Marc Soler finishes second in Vuelta Asturias opener

Marc Soler and Alessandro Covi made a strong start to the Vuelta Asturias for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, finishing second and third, respectively, on stage 1. Soler was unlucky not to come away with the stage victory, with the Spaniard narrowly out-sprinted by Steff Cras (Team TotalEnergies) in a two-up dash to the line in Llanes.

Over a minute behind the pair, Covi led the next-best group over the finish, with the Italian producing a fine bike throw to pip Sergio Geovani Chumil (Burgos Burpellet BH) into third place. Heading into stage 2, Soler now sits just four seconds off the race lead, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG leading the team classification.

Earlier in the day, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had controlled the early hours of racing through Julius Johansen and Gen Z talent, Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali. Their work on the front of the peloton was efficient, bringing the breakaway under control as the race hit the toughest climb of the day, the Alto del Fitu. Standing at 8% for 7km, the Fitu brought the first action of this year’s Vuelta Asturias between the general classification rivals.

Cras was the first to make an attack, with the Belgian soon followed by Soler and a handful of the peloton’s strongest climbers. For UAE Team Emirates-XRG, António Morgado was never far from the action, and as the pack summited the climb, a group of eight riders had coalesced at the front of the race.

The action lulled through the next 40km, before the day’s final categorised climb appeared in the form of the Alto de la Tornería. It was Cras and Soler who escaped the pack in advance of the climb, and with the climb extending for 6.1km at 5.7%, the pair only extended their advantage with each passing kilometre. Their advantage was such that they could descend to the finish line and engage in a two-up sprint for the day’s honours, leaving Covi and teammate Adrià Pericas to battle for position behind.

At the finish in Llanes, Cras held off Soler in the sprint, with the TotalEnergies rider taking the lead of the race heading into Friday’s stage. A little over a minute later, Covi burst into third place and Pericas rounded out a good day for the team in 11th place.

Soler: “The team did a good job to control the early break for a lot of the stage and on the hard climb of the Fitu, Cras attacked and we formed a group of eight riders. There was a bit of a lull before the final climb and myself and Cras jumped away and built up a good gap which we kept to the line.

“He was quicker than me in the sprint but we arrived at the same time and have a decent gap on the others in the GC so it’s a promising start to the week.”

Vuelta Asturias stage 1 results:

1. Steff Cras (Team TotalEnergies) 4:01:53

2. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

3. Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:01

Vuelta Asturias general classification after stage 1:

1. Steff Cras (Team TotalEnergies) 4:01:43

2. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4″

3. Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:07