Vuelta a España leader Ben O'Connor remains upbeat regarding Sunday's ultra-difficult stage through the mountains of northern Spain, with the Australian determined to find the positives despite his off-day on the summit finish of Ancares on Friday.
Over the last week, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider has seen his original GC advantage of nearly five minutes on Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) slashed to just 1:21.
But the Australian remains in red all the same, and as he pointed out after stage 14's uneventful trek to Villablino, he defended himself well on the longer, steadier climbs of Sierra Nevada a week ago, and he hopes to do the same on Sunday.
The question of whether O'Connor delivers a similar performance to Sierra Nevada or one more like Ancares on the 25% slopes of Cuitu Negru is critical for the overall outcome of the Vuelta. So too is the question of how Primož Roglič races on the longer ascents of Asturias after his devastating performance on Ancares: as O'Connor put it, "Everybody is looking at Primoz."
"It's going to be a really hard, important day and I'm looking forward to it," O'Connor said. "I'm more fatigued now than I was a week ago, but at least I'm not sick of being in the heat all the time like I was in the first week."
"We'll have to see how I handle Sunday, I'm staying optimistic because I do like the longer climbs."
While O'Connor's knowledge of the terrain in Galicia was limited, he has more experience of riding in Asturias from previous editions of the Vuelta. That's even if – like the vast majority of the riders in this year's race - he has never tackled the Cuitu Negru, last used by the Vuelta back in 2012.
"I watched the ascent from 2012 the other day with Purito [Rodriguez] and Alberto (Contador), and it looks pretty gnarly. The final part in particular is very steep, but so too is the part before the ski station and the finish."
"I don't know most of the stages we're facing now, but I do know something about racing in Asturias. There are some super-steep gradients, a lot of fog at times and some super-long climbs as well. This one is definitely extremely steep, though, - it reminds me of Col de la Loze."
Also racing the Vuelta, O'Connor's teammate Felix Gall was the last rider to win on La Loze, an Alpine ascent in France used in the 2023 Tour.
It remains to be seen if Gall enjoys the same freedom of manoeuvre he had at Ancares, or if the Austrian, currently running eighth, will instead try to help O'Connor – who was notably isolated at Ancares – on Cuitu Negru.
More than Gall, in any case, the key reference points of stage 15 are likely to be both O'Connor, to see how well he can defend his red jersey, and his arch-rival Roglič.
"Everybody is looking at Primoz," O'Connor agreed, "I can appreciate how strong he was. But as happened in Granada [stage 9] we can't just look at one guy on the climbs. We have to look at everything."
