Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) climbed his way into the red leader’s jersey with a giant solo ride in the mountains on stage 6 of the 2024 Vuelta a España.
The Australian unseated three-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) from the GC lead with his aggressive efforts in a breakaway and then a solo attack on the Puerto Martinez ascent with 26km to go. O’Connor has now notched the trifecta of Grand Tour stage wins, Thursday’s stage victory his first at the Vuelta to add to wins at both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Roglič came across the line at Yunquera in the peloton 6:31 behind O’Connor, who jumped 22 spots into the lead. Roglič was displaced to second overall, 4:51 behind in the GC standings.
João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) was then bumped from second to third overall, still eight seconds behind the Slovenian but 4:59 back of O’Connor.
Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who was third on stage 6, and Enric Mas (Movistar) completed the top five, with Lipowitz jumping 16 positions to fourth, 5:18 down, and Mas slipping to fifth, 5:23 down.
Another rider making an appearance in the top 10 was Cristian Rodriguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), using his fifth place on stage 6 to move into sixth overall, just three seconds behind compatriot Mas.
Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny), Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) remained in the top 10, but their positions were adjusted several spots. Tiberi is seventh, 5:29 back, Van Eetvelt eighth, 5:32 back, Gall ninth, 5:38 down and Skjelmose 10th, 5:49 off the lead pace.
Mikel Landa (T Rex-QuickStep) dropped out of the top 10, now 12th overall, while Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) moved down to 13th and defending champion Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease A Bike) dropped two spots to 15th, 6:05 back.
Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) suffered the biggest hit among the GC contenders, dropping from 22nd overall to 36th, 9:10 down.
Friday’s stage 7 is a hilly 180.5km from Archidona to Córdoba with a single intermediate sprint that begins a finish loop to the lone classified climb at Alto Del 14%, the descent from the top leaving just 25.5km to the finish.
Vuelta a España standings
Results powered by FirstCycling
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the 2024 Vuelta a España – including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every stage as it happens and more. Find out more.
