"We have to give all the credit to Ben O'Connor" - BORA DS admits failure in tactics which have led to a difficult battle at Vuelta a Espana
Cycling
Stage 6 of the Vuelta a España 2024 caused a 180-degree turn in the established script of the race when Ben O'Connor managed to take the red jersey with a victory from the breakaway that also allowed him to pull almost 5 minutes ahead of Primoz Roglic in the general classification.
The gap, if he were a breakaway man, wouldn't be a concern. But the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider is a rider with a lot of experience in the GC battles, and his 4th places in the Tour de France 2022 and Giro d'Italia 2024 are proof of that. For this reason, the strategy adopted by Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe allowing O'Connor to take so many minutes was not clear to everyone, despite the presence of Florian Lipowitz in the same breakaway.
Although the consensus regarding the strategy failure is general, Patxi Vila, director of the German team, tried to justify the action (or rather inaction) of Red Bull - BORA during the final stretch of the stage. In words for TVE, he explained: "What O'Connor did was incredible. I've rarely seen anything like that," Vila began.
"Then when you see those 5 minutes you say 'well, Movistar Team has started to pull, we have also pulled and you have him 3 minutes away, okay'. But the truth is that it was incredible. The last climb we could see he was coming and we didn't take time off him. In the end we found ourselves with one of those performances of someone you don't expect and it catches you by surprise", he explained.
Then, for Eurosport, he continued with his statements trying to justify what happened: "It has been a hard day, no, very hard. The start was incredible and then the first climb had a lot of movements. We got 'Lipo' (Florian Lipowitz, ed.) in front. We thought he was very close to O'Connor in the general classification and he couldn't hold him off".
"Five minutes is not short, but there's still a lot of Vuelta left and we're going to keep fighting. We have to give all the credit to Ben O'Connor. I thought at the last minute he was going to take a knee and we were going to come in with 3 minutes or so. The breakaway was a breakaway of strength. It was done at a time when we were all giving up, and there was a lot of courage there," he said.
It seems, at least, surprising that a rider like Ben O'Connor, according to Patxi Vila, in Red Bull - BORA did not expect that he could make a performance like yesterday. As already mentioned, the 4th place in the Tour de France two years ago and in the Giro d'Italia this season, you don't have to go very far to know about the Australian's talent, show that the Decathlon rider is a very experienced stage-racer and also has very strong support in this race including Felix Gall who also sits in the Top10.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- 🐐❤️Lozza09-11-2026
- This is such a black eye to women's professional cyclocross if this result remains. Marie Schreiber won this race fairly. This finish is not unlike others in cyclocross. Lots of moving around to get to the finish not to cut anyone off , but to generate a sprint on soft wide tires caked with mud and sand. This is not nearly the same as a road race between two riders sprinting to the finish on faster bikes and thinner firmer tires. The powers in charge need to use some common sense, reverse this result and remember this is Cyclocross not Road racing. Unbelievable. . .Zencycle09-11-2026
- Tis beyond your comprehension fine sir so best not to look on with blind eyes to THE GOATS greatness.
Brucegel09-11-2026 - McNulty winning was beneficial in ensuring the rainbow jersey would not remain winless
Front24209-11-2026 - Eccelente! That's 7 riders in total in Red Bull who come from the devo team, 8 if you include Lipo
Rafionain-Glas09-11-2026 - again, nothing is going to be resolved. it is a discussion board. I simply said I didn't see how MS impeded LBs sprint. the UCI doesn't care about my thoughts, and I am really not that emotionally invested in it.mij09-11-2026
- provoke change, lol. this is a discussion board. nothing is going to change by what I say here. just commenting that it didn't look like MS impeded Brand. beyond that not trying to go too deep.mij09-11-2026
- as excellent as maga rednecks chloe dygert (and quinn simmons)?Ketterechts09-11-2026
- so what i understand is: i left a comment calling out the endless author CVs for being an unnecessary flex of expertise, and you responded by lecturing me (and others) on discrimination and value systems. hats off to you. you definitely lost me!Ketterechts09-11-2026
- I just love the flood of Americans into the top ranks of world cycling. In addition to being studs on the bike, they all seem to be excellent emissaries for our country.Occam09-11-2026
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Patxi Vila (@PatxiVila), director del @RBH_ProCycling: "Lo que ha hecho O'Connor ha sido increíble. Pocas veces he visto algo así" #LaVuelta24 #VueltaRTVE22A
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