Even when Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) nonetheless had the pink jersey on his shoulders this week, he held a clear-eyed view in regards to the overarching purpose of his Vuelta a España. “My essential purpose is to be on that podium in Madrid,” he stated in Vitoria on Thursday. “Whatever place that’s, that’s the purpose.”
And but sporting the chief’s jersey of a Grand Tour is a humorous factor. Some riders are impressed by the expertise, whereas others are inhibited. Few are unmoved, together with O’Connor. At instances throughout his tenure as race chief, the Australian discovered himself lured by the jersey into efforts he maybe shouldn’t have made.
When O’Connor lastly misplaced the jersey to Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe)on the Alto de Moncalvillo on Friday afternoon, his faint hopes of successful the Vuelta went with it, however the purpose of a podium end remained resolutely intact. Now unburdened by the maillot rojo, O’Connor was free to race just a little otherwise on the highway to Picón Blanco on stage 20.
The closing mountain of the Vuelta was a brutal one, and the tempo was fearsome, however O’Connor reduce his material to measure the event. Without the pink jersey on his again, he felt no instinctive compulsion to trace accelerations from Roglič, Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).
Unlike at Cuitu Negru or Lagos de Covadonga, O’Connor felt capable of enable gaps to float open after which steadily sew them again collectively at his personal tempo. The tactic served him properly on a stage received by future teammate Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-Alula), as O’Connor positioned sixth, solely seven seconds behind Mas and 4 down on Roglič.
With simply the ultimate time trial in Madrid to come back, O’Connor stays second general, now 2:02 behind the unassailable Roglič however nonetheless 9 seconds forward of Mas. Most importantly, he nonetheless has a 58-second buffer over the fourth-placed Carapaz after coming residence simply two seconds behind the Ecuadorian. O’Connor, as ever, was refreshingly frank when requested how he did so.
“By being smarter than I used to be the opposite days,” O’Connor stated. “The energy was all the time there, however perhaps I fell into the lure of the pink jersey. It was good to place it collectively at this time, and we had been good ultimately.”
When O’Connor conceded two minutes to Roglič on the Puerto de Ancares on stage 13, his finest climbing lieutenant Felix Gall was inexplicably given the liberty to race in defence of his personal general inserting. Long since out of the hunt for a high 10 end, Gall delivered a pitch-perfect mountain domestique show on Picón Blanco, serving to O’Connor gauge his effort on the climb.
“The boys had been nice, they surrounded me all day and Felix did a fantastic job to tempo the climb, as I most likely ought to have finished the entire race,” stated O’Connor.
“Thanks to all of the boys these final 20 days. I like them to bits. They all the time stepped up once I wanted them. Quite a number of groups tried to make it arduous at this time, I’m happy with all of the boys and proud to complete these 20 days with a superb end result at this time.”
O’Connor is aware of, after all, that the duty isn’t accomplished simply but. There remains to be the matter of a 24.6km time trial in Madrid on Sunday night, the place Mas may properly have sufficient to overtake his deficit. Carapaz, in the meantime, gained precisely a second per kilometre on O’Connor within the opening time trial in Lisbon, and he must choose up greater than 2.3 seconds per kilometre to overhaul the Australian in Madrid.
“Tomorrow is simply me in opposition to the clock, and I’ll purpose to do my finest to be on this podium,” stated O’Connor. “I’m assured, nevertheless it’s biking. I nonetheless must get well and be at my finest tomorrow.”
Get limitless entry to all of our protection of the 2024 Vuelta a España – together with breaking information and evaluation reported by our journalists on the bottom from each stage because it occurs and extra. Find out extra.