Ben O'Connor has slowly been losing time throughout the past week at the Vuelta a España but the reality is he continues to lead the race into the final week and only sustained minor losses in Cuitu Negru - the race's hardest climb. The red jersey talks through what was one of he hardest days of the race.
“I was optimistic today. I think I proved the people who expected me to lose the leader’s jersey wrong. I had a pretty good day," O'Connor said in a post-race interview. "It’s a bit of a shame that I kind of exploded at the end. But it was definitely one of the most horrible climbs I’ve ever done, it was disgusting! There was really only one attack, and that was Primoz, super impressive".
O'Connor lost almost two minutes to the Slovenian in Puerto de Ancares, and there even his teammate Felix Gall - who cracked out of GC contention today - did not wait for him. O'Connor's time in the red jersey seemed to be coming to a close with this mythical mountain drawing near, but the truth is he had a strong day and put in another convincing ride. He was the first to respond to Mikel Landa's attack in the lower slopes of the climb; and then held his own in the vicious gradients of the ski station ascent.
“After that, it was really man against man on that climb. You felt like you weren’t going anywhere, you couldn’t see anything because of the fog. It was tough, but I’m still in the lead.” O'Connor lost 38 seconds to Enric Mas and Primoz Roglic on the road, but ultimately only 18 to the Slovenian who was penalized for drafting before the climb. All-in-all, a great day for the Australian; who is perhaps even the biggest winner of the day excluding the surprise stage winner Pablo Castrillo.
“Tomorrow I’m going to try to enjoy the rest day. I’m proud. I’ve been wearing this leader’s jersey for 10 days now and that’s pretty special, it’s almost half the race! I can just be happy with myself, happy with my teammates and I think it's a really magical moment for me," he concluded. He goes into stage 16, finishing at Lagos de Covadonga, with 1:03 minutes over Roglic and a dream that hasn't ended yet.
