Yunquera. Ben O’Connor turned the Vuelta a Espana on its head on Thursday when the Australian raced to a comfortable lead on the mountainous sixth stage.
O’Connor snatched the red leader’s jersey from Primoz Roglic and moved four minutes and 51 seconds ahead of the three-time Vuelta winner.
“I felt a little bit like I was in my own world,” O’Connor said of her big day. “I took advantage of the opportunity and gave it my all. It’s really special when you hit it off right from the start.”
The Australian, from the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale team, left the other riders behind as they broke away and basically charged through the final 28 kilometres alone via two of the three category climbs in the intense sunshine. He completed the 185.5 kilometres from Jerez and Frontera to Yunquera in southern Spain in four hours and 28 minutes.
The closest challenger was Marco Frigo, who crossed the finish line 4:30 minutes later, and the peloton, which included Roglic, arrived 6:30 minutes behind the winner.
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates), third in the general classification (4:59), replied “of course” when asked if he was worried about the Australian.
O’Connor becomes the first Australian rider to win stages at all three Grand Tours, having already won in the past at the Giro d’Italia (Madonna di Campiglio, 2020) and the Tour de France (Tignes, 2021).
Meanwhile, Mexican Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) continues to climb positions, finishing in ninth place in the sixth stage and remaining the best representative of Latin America. In the general classification, the Baja Californian is in 19th place.
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– 2024-08-23 02:20:09
