BORA's tactics a 'big gamble' according to Johan Bruyneel at La Vuelta: "O'Connor is a man of three weeks, you cannot underestimate someone like him"

Ben O'Connor has turned the Vuelta a España on it's head on the sixth stage of the race with a breakaway where everything went to perfection. He was the strongest in the group and managed to win the stage; and took advantage of a perfect set of circumstances that saw a lot of hesitation in the peloton to keep the gap in check. Johan Bruyneel also shared his opinion on what many consider a tactical disaster from Red Bull - BORA - hasngrohe on the day where Primoz Roglic may have gotten a new main rival for the race win.

"I think they took a big risk. They calculated it well, but O'Connor was much stronger than expected. He kept gaining time and destroyed the other riders in the leading group," Bruyneel said in 'The Move' podcast. "What I find strange to see is that there is no mutual agreement between the classification teams. When one team started riding, the other stopped again". Bruyneel agrees that Florian Lipowitz' presence in the front group was a justification for the lack of work, but were then stunned at how well the Australian rode the final 60 kilometers, gaining time over the peloton instead of losing despite some work behind.

Bahrain - Victorious, UAE Team Emirates and Movistar all worked briefly but with the lack of steep climbs or truly flat roads, there was never an all-out chase or attacks behind that could really cut down the gap. With BORA refusing to do the same due to Lipowitz gaining time as well on the GC rivals, it led to the peloton taking it rather conservative which saw O'Connor win 6:32 minutes on the road to the big group.

"It is easy to agree that you do not want to lose the race. If you have the ambition to reach the podium, work together. What they (the peloton, ed.) did was not logical. I may be old-school, but in the past we kept our chances intact by making agreements among ourselves," Bruyneel argues. "What they did now was a big gamble in my opinion. O'Connor is a man of three weeks, you cannot underestimate someone like him."

"He now has five minutes and they have to win that back somewhere, on someone who has finished fourth twice in a grand tour. In addition, the big favourites for this race are not exactly riders who gain minutes on competitors. In my opinion it is a big mistake, I hope they don't regret it in Madrid. They have reasons to worry," he concluded.