“I’m still just trying to get over it” – Oscar Onley battles through lingering illness to boost White Jersey control ahead of crucial Vuelta mountain showdown

Oscar Onley strengthened his control of the White Jersey on Stage 7 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana despite admitting that he is still feeling the effects of the illness that struck earlier in the race.

The Netcompany INEOS leader finished alongside Primoz Roglic and Sepp Kuss at Aramon Valdelinares, conceding 29 seconds to another late acceleration from Tadej Pogacar but retaining sixth place overall at 6:06.

More significantly, Onley increased his advantage in the youth classification from only three seconds to 3:48.

Ramses Debruyne had begun the stage immediately behind Onley after his breakaway heroics one day earlier, but fell away on the final ascent. Jakob Omrzel consequently moved into second in the White Jersey standings, with Onley taking a considerably healthier advantage towards Sunday’s summit finish on the Alto de Aitana.

Onley’s position improved despite another day on which he could not access his best physical level. He became ill on Stage 4 but limited his losses before attempting to follow Pogacar’s acceleration on the gravel climb to El Bartolo one day later.

That effort contributed to cramps and a difficult finale on Stage 6. Although Onley avoided a repeat at Aramon Valdelinares, he acknowledged that recovering completely while continuing to race a Grand Tour is proving difficult.

“I got sick on Stage 4 and I’m still just trying to get over it,” Onley told official Vuelta media. “It’s getting better each day, but it’s quite hard to recover in a Grand Tour.”

The 23-year-old is now targeting a return to full strength before the next major GC test. “I’m starting to feel better each day and hopefully by Sunday it should be alright.”

Stage 8 offers the overall contenders a less demanding route into Xeraco before the race climbs to Alto de Aitana on Sunday. That summit finish should provide a clearer indication of whether Onley has recovered sufficiently to defend his place among the leading GC riders.

Stage 7 was won from the breakaway by Andreas Leknessund, who led home Uno-X teammate Tobias Halland Johannessen before Wout van Aert completed the podium. The winning move survived after forming during a chaotic opening phase and spending almost the entire stage ahead of the peloton.

“What Andreas and Wout did was really impressive,” Onley said. “They went from kilometre zero and then stayed away the whole day, with a few others bridging across to them.”

Rather than being defined by one severe ascent, the route placed the riders under sustained pressure throughout the afternoon. “It was a strange stage with a lot of uphill and not much downhill, but not such hard climbs, just on the pedals all the time,” Onley explained. “It still went hard up the last climb. To be honest, I don’t really know how to describe it, but it was hard to really go deep today. When there’s a group up the road, I didn’t feel the best in the final.”

Onley nevertheless survived the final acceleration better than several of his younger rivals and remains within 16 seconds of fifth-placed Kuss. His recovery is not yet complete, but he will begin the decisive Alto de Aitana stage with sixth place overall and substantially greater control of the White Jersey.