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O’Connor was part of an early breakaway during the 185.5-kilometre journey to Yunquera but found himself flying solo with 28 kilometres remaining.
The Decathlon-AG2R rider was inexplicably left to his own devices before powering home in emphatic fashion, finishing four minutes and 33 seconds ahead of second-placed Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech), with Florian Lipowitz (Red-Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) in third.
Such was O’Connor’s dominance, the Australian leapt 22 places in the general classification and now holds the red jersey by 4’51” ahead of previous leader and three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
“It was beautiful racing all around,” O’Connor said after the stage.
“I was looking at the triple Grand Tour winners, and the list of guys that have done it, before this race started and now my name is on that list."
“I’m going to enjoy every moment,” he added.
The sixth stage of the Spanish Grand Tour started, of all places, inside a Carrefour supermarket in the south of Spain, where the 176 riders would depart for a day Roglic’s team would later admit “got out of hand”.
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La Vuelta 2024
series • cycling
series • cycling
“Things didn’t play out as we wanted,” said Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe sports director Patxi Vila.
“The start was really fast-moving and the break of the day was a really strong one. (Lipowitz) was in there, and we thought he would have no problem staying with Ben and we’d get another option on GC.”
Instead, the German team will now need to arrest a near five-minute gap to O’Connor, starting with Stage 7’s hilly stage to Cordoba.
