Filippo Zana battled to a hard-earned second-place finish for Team Jayco AlUla atop the brutal Lagos de Covadonga climb on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España.
The 25-year-old Italian, who helped his teammate Eddie Dunbar to a stage win in the second week of racing, came close to his own success as he finished just 18 seconds off the day’s winner Marc Soler.
Zana was one of 15 riders to jump clear of the peloton after around 30 kilometres of racing, joined by his teammate Felix Engelhardt. The German put in a big effort for Zana on the front of the leading group, helping to manage several attacks that came out of it.
Unfortunately, Engelhardt was dropped by the breakaway when his rear wheel slipped out on a technical and wet descent. Despite the crash, he was able to get back on his bike and keep riding with the peloton behind until the final climb.
At the head of the race, Zana remained firm as attacks whittled down the breakaway group. He was able to match most of the stinging accelerations and was only distanced by Soler inside the final five kilometres.
Today’s super second place adds to the squad’s consistency after Mauro Schmid’s stunning ride to second on stage 13, following a fourth place a day earlier, and Dunbar’s emotional win on stage 11.
Filippo Zana
“It was so hard. At the start [of the stage], I crashed and I have a little pain in my knee but I’m ok. I fought to get into the breakaway and me and Felix got in there. On the final climb, I tried to stay with Soler and Poole and I was going full gas. It is a very good second place and we will see how the other stages are.”
Vuelta a España 2024 stage 16 results
1. Marc Soler 04:44:46
2. Filippo Zana (Team Jayco AlUla) +18
3. Max Poole +23
Photo: Sprint Cycling
