Marc Soler's persistence paid off at the 2024 Vuelta a España as the ever-aggressive Catalan finally got his wish with the mythical Lagos de Covadonga summit finish.

UAE Team Emirates has opted for a three-rider attack four times so far in the Vuelta's mountains - Sierra Nevada, Anchares, Cuito Negru, and Covadonga - and Soler has participated in all of them. But it was on the most prestigious mountain stage, always in the thick of the action, that the Catalan finally took the win.

Accompanied by Isaac del Toro and Jay Vine, Soler, who headed into the foothills of Covadonga in an eight-man forward breakaway, initially had the most trouble maintaining contact with Filippo Zana (Jaco-Aroura) and Max Pool (DSM-Filmenig Post NL).

But rather than pay the price of multiple successful breakaways, Soler eventually bridged to the other two stage leaders and went clear with 4km to go. His solo victory was the third of his career at the Vuelta a España and the third for the UAE Emirates this year, following Brandon McNulty's victory in the opening time trial and Adam Yates' in Granada.

For Soler himself, the win in Covadonga was a reward for his tenacity in the breakaway.

“I've hit the goalposts so many times before, but this time I finally scored,” Soler said. 'This break was at a very high level and I didn't have any special confidence when I went for it the first time. But the second time it worked out.”

Both Poole and Zana were stronger than Sorrell. Poole said, “I was always on the edge, but I also saw the others getting a little weaker, and I kept my rhythm.”

“Poole was the man to beat, I saw a lull in one section and went for it.

Soler, who has suffered a total of five broken bones in previous Vuelta's and three third places before Tuesday's victory, said that not succeeding until Covadonga encouraged him to keep trying, rather than feeling frustrated or losing motivation.

“I was able to hit the post a lot and make a lot of breaks. [I would also like to dedicate this victory to my wife and children. We recently had our second child and I was away for a long time preparing for the Tour and the Vuelta. So this is a very special victory. [Considering that Covadonga enjoys the same prestige in the Vuelta as Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France and Mortillo in the Giro d'Italia, even though Covadonga's victory is historic, Soler's repeated appearances at the Vuelta break are not new. In 2022, he had competed in the Vuelta no less than seven times, but was rewarded with a victory only the first time all the way to Bilbao. As he said after the race in Covadonga, he did not feel that strong in this year's race.

What was different from previous years, however, was the “mass attack” strategy now employed by the UAE in braking, and on stage 16, besides Soler, there were two teammates, Wein and del Toro.

“It would have been great if one of the three could have won,” Soler said. They were both equally important riders on today's stage.”

“I'm still the same rider I was when I won in 2020, but I've certainly found my place here in the UAE. (Sports director) Joxen Fernandez's Matosin is really helping me and I know what I have to do and when to make the most of the opportunities they are giving me.”

After Tadej Pogachar won the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France, the UAE's bid for a third Grand Tour win was always a long shot, given that two GC hopefuls, Yates and João Almeida, worked under Pogachar in July and were already in great form It was. While Almeida was forced to abandon the race at COVID-19, Yates scored an impressive victory in the mountain stage in Granada. Soler said the team continues to fight for victory despite limited overall options.

“We'll keep fighting. Maybe I can get into the breakaway again, but hopefully I can help my teammates win. And if I can get Jay [Wein] and the mountains jersey and get a top 10 overall for Adam [Yates] and Pavel [Sibakov], that would be great.”

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