Marc Soler wins windy opening stage at Vuelta a Murcia in UAE masterclass

Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) soloed to victory on the opening stage of Vuelta a Murcia finishing in Yecla.

The 32-year-old Spanish rider had formed a tandem with Danish teammate Julius Johansen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), having been part of the original breakaway, and the duo managed to stay clear for the entire stage, which was impacted significantly by the wind. 

On the final steep climb to Alto Virgen del Castillo with less than 5km from the finish, Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) launched an impressive attack, distancing the chase group that had been reduced to just 10 riders following the windy conditions. 

However, despite the impressive ride from the British rider, Soler was too far in front, and the Spanish rider had more than enough to celebrate the eleventh victory of his professional career. 

Johansen battled to a strong second place at 0:19, whilst Pidcock came home as best of the rest in third at 0:40, a positive season opener for the British rider, taking time on the rest of the chasers who finished at 1:02. 

The stage from Cartagena to Yecla was originally going to be 178.5km in length, but was reduced on Friday morning to 83.5km amid safety concerns over high winds in the area.

On a lumpy opening to the reduced stage, new UAE rider Benoît Cosnefroy was active with an early attack, but the Frenchman wouldn’t be part of a strong nine-man breakaway that formed, although two of his teammates would. 

The riders in the break included Héctor Álvarez (Spain), Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda, Raúl García Pierna and Juan Pedro López (Movistar), Kamil Gradek (Bahrain-Victorious), Quinten Hermans (Pinarello-Q36.5), Julius Johansen and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and Luca Paletti (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber). 

Belgian champion Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched his way across to the breakaway and would join the group.

With under 40km remaining, the UAE duo of Johansen and Soler jumped clear from the rest of the breakaway, and built up an advantage of around 0:40 over the chasers over the next 20km whilst the peloton was at over 1:00.

The peloton began to split inside the final 20km as the wind continued to play its part, with Bahrain-Victorious and Pinarello-Q36.5 at the head of the bunch. The second chase group was swept up by the peloton with 17km remaining. 

With 10km remaining, the front chase group was reduced to 10 riders including Álvarez (Spain),  Igor Arritea, Cosnefroy and Wellens (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Alessandro Borgo, Pello Bilbao, Kamil Gradek and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious), Matyáš Kopecký (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5).

Soler left Johansen behind with 4.5km remaining at the foot of the final climb, while Pidcock pushed the pace behind, distancing the chasers, but Soler still had over 1:00 when he crested the summit with 3.4km remaining before a technical descent to the finish. 

Ultimately, Soler had plenty of time in hand to enjoy the victory, and Johansen was also able to hold off a charging Pidcock to take a well-deserved second place, with the British rider in third.