Vuelta, Van Aert falls and retires: he was leader of two classifications. Soler conquers the Covadonga Lakes

Wout Van Aert he withdrew from the Vuelta while leading two classifications, the points classification and the mountain classification. The Belgian from Visma-Lease a Bike suffered a fatal fall on the descent of the Collada Llomena in the 16th stage, the Luanco-Lakes of Covadonga of 181.5 km: in front of him the German Engelhardt had slipped, behind him the fall of Del Toro. The Belgian tried to get back on his bike, but immediately afterwards he sat down in the team car with a visibly injured right knee. Thus ends, presumably, a terrible season for WVA, marked by the fall in March in the Dwars door Vlaanderen and the slow recovery. After the Olympic bronze in the time trial, Van Aert seemed to be back to the good days right at the Vuelta, where he had won 3 stages.

Soler conquers Covadonga, Zana 2nd

The stage saw the success of Marc Soler (UAE), who joined Van Aert’s breakaway and was good at holding out in front and beating Filippo Zana from Vicenza to the finish line by a handful of seconds. In the battle for the red jersey, Roglic puts another minute between himself and O’Connor, who holds on to the lead of the standings by just 5″. Third in the overall standings is Enric Mas at 1’25”, followed by Carapaz (1’46”) and Landa (2’18”). Now two easier stages, then on Friday the uphill finish on the Alto de Moncalvillo. Saturday the queen stage, with the finish line on the Picon Blanco before the final time trial in Madrid.