Marc Soler and Julius Johansen take dominant win in Vuelta a Murcia, Tom Pidcock third

Marc Soler won the shortened opening stage of the Vuelta a Murcia. The UAE Emirates XRG rider broke away 38 kilometers from the finish alongside teammate Marc Soler, and the two UAE riders crossed the line with a large lead (one after the other) over the competition. Tom Pidcock was the best of the rest in third place. 

What kind of stage was on the program?
The opening stage of the Vuelta a la Región de Murcia was heavily shortened on Friday due to strong winds. In the end, the stage covered 94 kilometers from Fortuna to Yecla, with the Alto Virgen del Castillo (1.3 kilometers at 7.4%) acting as a tough final test 4 kilometers from the finish.

Who were in the breakaway and what was their lead?
The opening stage featured a strong early break containing Julius Johansen, Marc Soler, Quinten Hermans, Kamil Gradek, Juan Pedro López, Raul Garcia Pierna, Jefferson Cepeda, Luca Paletti, and Héctor Alvárez. Later, Belgian champion Tim Wellens impressively joined the group of nine at the front, which built up a lead of about two minutes.

How did the finale unfold?
Johansen and Soler broke away from the break with 38 kilometers to go, with Wellens doing important work to keep the peloton at bay. The two then rode to victory with a large gap over the peloton, which had caught the rest of the early breakaway by then. However, Soler dropped Johansen in the final kilometers on the Alto Virgen del Castillo.