Molard finished fourth in the 187-kilometre trek to Bilbao, where some unselfish cycling from Groupama-FDJ teammate Jake Stewart helped secure the GC lead despite finishing four seconds behind stage winner Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates).
Fred Wright was Molard’s main threat to the red jersey on the day, though the Bahrain Victorious rider’s third-placed finish could only bring him within two seconds of the Frenchman.
It was a long time coming for Molard, who was forced to abandon the Spanish Grand Tour last year due to a serious accident.
“I had a bad accident, and I didn’t know if I’d make it back,” Molard said after the race.
“Then I got a very severe case of COVID-19, but here I am leading a Grand Tour, it’s a very emotional moment.
“I told my teammates it was possible to do it today and I did it today. It feels so good.”
Getting Molard in red had been the main priority for Groupama-FDJ, and it was the work of Stewart – who also had his eye on the stage win – that made it a reality.
“Once we got Rudy and myself in the breakaway, there was one objective: to get Rudy into red again,”Stewart explained.
“The stage win was also on my mind, and I knew if I could (get) over that final climb towards the front, then I could do a good sprint.
“I got myself ahead before that final climb and I thought I was going to hold them off, but then Soler came flying past me and I could do nothing.”
Despite Soler’s surge to the front, Stewart was still able to impart Molard with some key intel as the breakaway group of 13 tackled the final 70 kilometres.
“With 60km to go to the finish, I said to Rudy, ‘you need to drop Fred, because if not he’ll roll you in a sprint’,” Stewart explained.
“I train a lot with Fred and if I do sprints against him, it’s kind of 60-40 in my favour. So I knew if it came down to a sprint (with Molard), then Fred was going to have it.”
Molard heeded Stewart’s advice in the end, marking Wright tightly on the Gran Via to preserve his slender lead and end his four-year wait for the coveted jersey.
La Vuelta continues tonight with the first big summit finish of the race as the top climbers tackle the Pico Jano. Watch from 10:55pm (AEST) on SBS and SBS On Demand for all the action.
