Soler wins another stage for UAE Emirates, but Vingegaard keeps Spanish Vuelta lead

LA FARRAPONA, Spain (AP) — Marc Soler of Spain won the mountainous 14th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Saturday while Jonas Vingegaard kept the race lead with a week to go.

UAE Emirates, which is without star rider Tadej Pogačar, has now won half of the stages at this year’s Vuelta, including the last four. That already surpasses the six wins by Quick-Step Floors in 2017 for the highest win total for a team this century at the Spanish Grand Tour.

“Fifty percent of the Vuelta, it is amazing,” Soler said about his team’s success.

Soler dropped his last challenger on the final push up the category-one La Farrapona ascent and maintained his distance from Vingegaard’s group with the other title hopefuls.

He finished the 136-kilometer (84-mile) stage — which started in Aviles and took the peloton over the green hills of northern Spain — in 3 hours, 48 minutes. It was the 31-year-old Soler’s fourth stage win at a Vuelta.

Vingegaard, of Visma-Lease a Bike, finished second, barely edging top rival João Almeida at the finish line. The two-time Tour de France winner leads Almeida by 48 seconds. Almeida won the race’s queen stage finishing atop the L’Agliru summit on Friday. Besides Almeida and Soler, Juan Ayuso and Jay Vine have also won stages for UAE, which also won the team time trial.

Israeli team removes name from kit

Israel Premier Tech team started Saturday’s stage wearing new kits without the team name, apparently to reduce the visibility of their riders after they have been repeatedly targeted by pro-Palestinian protests this week.

Several hundred people lined the course in Aviles to wave Palestinian flags and shout at the cyclists and team cars of all the participants.

Stage 15 is a hilly 168-kilometer (104-mile) ride from A Veiga to Monforte de Lemos in northwestern Spain.

The three-week Grand Tour ends in Madrid on Sept. 14.

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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling