‘Maybe I fell into the trap of the red jersey’ – Ben O’Connor on brink of Vuelta a España podium finish

Even when Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) still had the red jersey on his shoulders this week, he held a clear-eyed view about the overarching goal of his Vuelta a España. “My main aim is to be on that podium in Madrid,” he said in Vitoria on Thursday. “Whatever place that is, that’s the aim.”

And yet wearing the leader’s jersey of a Grand Tour is a funny thing. Some riders are inspired by the experience, while others are inhibited. Few are unmoved, including O’Connor. At times during his tenure as race leader, the Australian found himself lured by the jersey into efforts he perhaps shouldn’t have made.