonus seconds, extending his lead at the top of the general classification by two seconds, answering Almeida's statement on Friday as he triumphed on the Angliru climb.
The race continues on Sunday in Galicia with the medium mountains stage 15, stretching 168 kilometres from A Veiga to Vegadeo.
D.Findlay--EWJ
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