A devastatingly highly effective, lengthy breakaway by Ben O’Connor within the Vuelta a España produced one of many greatest upsets of current years, because the Australian pole-vaulted forward of main favorite Primoz Roglič on the overall classification to grab the general lead by almost 5 minutes.
O’Connor had a lot to have fun as he crossed the end line within the small village of Yunqueras excessive within the sierras of Málaga in southern Spain. This was his first win within the Vuelta to finish his set of Grand Tour stage wins, his first-ever Grand Tour chief’s jersey and an general benefit, that after shedding time on the Pico Villuercas summit end, now makes the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale racer a severe contender for general victory.
Beforehand twenty third general, O’Connor’s leap of twenty-two locations on GC due to expertly infiltrating a mid-week break after which going it alone within the final 27 kilometres means he has change into the primary Australian to steer the Vuelta since Rohan Dennis received the opening TT again in 2018.
However the higher comparability is unquestionably that he may very well be the primary Australian to take general victory in a Grand Tour since fellow Perth-man Jai Hindley within the Giro d’Italia again in 2022.
The comparisons with Sepp Kuss in 2023 are inevitable, each when it comes to how O’Connor made it into crimson, and his undoubted skill within the excessive mountains too. However in contrast to Kuss in 2023, O’Connor already has a big observe document in general competition in Grand Excursions, too, taking fourth within the Giro d’Italia this yr and fourth within the Tour de France again in 2021, to not point out seventh within the Vuelta again in 2022.
Requested how he seen his possibilities of profitable, the 28-year-old smiled and stated merely, “Perhaps. It’s a very good hole to have and I’m not so unhealthy on lengthy climbs.
“It’s going to be tough, I didn’t count on to be main this race and it’ll be a brand new expertise for this workforce. So I’m not considering any additional than that. For now I’m going to get pleasure from this second,” he stated.
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“It’s a tremendous alternative and would possibly solely occur as soon as in my profession. So I’m going to like and luxuriate in each single second and take it so far as I can. I’ve received a stage, I’ve obtained the jersey. So now I’ll simply do finest I can for the remainder of this race.”
O’Connor admitted that removed from trying on the GC, his preliminary goal when getting within the break had been to go for a win and full his set of Grand Tour stage victories, and on the identical time put his profession tally of triumphs into double figures, too.
“That was my fundamental purpose, personally, to win a stage. I actually needed to have that little bit of an ego journey, it was all the time on my thoughts. The best way issues performed out right now, it was an aggressive race and we needed to take it from the entrance.”
It was a totally completely different situation, he stated, to the 2021 Giro d’Italia stage to Oropa, the place he had tried to stay with future general winner Tadej Pogačar when the Slovenian star attacked, and misplaced important time in consequence.
“It’s utterly unrelatable, the Pogi day was one with the GC boys, I cracked and exploded. Right now was absolutely the reverse. It took ages for the break to type, it was a super-hard slog of a day, however I used to be chasing a chance and I needed to check if the groups began chasing me down. In the event that they didn’t, it was an ideal alternative.”
Pink Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe actually had let or not it’s recognized that they have been joyful for a break to go. Nonetheless, as lead Sports activities Director Patxi Vila instructed Spanish TV, permitting O’Connor, a transparent GC menace, to achieve a lot time, represented a severe under-estimation of the Australian’s energy.
By the tip of the stage, O’Connor stated, his purpose had switched from merely going for the triumph of the day to seeing how a lot he may acquire for a longer-term purpose and his GC bid.
“All the best way up the final climb I used to be interested by how a lot time I may tackle GC,” he defined. “I knew I used to be going to win the stage after I dropped the man from DSM, and from then on it was all about maximizing time to complete line, what can I do all the best way up.
“In any case,” he added with a smile and maybe referring to Lennert van Eetvelt’s overly early victory celebration within the stage to Villuercas, “it’s all the time finest to not have fun on the finish.”
O’Connor paid a lot shorter shrift to 1 query in regards to the imminent exit of longstanding Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale boss Vincent Lavenu from the squad, saying, “The workforce have stated sufficient about that, I simply wish to get pleasure from my win.”
O’Connor will in any case quickly be leaving the French workforce subsequent yr, too, for Jayco-AIUIa. He was extra forthcoming about his underlying situation and build-up to the Vuelta.
“I all the time knew I used to be good. I haven’t been racing a lot, however I used to be prepared for this race, it was my second goal of my season to have the ability to struggle for this sort of success. And this win simply exhibits how a lot that tough work has paid off.”
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