Ben O'Connor's time in the red jersey is running out at the Vuelta a España. Tomorrow he should remain safe, but in the Puerto de Ancares today he lost more time and has Primoz Roglic already closeby. The Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider struggled in the final climb in what was another difficult day.
“It wasn’t much today. To be honest, I was dropped early on," O'Connor started out in a post-race interview. “I was pretty exhausted. It’s a shame, but luckily I’m still the leader. That’s good. I had to ride my own pace on the final climb, but that wasn’t much. How will it go in the coming days? Who knows? Today it really didn’t go well, but a few days ago it was still very good. I will now try to recover as best I can and then we will see what happens.”
O'Connor had his team in the head of the peloton throughout most of the day but with a calm pace. There wasn't much of a fight for the breakaway and so O'Connor was able to ride a comfortable pace until Movistar picked it up in the final hour of racing. Then in the final kilometers it was BORA who pushed the pace hard, including the first kilometer of the steep Asturian ascent.
O'Connor was dropped right at the bottom of the steep section and had Felix Gall with him. However at a certain point, the Austrian went on to ride for his own ambitions. O'Connor was overtaken by several riders en route to the summit finish and ended up losing 1:55 minutes to Primoz Roglic. His lead is now only of 1:21 minutes over the Slovenian and in Cuitu Negru this Sunday he may not be able to sustain his position in the GC. Tomorrow into Villablino, the final climb is not steep and so attacks are not expected.
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