Fans of UAE Team Emirates-XRG must have had their hearts in their mouths in closing moments of the Vuelta a España team time trial on Wednesday, as the squad roared into the final 500 metres of stage 5 ahead of their rivals, but down to just four riders and one of them, Marc Soler, visibly struggling.
Times are taken on the fourth rider across the line, so it was clearly going to be touch and go for holding on together as a unit to take the victory. But Soler did, just, manage to dig deep and stay in contact with his three teammates, with UAE netting the victory by just eight seconds over arch-rivals Visma-Lease a Bike.
As a result, Vingegaard may have regained the top spot overall, but UAE’s co-leaders Juan Ayuso and João Almeida remain very much in the running, both trailing Vingegaard by a scant eight seconds.
“We’re going to really enjoy this one,” Sports Director Joxean Fernández Matxin told Spanish TV afterwards.
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