Professional cyclist Nikias Arndt has moved up to third place overall in the 77th Vuelta. Frenchman Rudy Molard now wears the red jersey.
The 30-year-old finished sixth in Stage 5, 187.2 kilometers from Irun to Bilbao, as part of a breakaway and is now 1:09 behind new overall leader Rudy Molard of France. The Spaniard Marc Soler won the stage in Bilbao, where the Tour de France will start in 2023.
Molard: “It’s fantastic”
“It really means a lot to me. Last year I had to leave the race. This winter it didn’t go well, I couldn’t drive for nine weeks. Being at the top now is fantastic,” said Molard at Eurosport.
The top favorites around last year’s winner Primoz Roglic reached the finish line about five minutes behind. The Slovenian gave up the leader’s red jersey after just one day.
Showdown at Pico Jano
But Roglic could take the lead back on Thursday. Because the first mountain finish of this year’s Tour of Spain is waiting. At the end of the sixth stage over 181.2 kilometers starting in Bilbao it goes up the Pico Jano – to an altitude of 1,134 meters.