From Carrefour to heaven. That was the route on Thursday of Ben O’Connor, Australian from Decathlon AG2R, superhero on the bike, king of chaos, runner of Marvel who blew up the race in one fell swoop and turned the Vuelta upside down. So much so that, suddenly, he is already the favourite to be crowned in Madrid. More than anything because his adequacy was reflected in the stopwatch, since he arrived with a 6 minute and 31 second advantage over the favourites (he is now the leader with 4m 51s over the second classified, the disoriented Roglic). An allegory on wheels that destroyed the peloton, Sepp Kuss lookalikes in the previous year –also in the sixth stage–, since in Javalambre he took half the time over the contenders for the crown and with that he was able to take the crown. He does not have the same team supporting him, but the time is such that Roglic, Mas, Almeida and company start to tremble, disconcerted because they will have to be something more than kryptonite for O’Connor. “I could win the Vuelta, it’s a great opportunity, one of the best of my races. I’ll do my best to get it,” the rider concluded after the stage, smiling as always, happy as ever.
It all started in Jerez de la Frontera, with people excited to see the cycling caravan and several of the epoch-making riders, which created a huge uproar, a huge mess. Exasperating traffic, blocked streets, cars and more cars, people and more people, ultimate chaos. 10 kilometres were covered in an hour. But those who arrived on time at the Carrefour Jerez Sur, who were thousands, enjoyed a sensational party, to the point that the music was thunderous –Wild Filly of Isabel Aaiún took the cake – while the speaker The crowd was lively, then there was background noise because the buses had arrived and the imperative was to collect a bottle, cap or whatever, because it is free. Once the stress was over, since it was difficult to walk without elbowing each other, the cyclists started from the supermarket, a sponsorship thing, you know. Although nothing new in a Vuelta that always tends to surprise with the starts, since it has been done from inside the aircraft carrier Juan Carlos I in Cadiz, from a raft in Vilanova de Arousa, from a walkway over the sea in Barcelona or from the cathedrals of Burgos and Breda (Netherlands), also from a mountain of salt, from a Roman amphitheater in Nimes (France) or, even, from San Mamés. But few were as sheltered by the people as the one at Carrefour. It also happened that the hubbub at the start extended during the race.
Chaos theory explains that small variations in initial conditions can imply great differences in future behaviour, making long-term prediction impossible. That is why the peloton was eagerly awaiting the stage, as it was known that the orographic profile could be a boost for breakaways. Four mountain passes, the first one of first category and the rest of third, an endless number of curves, a narrow road and unevenness to the max that validated the ambitions. So from the start there were attacks, selfless starts without reward because there were many who joined the party. It was, however, a matter of time, the time left to reach the foot of Puerto del Boyar, the first summit of the day. O’Connor was sharpening his fangs.
One, two, three, four… and up to 33 riders opened a gap with the peloton, which was still trying to regroup. But the natural selection of the strongest left the bunch at 13 cyclists with important names such as Jay Vine and Del Toro (UAE), Arensman (Ineos), Lipowitz (Bora)… And, above all, Ben O’Connor, who had much more in his legs and in his head, who would detonate the stage as rarely happens.
He waited for the second climb, with the group once again breaking up. It was a matter of picking the petals off the daisy. And the Australian found out that yes, the mountains of the Malaga region wanted him. Cliffs of ochre earth and limestone, a narrow and winding road, some hidden pine forests and, above all, a good and great show. The Australian took off and everyone suffered, even though Leemreize (DSM) was able to catch up with him. It didn’t last long, because as had happened before with Frigo (Israel) and Pelayo (Movistar), Leemreize also broke down in the attempt to chase him. There was no one. It was time for O’Connor, the cyclist who has also won in the Giro (2020) and the Tour (2021). He still had this notch in the Vuelta to sign and he did it well. “That was the goal,” agreed the Australian; “to win a stage because it is very nice to achieve it in the three big ones. I don’t know why people thought I was in bad shape and the Vuelta was the second goal of the season. It was worth the effort.”
O’Connor descended the mountain at lightning speed and climbed third at a pace that would take your breath away, because when he reached the top he was more than six minutes ahead of a peloton that was not reacting, something strange for Roglic’s Bora, chipped and disoriented, tactically unbalanced and blushing from his lack of fight. But, once again, there was nothing to be done against the candor of O’Connor, who climbed the Alto de las Abejas with the same ferocity, with the same pedaling cadence, flus, flus, flus and catch me if you can. Or, cut me off. Because they couldn’t even do that. “On the last climb, I was only thinking about how much of an advantage I could get in the general classification. I knew I would win the stage.” It was a lot. It was an ode to cycling, an Australian song, a show bowler hat. It was, quite simply, O’Connor.
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