Nat Bromhead
Primoz Roglic has won the 2024 Vuelta Espana, the Slovenian proving too strong for the field and taking home his 4th Vuelta title.
Fantastic for Primoz, but in news we are far more thrilled about Ben O’Connor has enjoyed his most successful grand tour ever, the 28yo West Australian finishing second overall.
Fellow Aussies Jay Vine and Kaden Groves also blitzed the race. Vine – who just three months ago was recovering from injuries in ICU – won the Polka Dot jersey while Groves brings home the Green sprint jersey.
O’Connor’s second place is wonderful news for new team Jayco-Alula, the Aussie outfit now looking to the 2025 season with renewed optimism thanks to their new recruit’s success.
“I expected to be good (in this race) because I knew I was, but not second overall,” said an elated O’Connor after the final stage.
“It’s a bit of a dream, I have been close before, but to get it now is such an amazing thing,” he continued.
Describing what the Grand Tour podium finish meant to him, O’Connor said “I think it’s about picking your moments in Grand Tours and that’s probably the key takeaway.” He went on to tell media that finishing second to four-time winner Primoz Roglic was ‘like a win’ to him.
“I was surprised I could get to Stage 19 in the red jersey. It’s pretty nice to have the feeling that one day that you could maybe win a Grand Tour,” he said. “That’s something I’d probably have found unrealistic before, especially after the Giro. So to be so close here is pretty special.”
Earlier: West Australian Ben O’Connor still leads the Vuelta in Spain, but after Stage 16 his lead has been whittled down to just 5 seconds.
Having held the jersey for 11 days now – a record for any Australian, O’Connor is one of three Australians to currently hold a leader’s jersey. The others are Kaden Groves (the green jersey) and Jay Vine, the polka dot.
“I was pretty worn at the finish,” O’Connor said, before thanking teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre who worked hard for his leader.
“Valentin was really, really strong today, I’m grateful for him to be back like he was on the Giro. Everyone on our team is super proud, it’s been an experience that we really haven’t had before.
“To have 11 days in the red jersey already so far has been a pretty sweet experience for us all.”
La Vuelta continues tonight with Stage 17. Our prediction is this – Ben will again retain the jersey and we wish him all the best in doing so.
Earlier: Ben O’Connor will enter the final week of the Vuelta a Espana with a lead of just over a minute.
Now in the red jersey for more than a week, O’Connor is 1min 03sec ahead of second-placed Primoz Roglic who has slowly been eating into the Australian’s lead.
Roglic did get to 43 seconds from O’Connor as Stage 15 finished, but was penalised 20 seconds for drafting during the stage.
Spain’s Pablo Castrillo pushed through thin mountain air, cloud and immense pain to win the brutal stage that included grades to 25%.
Earlier Ben O’Connor maintains his solid Vuelta lead after the Queen stage of the race, the brutal stage 9 with its straight up finish.
O’Connor is just under 4-minutes ahead of an in-form Primoz Roglic with the two-man battle making this one of the standout showdowns of the year.
Making an extra 4-seconds at the end of Stage 9, O’Connor was in sensational form as he worked hard to defend his lead.
Now in the Red jersey for three days, O’Connor remained in the Stage 6 breakaway to earn his then 4min 45sec race lead.
“I felt like I was all alone in the world today,” he said from the podium.
“When the first group left, I was a bit disappointed not to be there, because it was a good opportunity. But when the race started again, I slipped into the breakaway. I felt it was a day full of great opportunities, and I had the feeling all along that I could win the stage.
“It was special to dominate like that, and I loved every moment of it,” continued O’Connor. “Before La Vuelta, I was looking at the list of winners of three Grand Tours, and I’m proud to add my name to that list. Wearing this red jersey is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I’m going to savor every moment.”
Ben O’connor has now enjoyed stage victories in all three Grand Tours, after the Giro d’Italia in 2020 and the Tour de France in 2021.
More to come.
