Primoz Roglic takes red jersey from Ben O'Connor with dominant Stage 19 win at Vuelta a Espana

Updated 06/09/2024 at 18:59 GMT

Ben O'Connor's heroic stint in the red jersey is over after Primoz Roglic completed his hunt of the Australian at the Vuelta a Espana. O'Connor had led the race by 4'51" after his mesmerising solo victory on Stage 6 but has since seen his lead chiselled away, culminating in Roglic taking over top spot in the standings after an impressive solo win on Stage 19 atop the Alto de Moncalvillo.

Stage 19 highlights: Roglic soars to victory as O'Connor's reign in red ends

The cream came to the top of the Alto de Moncalvillo as Primoz Roglic ended Ben O’Connor’s gutsy 13-day reign in red with an emphatic Stage 19 win that puts the Slovenian firmly in the driving seat for a record-equalling fourth Vuelta a Espana crown.

After an expert lead-out by his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team-mates on the lower slopes of the final climb, Roglic rode up the road in pursuit of the 40th red jersey of his career and never looked back.

“I've had some really nice memories from this climb and it didn’t disappoint me again – beautiful,” said 34-year-old Roglic, who previously won on the Alto de Moncalvillo in 2020.

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Colombian Dani Martinez and the Russian Aleksandr Vlasov set such an infernal pace at the start of that climb that the trio of Red Bull riders surged clear of the other favourites with 6km remaining.

Martinez and then, after one last huge pull, Vlasov peeled off as Roglic continued on his quest for the 15th stage win of his illustrious Vuelta career. Enric Mas (Movistar) led the chase on his own but the Spaniard cracked near the summit and was passed in the closing moments by Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Denmark’s Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek).

'We don’t listen, we push' – Roglic exposes team split after taking red jersey

Australian race leader O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) rallied but was ultimately distanced by the chase group and crossed the line almost two minutes in arrears in 12th place. Entering the stage five seconds clear of Roglic, O’Connor is now 1’54” seconds down in second place and faces a huge battle to defend his position on the final podium.

Two riders will now look to pile the pressure on O’Connor on the final weekend with Mas 2’20” down on GC in third and Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) in fourth at 2’54” – exactly one minute behind the Australian.

“I was a bit broken in the end there,” O’Connor admitted after the 168km stage from Logrono in northern Spain. “I actually felt pretty good until about halfway [up the climb] and then, yeah, Stage 19, I guess. I wasn’t really surprised but I didn’t expect myself to be so bad at the end. But I guess that’s the reality.”

O'Connor looking forward to 'beers on the terrace' after losing red jersey

Asked what he’s now looking forward to now his long reign in red has come to an end, the Australian said: “Monday and having beers and sitting on the terrace and relaxing.”

Twice fourth in a Grand Tour, O’Connor reiterated his desire to land a career-first podium, adding: “I tried today but didn’t really do my best work, but there’s still tomorrow and two more big days.”

“Big” does not really do Saturday’s Stage 20 justice, with six categorised climbs preceding the final slog up to Picon Blanco. The Vuelta will then conclude on Sunday, not with the usual sprint stage in the Spanish capital but with a 24.6km time trial around Madrid.

Another fast and furious opening saw the battle to make the day’s breakaway take the best part of an hour before five riders – Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victrorious), Vito Braet and Simone Petilli (both Intermarche-Wanty) – were finally given some leeway.

The gap ballooned to a maximum five minutes as Argentinian veteran Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny) struggled to bridge over in no-man’s land, eventually throwing in the towel ahead of the first climb of the day, the Cat. 3 Puerto de Pradilla.

Australia’s Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) crashed badly in the peloton and needed medical assistance, making his bid to win the polka dot jersey on Saturday that little bit harder. Vine currently trails team-mate Marc Soler by one single point in the KOM standings with the best part of 50 points up for grabs during Stage 20.

Some hefty pacing by Red Bull and Movistar on the descent of the climb strung the peloton out and caused a split, with Mikel Landa – the Soudal Quick-Step rider who dropped from fifth to 10th on Thursday – caught on the wrong side.

But the peloton soon reformed ahead of the final climb, by which time that five-man move had been brought to heel despite Miholjevic’s last throw of the dice to defy the inevitable.

Red Bull once again took the bull by the horns on the Alto de Moncalvillo with a thunderous pace that made any other attacks impossible. One by one they peeled off before Martinez took over the reins and pulled so hard that he managed to extricate himself, Vlasov and Roglic clear of the other GC favourites.

'Adieu!' - Red Bull trio break free on final climb as Roglic sets off after red jersey

As O’Connor dug deep after an early wobble, it was Carapaz who led the counter-surge with a rasping attack inside the final 5km. But the Ecuadorian quickly bit off more than he could chew and it was Mas who came through to take the fight to Roglic.

Three times a runner-up in his native Grand Tour, Mas came to within 20 seconds of Roglic with 3km remaining but was unable to sustain his efforts all the way to the finish. Behind, O’Connor fought back into a select chase group alongside the likes of Carapaz, Gaudu, Skjelmose, Landa and the white jersey of Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers).

But once the jostling for positions begun, O’Connor was unable to keep up as the efforts of defending the red jersey for a fortnight caught up with him.

Mas, too, hit a wall and missed out on the bonus seconds on the line as Gaudu powered past with Skjelmose to come home 46 seconds down on the stage winner and new race leader, Roglic.

Skjelmose’s late rally to take third saw the Dane rise to sixth place and into the white jersey at the expense of Rodriguez, who finished in sixth – behind Landa and ahead of Ireland’s Stage 11 winner Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla).

A lead of 1’54” ahead of the final weekend puts Roglic in a superb position to draw level with Roberto Heras’ record of four Vuelta wins. But the Slovenian will be only too aware of the pitfalls of a late time trial, having famously lost the 2020 Tour de France in the decisive race against the clock at La Planche des Belles Filles.

Asked whether he felt he had already done enough to win the Vuelta again, Roglic said: “Not really. The big queen stage is still to come tomorrow – and we don’t do the normal laps in Madrid, we do a time trial, so it’s far from done. I’m happy with how I am functioning and I’m happy with the guys.”

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