Through Alejandro Valverde, Movistar have dominated the Ruta del Sol in recent years, with the Spaniard winning five of the six previous editions of the race. With the 37-year-old skipping the race this season, the door opened for his younger teammate Marc Soler to take up the mantle, and he rose to the challenge via a strong final-day time trial ride to replace teammate Mikel Landa on the final overall podium. Soler, a former Tour de l`Avenir winner, was sixth on the challenging summit finish at La Guardia de Jaén and was sitting in the same overall position ahead of the final-day time trial. The 24-year-old hadn`t raced against the clock since the 2017 Vuelta a España, and in the 2017 Ruta del Sol time trial he had placed 19th. His fifth place in Sunday`s 14-kilometre time trial was an upset of sorts as he also did enough to lift himself into third place overall.ADVERTISEMENT `I`m really happy. This was my first stage race after coming back from the Tour Down Under in Australia, and I`m really satisfied with the result,` Soler said. `I knew I was in good form, really willing to do well, but I`m still a bit surprised that I could beat all of my rivals for the GC podium. I`ve worked hard to improve on time trials, changing some minor details, and it seems like I`m on the right path. TT`s have always suited my conditions; I`m a tall guy with good power for such efforts, even though I`m still lacking some raw technique that I hope to progress on in order to make this a strong part of my abilities.` Soler enjoyed a breakthrough third place overall at the Volta a Catalunya last year behind compatriots Alberto Contador and Valverde. A debut Grand Tour, the Vuelta, then followed later in the year, with Soler finishing in 48th place overall. In 2018, he is aiming to improve on last season`s results and performances and had high praise for his Ruta del Sol teammates for helping him to his third career podium result to lay the foundations for a successful year. ...
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