FILE PHOTO: Cycling - Tour de France - Stage 14 - Pau to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet - Pau, France - July 13, 2024 UAE Team Emirates' Marc Soler in action during stage 14 REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File photo
SPAIN (Reuters) - Spain's Marc Soler conquered the ascent to Lagos de Covadonga with a late breakaway to win Stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday.
In the final five kilometres, Soler saw an opportunity to surge ahead and opened up an unreachable gap at the front, with Italy's Filippo Zana and Britain's Max Poole taking second and third, respectively.
Belgian rider Wout van Aert was forced to withdraw from the Vuelta following a crash during a descent, where he sustained an injury to his legs and arms. The accident occurred with more than 50km left in the stage.
At the time of his withdrawal, the 29-year-old was leading both the points and king of the mountains rankings.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
