Ben O’Connor completes Grand Tour trilogy, takes red with daring Vuelta raid

Australia’s Ben O’Connor has completed the set of Grand Tour stage wins and moved into the overall lead after a gutsy solo breakaway on stage 6 of the Vuelta a España.

The West Australian from Fremantle, riding for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, attacked the rolling 185-kilometre stage with intent and power. After putting himself into the day-long breakaway that formed with 115km to go, O’Connor proved the strongest of the group.

He forged clear with over 60km remaining, joined temporarily by Dutchman Gijs Leemreize, whom he dropped with 27km to go.

That left O’Connor free to fly solo, stomping on the pedals all the way to the uphill finish line in Yunquera, near Málaga in southern Spain.

Photo: Unipublic / Cxcling / Naike Ereñozaga

“I felt a little bit in my own world today,” O’Connor said in the post-race interview.

“I felt today was just a day to seize my opportunity. I just laid it all out there. I felt like I could win this stage from the start.

“It’s pretty special we can go out there and crush it like that. I absolutely loved every moment.”

The emphatic win means O’Connor has completed the ‘trilogy’ of a stage win at all three Grand Tours. He won mountain stages at the Tour de France in 2021 and the Giro d’Italia in 2020, both also from the breakaway.

Caleb Ewan, Michael Matthews, Simon Gerrans and Rohan Dennis are the only other Australian men to have achieved the feat.

“I enjoyed today a lot. It was beautiful racing all round. I was looking at the triple Grand Tour winners, the list of guys who have done it, before this race started, so I’m proud I’ve put my name there on that list,” O’Connor said.

O’Connor had started the day in 23rd place overall, nearly two minutes behind race leader Primož Roglič. By finishing an astonishing 6 minutes and 30 seconds ahead of the peloton, O’Connor has taken the leader’s red jersey and bolted into contention for the overall win in two weeks’ time.

In part, O’Connor’s colossal time gain seemed to be a miscalculation by his rivals. Roglič, a three-time winner of La Vuelta, had said he was willing to gift the red jersey to a non-threatening rider at this early stage of the tour. This is a common tactic to spare the race favourite from the fatigue of daily media commitments.

Photo: Unipublic / Sprint Cycling Agency

O’Connor – who has previously finished fourth overall at the Tour and the Giro– is hardly non-threatening. After time bonuses, the Aussie climber now leads the race by an enormous 4:51 over Roglič, with Portugal’s João Almeida in third.

However, the 28-year-old played down his chances of defending the lead all the way to Madrid. He will have memories of the 2021 Tour de France, where he slipped off the overall podium after being as high as second place.

“I guess I have the red jersey as well. It’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, maybe, so I’m going to enjoy every moment,” O’Connor said.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” he said when asked about holding the jersey through the high mountains to come. “Depends how I go in Cazorla, Granada, but it’s an excellent opportunity and I’m just going to savour it as much as I can.

“Maybe it’s a bit like déjà vu from the Tour de France, but without a crash to start, so it’s kind of cool.”

O’Connor’s long-range victory is the second Australian stage win at this Vuelta, coming four days after Kaden Groves won the bunch sprint on stage two.

Results - Stage 6

1. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) 4:28:12
2. Marco Frigo (Israel - Premier Tech) +4:33
3. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA – Hansgrohe) +5:12

Overall standings after Stage 6

1. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) 23:28:28
2. Primož Roglič  (Red Bull - BORA – Hansgrohe) +4:51
3. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +4:59

Points classification after Stage 6

1. Wout van Aert (Team Visma - Lease a Bike) 158 points
2. Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 145 points
3. Pavel Bittner (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) 81 points

Feature photo: Unipublic / Sprint Cycling Agency