A great surprise was given in the sixth stage of the Vuelta a España 2024, where Ben O’Connor gave a blow of authority in Yunquera, taking the solo victory after 185.5 kilometers.
In a great performance, the Australian rider took a spectacular victory with an added value, taking the lead of the race and with a good advantage, more than 4 minutes.
“I felt that today was the day I had to take my chance. Already at the beginning I realized that I could win this stage. It’s very special when it works. In any case, it’s a golden opportunity and I’m going to save all the energy I can. I’m having a kind of déjà vu with respect to the 2021 Tour, when I was also in a similar situation,” the Australian recounted at the end of the stage.
The great feat of the Oceanic rider was built in the first kilometers when a large breakaway was formed with several important men, who worked tirelessly to increase the gap, reaching an advantage of more than 6 minutes, which the favorites could never recover.
The breakaway was made up of Gijs Leemreize (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Mauri Vansevenant (T-Rex Quick-Step), Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Pablo Castrillo (Team Kern Pharma), Urko Berrade (Team Kern Pharma), Jay Vine (UAE Emirates), Chris Harper (Jayco AlUla), Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe).
Ben O’Connor, 28 years old, took over the lead in the general classification of the race and with the current differences could be seriously thinking about giving the surprise and take the title of the Iberian round. The Australian is escorted by the Slovenian Primož Roglič (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) at 4:51.
The best of the Colombians was Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan) in 15th place, who entered with the peloton more than 6 minutes behind the winner. While Rigoberto Urán (EF Education EasyPost) abandoned the race after crashing.
The Spanish race will continue this Friday with the seventh stage, an undulating day of 180.5 kilometers starting in Archidona and finishing in Cordoba, which includes a second-category mountain prize in the final part.
La Vuelta Ciclista a España (2.UWT)
Results Stage 6 | Jerez de la Frontera – Yunquera (185,5 km)
| 1 | O’CONNOR Ben | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 4:28:12 |
| 2 | FRIGO Marco | Israel – Premier Tech | 4:33 |
| 3 | LIPOWITZ Florian | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 5:12 |
| 4 | BERTHET Clément | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ,, |
| 5 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristián | Arkéa – B&B Hotels | ,, |
| 6 | LEEMREIZE Gijs | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | ,, |
| 7 | VANSEVENANT Mauri | Soudal Quick-Step | 5:35 |
| 8 | BERRADE Urko | Equipo Kern Pharma | 6:02 |
| 9 | DEL TORO Isaac | UAE Team Emirates | 6:31 |
| 10 | GAUDU David | Groupama – FDJ | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | O’CONNOR Ben | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 23:28:28 |
| 2 | ROGLIČ Primož | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 4:51 |
| 3 | ALMEIDA João | UAE Team Emirates | 4:59 |
| 4 | LIPOWITZ Florian | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 5:18 |
| 5 | MAS Enric | Movistar Team | 5:23 |
| 6 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristián | Arkéa – B&B Hotels | 5:26 |
| 7 | TIBERI Antonio | Bahrain – Victorious | 5:29 |
| 8 | VAN EETVELT Lennert | Lotto Dstny | 5:32 |
| 9 | GALL Felix | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 5:38 |
| 10 | SKJELMOSE Mattias | Lidl – Trek | 5:49 |
Fuente: Revista Mundo Ciclístico