Ben O’Connor rode himself into the red leader's jersey and completed the Grand Tour stage win hat-trick with victory on stage six of the Vuelta a España on Thursday.
The Australian was initially part of a 13 rider strong breakaway, but pushed on with Gijs Leemreize (dsm–firmenich PostNL) across the hilly terrain in Andalusia with 55 kilometres to the finish. O’Connor was evidently on superb form, and later distanced his Dutch breakaway companion with a stinging attack on the penultimate climb of the day, the category three Puerto Martinez.
After dropping Leemreize, O’Connor didn’t relent and continued to thunder towards the finish knowing that his lead in the red jersey would be huge at the end of the day.
O’Connor will leave his current team, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, at the end of the current campaign after agreeing a move to Jayco-AIUla. But in what will be his last Grand Tour outing for the French registered team he became the 111th man to win stages in all three of professional cycling’s biggest races.
He punched the air with delight as he crossed the line, knowing that he had turned the Vuelta upside down and made a huge statement of intent to his rivals. O'Connor now leads the race by 4:51 ahead of Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in second.
Speaking afterwards, O’Connor said that he felt in his "own world" throughout the stage.
"When the initial group of 30 went, I was a bit disappointed as I thought it was a pretty good opportunity," he said. "So when the race opened up again, I kind of just went for it as I felt today was just a day to really seize my opportunity. I just left 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 there and just absolutely crush it like that, I absolutely loved every moment."
"I was looking at the triple Grand Tour winners, the list of guys who had already done it before this race started," he added. "I’m proud to put my name there on that list and I have the red jersey as well so it’s going to be a once in a lifetime experience maybe so I’m going to enjoy every moment."
When asked if he felt he could now hold the overall lead for a long time, O’Connor shrugged off the question and played down his chances of overall victory.
"Maybe or maybe not," he said. "It depends on how I go, but it’s an excellent opportunity and I’m just going to savour it as much as I can."
How it happened
Thursday began inside a Carrefour, the first time a race had ever begun inside a supermarket.
After a chaotic start to the medium mountain stage, a 13-strong breakaway eventually established itself containing several climbing specialists. The initial move began to shatter as the tempo ramped up on the punchy terrain that featured four categorised climbs on the run to Yunquera.
With 55 kilometres to the finish, an acceleration from Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Gijs Leemreize (dsm–firmenich PostNL) split the lead group wide open and suddenly riders were scattered everywhere between the two riders and chasing peloton.
A three-man chase group was hot in pursuit of O’Connor and Leemreize on the category three Puerto Martinez, but O’Connor and his Dutch breakaway companion didn't let up. O’Connor put in a stinging move two kilometres from the summit which instantly distanced Leemreize from his back wheel.
With 26 kilometres left to ride, Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma) and Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar) were the next riders on the road. Berrade dropped away as the heat took its toll on the Puerto Martinez ascent. O’Connor pushed on, hugely increasing his advantage back to the main field which was well over six minutes, making him the virtual race leader.
The Australian crested the Puerto Martinez with a gap of a minute and a half back to Leemreize, with Frigo not far behind him.
As the chasers thundered down the descent of the climb, Frigo found himself on the floor after overcooking a corner. Meanwhile O’Connor didn't relent and continued to hold his minute advantage over Leemreize, the next man on the road.
O’Connor had 6:35 on the peloton as he began the final climb of the day to Yunquera. With eight kilometres left to ride he had increased his lead over Leemreize by 30 seconds, but he still rode hard knowing that his overall lead in the general classification was increasing.
As he tore into the final kilometre, the Australian had almost a seven minute advantage over the peloton and two on Leemreize. The 28-year-old crossed the line with his arms aloft and flipped the Spanish Grand Tour on its head.
Meanwhile Leemreize faded behind him and was caught by Frigo. The Italian took second place, finishing more than four minutes behind O’Connor, with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) rounding out the top three on the day.
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who led the race coming into stage six, finished 6:31 behind, moving down to second.
Results
Vuelta a España stage six: Jerez de la Frontera > Yunquera (185.5km)
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 04:28:12
2. Marco Frigo (Ita) Israel-Premier Tech, +4:33
3. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:12
4. Clement Berthet (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +5:12
5. Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Arkea-B&B Hotels,
6. Gijs Leemreize (Ned) dsm–firmenich PostNL, at same time
7. Mauri Vansevenant (Bel) T-Rex-Quick-Step, +5:35
8. Urko Berrade (Spa) Kern Pharma, +6:02
9. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates, +6:31
10. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, at same time
General classification after stage six
1. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 23:28:28
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:51
3. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates, +4:59
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:18
5. Enric Mas (Spa) Movistar, +5:23
6. Cristian Rodriguez (Spa) Arkea-B&B Hotels, +5:26
7. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +5:29
8. Lennert van Eetvelt (Bel) Lotto Dstny, +5:32
9. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathon AG2R La Mondiale, +5:38
10. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, +5:49
