In the absence of former winners Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde, Movistar's tactics and ambitions for the Vuelta a Espana was going to be a different affair from previous years. In lieu of its two leaders, the team has opted for a stage winning strategy with former Tour de l'Avenir winner Marc Soler taking up the mantle on stage 5.
The 23-year-old, who is making his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta, made his way into the stage 5 breakaway and with the Ermita de Santa Lucía finale suiting his characteristics, Soler believed the win was within his grasp.
"There wasn't any cooperation between the ones in the group when Lutsenko and Haller attacked, I think that was the key for us not being able to contest the win," said Soler.
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Soler ended the stage in third place, 56 seconds down on stage winner Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) and 14 seconds after Merhawi Kudus (Dimension Data).
"It makes you angry to see that a lack of agreement into a group prevents you from winning a Grand Tour stage, but things just went this way, and we'll have to keep trying for the remainder of the race. My legs felt really better today. As I said before, I thought I would be getting into good form with some days of competition, and I'm feeling fine now," he added.
With a further eight summit finishes yet to come in the Vuelta, Soler is anticipating more opportunities to come as he explained.
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