Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) brought some intrigue to the Vuelta a España on Thursday as he took stage 6 from the break, riding into the red jersey in the process. The bunch let the move get a big gap, and O’Connor later left his breakaway companions behind and pressed on solo. Despite his track record as a two-time top five Grand Tour finisher, the peloton left him with plenty of breathing room out front.
Fellow breakaway riders Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) took second and third on the day.
Accounting for the many bonus seconds he picked up on the day, O’Connor now has an advantage of nearly five minutes over overnight leader Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in the GC standings, and he also now counts stage wins at all three Grand Tours on his career palmares.
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How it happened
- There was a fierce battle to get into the breakaway on the stage from Jerez de la Frontera to Yunquera, with several splits and regroupings in the peloton in the early goings. Nothing really stuck until riders were ascending the Puerto del Boyar with around 110 km to go. O’Connor, Lipowitz, and Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) were among the more prominent names in the escape.
- After the descent off the back of the climb, the pack eased off the pace, and the gap to the escapees steadily grew out to over five minutes. Then, with some 55 km to go, O’Connor and Gijs Leemreize (DSM Firmenich-PostNL) attacked out of the break on the third-category Puerto del Viento. They immediately got a gap, and they worked well together to extend the gap over the ensuing kilometers.
- O’Connor soloed away from Leemreize on the Puerto Martínez, and there would be no catching him from that point on, with his chances further bolstered by the crash of a chasing Frigo in the last 20 km. The pursuing breakaway riders continued to lose ground on the run-in to Yunquera, while the pack seemed content to let O’Connor maintain his big advantage.
- When all was said and done, O’Connor soloed to the win 4:33 ahead of Frigo, with Lipowitz and a few other riders 5:12 back. The bunch came across the line 6:31 down on O’Connor, propelling him straight to the top of the overall standings.
I felt today was just a day to seize my opportunity, and I just laid it all out there, and I felt like I could win this stage from the start. It’s pretty special when you can just go out and crush it like that. I absolutely loved every moment.
—Ben O’Connor after his stage 6 win
Brief analysis
- That the stage would go to a breakaway was hardly a surprise, and the fast start made it clear that plenty of riders were eyeing a long-range move. At one point, even João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was caught behind a split, although he quickly linked back up with the bunch.
- It was noteworthy that Red Bull seemed quite happy to let someone else take the red jersey off of Roglič’s shoulders. The team put Lipowitz into the break and then let Bahrain Victorious and other teams handle the chasing – which meant that the move got a big gap.
- Although there were several strong all-rounders in the escape, O’Connor made it obvious that he was by far the strongest with his attack and the big advantage he built up shortly thereafter. It was clear from a ways out that he would be the day’s winner.
- Even with O’Connor alone off the front by that point, Red Bull still seemed happy to let the Australian keep his big gap. Only a year after Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) laid the foundations of what would ultimately be a GC-winning performance at the Vuelta by getting into an early break, it was certainly an interesting decision from Red Bull that could come back to haunt them.
Up next
The lone categorized climb of stage 7 from Archidona to Córdoba features some steep stuff, at least enough to jettison the sprinters before the finale. It could also be a launching pad for late attacks, though it will take a real effort to hold off any chasers with about 25 km still to race from the top.
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