Chaotic final stage in Asturias: Soler joins early breakaway to secure stage and overall victory

It has been an eventful few days in northern Spain. After a stage win by Steff Cras, Ivan Garcia Cortina won the second stage, while Marc Soler took the lead: Cras had crashed and had to abandon the race. Soler's leader's jersey was not in danger in the third stage. That stage was won by his teammate Alessandro Covi, who was the fastest in a depleted peloton. However, Sunday was perhaps the most difficult stage.

The final section, in particular, was dotted with short climbs, two of which were just before the finish line in Oviedo. But the opening phase was also tricky, which lent itself perfectly to a devious plan. A total of 22 riders managed to break away after the first hour. Among them was Garcia Cortina, who was with four teammates. Caja Rural - Seguros RGA also had four riders with him, and Matteo Vercher of TotalEnergies was there too. But Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was also there. He was fourth in the GC, so Soler moved to the front group.

It was a crazy start to the race. The pace was extremely high so that Garcia Cortina couldn't keep up. Halfway through the race, the leading group still had a two-minute lead over the peloton, which was chasing relentlessly. But this was no ordinary early breakaway, and the front riders would battle it out for the stage victory. In the last 20 kilometers, they still had a 1.35-minute lead.

It was the moment of truth on the penultimate climb, the difficult Alto del Violeo. Four riders managed to break away from the rest of the leaders: Alex Diaz (Caja Rural), Adria Pericas (UAE Team Emirates), Will Barta, and Antonio Pedrero (Movistar) rode away. But on the climb itself, Soler revealed his true strength. He attacked, passed the four leaders, and headed solo for victory. This was the perfect way to secure his victory in the GC.