In shadow of drama Van Aert, Soler finally wins his Vuelta stage, O&#x27;Connor still in red

🚴🇪🇸 | Wat gebeurt hier nou? Wout van Aert opende de aanval, maar ligt even later ineens op de grond. De schade lijkt op het eerste gezicht mee te vallen. 🇧🇪🚵 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

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Battle for the polka dot jersey between Vine and Van Aert, Movistar races very hard

We again saw Van Aert lurking for points for the mountain jersey in the breakaway. The holder of that, Jay Vine, was also in the mix, along with teammates Marc Soler and Isaac Del Toro, on behalf of UAE Team Emirates. Other exciting names were Oier Lazkano on behalf of Movistar, William Junior Lecerf of Soudal Quick-Step, and Max Poole of dsm-firmenich PostNL.

The mountain jersey battle unfolded on the day's first climb, where Van Aert prevailed. He outplayed opponent Vine and scored four points in the battle for the polka dot jersey: 50 to 46. After this, the green jersey wearer pulled ahead for a while. Van Aert built up a minute's lead, and for a moment, it looked like a beautiful solo was in the making. However, the group in pursuit joined forces in time to catch the all-rounder.

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🚴🇪🇸 | Van Aert trekt na de bergsprint door en heeft al een minuut te pakken. Maar is dit in deze fase wel de slimste strategie vraagt @KarstenKroon zich af? 🚵 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

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We saw a similar picture on the second to last climb, the Llomena. Van Aert kept watching Vine nicely and caught him in the last five hundred meters. Much more interesting was the action in the peloton: Movistar took control, pushed team O'Connor off the front row, and rapidly decimated the peloton. The moment was followed by a careful attack by leader Enric Mas, who accelerated but soon saw about ten men back in his wheel. However, the knives were sharpened, and it could be seen who was good and who was not. Richard Carapaz needed a moment; Roglic, Mikel Landa, and the red jersey could join more easily.

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🚴🇪🇸 | Enric Mas met een aanval op 57 kilometer van de streep! Movistar legt het peloton een straf tempo op en de kopman valt aan. Dit belooft veel goeds voor vandaag! 🚵 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

Fate strikes: Vuelta loses absolute top contender Van Aert in slippery descent

In the descent of Llomena, the elite group met up with some of the earlier dropouts, after which we were startled by a horror crash: Van Aert hit the ground with Felix Engelhardt and slammed hard into a railing. For a moment, he seemed to recover from the shock, but moments later, the seriousness of the fall became apparent. Van Aert sat in the back of the car, under the raised lid, put his hands in front of his face, and then tears streamed down his cheeks. Surrender Wout van Aert, the proud holder of the points jersey and the man on his way to the polka dot jersey. Unbelievable, but true. The Vuelta a España lost its big star.

It was a real tearjerker, but the Vuelta a España had to carry on. People were mostly looking at each other in the breakaway, and the same thing was happening in the O'Connor group. Meanwhile, the final climb came in sight, which was tough enough for some shifts anyway. The red jersey still had Felix Gall, Valentin Paret-Peintre, and Bruno Armirail. At the front, Vine headed straight for his goal: accelerating from the foot of the final climb. Ion Izagirre, Poole, Filippo Zana, Del Toro, and Marco Frigo could go with him; the rest of the sixteen at the front were forced to drop out.

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🚴🇪🇸 | Wat een onwaarschijnlijke domper voor Wout van Aert, Visma | LAB en alle wielerliefhebbers. Van Aert heeft te veel last van de tweede val en gaat niet meer verder in Spanje. 😢 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

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Final climb brings beautiful battle on two fronts

Vine, however, appeared to have given his all ahead of teammates Soler and Del Toro. This was curious, as neither man had the strength to stay at the front. It was quite a blunder by UAE since the Australian was the strongest rider. Well, who could do it at the front? Poole, Frigo, and Zana. Soler came back at will, and Frigo had to pass moments later. In the group red jersey, Landa showed he had good legs; he put his man in front and attacked a moment later in his characteristic manner, hands in the bottom of the handlebar. Led by Paret-Peintre, his gap remained small. Mas then pushed on, and this put the red jersey in trouble.

The Australian showed toughness, hanging on at about ten seconds, prompting Mas to accelerate again. Roglic struggled and had to go deep to catch up. Carapaz hooked his wheel, as did Landa and the excellent David Gaudu. At the front, we saw the impossible: Soler, whose face almost burst from exhaustion, attacked and punched a gap with Poole and Zana. He headed for his so fiercely pursued stage win. O'Connor was fighting a lonely battle, away from the group of Roglic. His red jersey hung by a thread.

Soler appeared to have mentally cracked the men behind him with his resurrection: he won the stage in the fog atop the mythical lakes. O'Connor kept pushing and doing his best to keep the red. At the top, there were no more bonification seconds to earn, so it was suspenseful for the red jersey.

🚴🇪🇸 | Het gaat te hard voor Ben O'Connor als Enric Mas het tempo opvoert. Met nog meer dan 5 kilometer te gaan, lijkt dit het Waterloo van de rode trui te zijn. 🚵 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max