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The rest of the top ten is rounded off by Pello Bilbao, Isaac del Toro, Kévin Vauquelin, Ion Izagirre and Alex Baudin.
UAE Team Emirates’ dominance today is reflected by the final GC, in which they have placed three riders in the top five. Behind Ayuso in first and Soler in fourth, McNulty also sneaked up into fifth.
As for Rodríguez, this is a welcome return to form following what had before now been an off-par start to the season. He’s back on course to being Ineos Grenadiers’ team leader at the Tour de France.
This is the first World Tour stage race overall title of Juan Ayuso’s career, following runner-up finishes at Tirreno-Adriatico earlier this spring and the Tour de Suisse last year. This result has felt like a long time coming, which is saying something seeing as he’s still just 21-years-old.
But it does also ensure Soler finishes fourth overall, capping off what was an exceptional performance from the Spanaird. He set things up for Ayuso early on with his long-range attack, and still had the legs to ensure a high finish for himself.
It’s confirmed that Rodríguez has indeed finished second overall, just one second ahead of Skjelmose. That it was another UAE Team Emirates rider, Marc Soler, who denied him the bonus seconds that would have earned him second, must be especially galling to the Dane, who spent much of that stage trying to chase their riders.
There must have been an agreement between Ayuso and Rodriguez, either spoken or unspoken, that the latter would help take turns in exchange for being allowed the stage win. It’s a great day for both of them.
Marc Soler just about pips Skjelmose to the line in the sprint for third and the bonus seconds, which may also be enough to…
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