Vuelta a España chief Ben O’Connor stays upbeat concerning Sunday’s ultra-difficult stage by way of the mountains of northern Spain, with the Australian decided to search out the positives regardless of his off-day on the summit end of Ancares on Friday.
Over the final week, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider has seen his authentic GC benefit of almost 5 minutes on Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) slashed to only 1:21.
But the Australian stays in crimson all the identical, and as he identified after stage 14’s uneventful trek to Villablino, he defended himself nicely on the longer, steadier climbs of Sierra Nevada every week in the past, and he hopes to do the identical on Sunday.
The query of whether or not O’Connor delivers an analogous efficiency to Sierra Nevada or yet one more like Ancares on the 25% slopes of Cuitu Negru is crucial for the general end result of the Vuelta. So too is the query of how Primož Roglič races on the longer ascents of Asturias after his devastating efficiency on Ancares: as O’Connor put it, “Everybody is Primoz.”
“It’s going to be a very laborious, vital day and I’m trying ahead to it,” O’Connor stated. “I’m extra fatigued now than I used to be every week in the past, however no less than I’m not sick of being within the warmth on a regular basis like I used to be within the first week.”
“We’ll need to see how I deal with Sunday, I’m staying optimistic as a result of I do just like the longer climbs.”
While O’Connor’s data of the terrain in Galicia was restricted, he has extra expertise of using in Asturias from earlier editions of the Vuelta. That’s even when – just like the overwhelming majority of the riders on this 12 months’s race – he has by no means tackled the Cuitu Negru, final utilized by the Vuelta again in 2012.
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“I watched the ascent from 2012 the opposite day with Purito [Rodriguez] and Alberto (Contador), and it appears to be like fairly gnarly. The ultimate half specifically could be very steep, however so too is the half earlier than the ski station and the end.”
“I do not know many of the levels we’re going through now, however I do know one thing about racing in Asturias. There are some super-steep gradients, quite a lot of fog at occasions and a few super-long climbs as nicely. This one is unquestionably extraordinarily steep, although, – it jogs my memory of Col de la Loze.”
Also racing the Vuelta, O’Connor’s teammate Felix Gall was the final rider to win on La Loze, an Alpine ascent in France used within the 2023 Tour.
It stays to be seen if Gall enjoys the identical freedom of manoeuvre he had at Ancares, or if the Austrian, at the moment operating eighth, will as an alternative attempt to assist O’Connor – who was notably remoted at Ancares – on Cuitu Negru.
More than Gall, in any case, the important thing reference factors of stage 15 are more likely to be each O’Connor, to see how nicely he can defend his crimson jersey, and his arch-rival Roglič.
“Everybody is Primoz,” O’Connor agreed, “I can recognize how sturdy he was. But as occurred in Granada [stage 9] we won’t simply take a look at one man on the climbs. We have to have a look at all the pieces.”