Vuelta a España leader Ben O’Connor defiant but troubled by Primož Roglič onslaught

Vuelta a España leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) recognised he had anything but a straightforward day on the lung-burstingly steep final ascent in Cazorla Saturday. The Australian ceded nearly a minute to top pre-race contender Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and saw his overall advantage slashed to just under four minutes.

After the route turned sharply right at the foot of the five-kilometre final climb, O’Connor responded well to Roglič’s initial raising of the pace, and was constantly shadowing the Slovenian until almost halfway up.