At long last, Ben O’Connor’s custody of the red jersey at the Vuelta a España has ended. Thirteen stages and just over two weeks since first taking it from Primož Roglič following a stunning, career-defining solo breakaway win at Yunquera, the Australian today handed it back to that same man after being dropped on the summit finish of Alto de Moncalvillo. Having chipped away at the lead throughout the past two weeks, so much so that it had fallen from 4:51 to a mere five seconds, this passing of the jersey to Roglič had begun to feel inevitable. And, indeed, the Slovenian now leads the race by a comprehensive 1:54 with an early attack on the climb that dropped not just O’Connor but every other rival.
While his dreams of holding on all the way to Madrid and claiming overall victory had been diminishing fast since being badly dropped on Puerto de Ancares last week, O’Connor’s time in the red jersey has nevertheless been one of the central stories that has made this Vuelta such a thrilling race.
This scenario, of an outsider surprisingly taking a big lead in the GC and attempting to limit their losses and defend the jersey from hoards of increasingly panicky top favourites, does not happen too often at Grand Tours – but when it does, the racing is always memorable. Just think back to the 2019 Tour de France, when Julian Alaphilippe carried the dreams of a nation when he defied the odds to wear the yellow jersey up until stage 19 when he succumbed to Egan Bernal. Or further back still, to 2011, when one of cycling’s great entertainers and personalities, Thomas Voeckler, gurned his way into a ten stage-stint in yellow before finally reaching his waterloo at the point, stage 19.
The 2010 Giro d’Italia was also one of the most exciting Grand Tours of this century, and again shaped by a lack of control and dangerous break gaining over twelve minutes during the second week. First, a young Richie Porte held the pink jersey, then the steady but unspectacular David Arroyo, before a tense battle over the rest of the race until he eventually ceded it to Ivan Basso on — you guessed it — stage 19. And whereas all of these cases ended in heartbreak for the underdog, in 2006, Oscar Pereiro did succeed in winning the Tour de France following a similar big mid-race breakaway (albeit only retrospectively, when Floyd Landis was disqualified for doping).
All of these were memorable for the spectacle of an underdog digging in deep…