Ben O'Connor remained untroubled in the seventh stage of the Vuelta a España, maintaining his substantial lead in the general classification. Along the way, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale leader responded strongly to an attempt by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe to put him under pressure.
Despite the massive effort from the previous day, O'Connor felt good throughout the seventh stage. Moreover, he's adapting better to the sweltering conditions in Spain. "It was actually a very easy day until that climb. Then it became an explosive affair. However, I felt really good today, even in the heat. That was much better than earlier this week."
On the final climb, the Alto del 14%, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe pushed hard because of the bonus seconds available at the summit. Roglic took the six seconds, bringing the Slovenian slightly closer in the standings. The gap to O'Connor remains an impressive 4 minutes and 45 seconds. O'Connor wasn't surprised that Roglic went for the bonuses. "I wasn't surprised that Roglic went for those bonus seconds. I actually felt quite comfortable on the climb. It wasn't that explosive. Every second counts, of course, but there's not much I can do against Roglic in a sprint. But he'll need to take a lot more bonuses to catch me," O'Connor concluded with a laugh.
O'Connor faces another challenge on Saturday
On Saturday, the leader of the Vuelta a España can expect another possible offensive from Roglic and his team. The second half of the stage features two climbs: the Puerto Mirador de las Palomas, a second-category climb, and the final ascent to Cazorla. That climb is about six kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.2 percent. The sting is in the tail, though, with the last eight hundred meters rising at nearly ten percent. So, O'Connor will need to brace himself for a serious fight once again.
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