It’s just a matter of stages, perhaps even tomorrow, before the hierarchy at the Vuelta a España resumes its natural order. Which, for anyone watching the race since 2019 will attest to, is Primož Roglič at the top of the general classification. Eight days on from gifting Ben O’Connor a near-five minute advantage in the red jersey, Roglič has cut his deficit to 1:21 with a week still to go, brutally wiping one minute and 55 seconds off O’Connor’s lead on the steep Puerto de Ancares on stage 13.
Roglič had taken healthy-sized chunks out of the gap between him and O’Connor on stages 8 and 11, but on Friday, at altitudes north of 1,500m and on the border that straddles three northern provinces, he sliced a devastating amount of time out of O’Connor’s dream. In having to claw back several minutes, we’ve been privy to an angry, impatient and insatiable Roglič, one who has had to ditch his tried, tested and preferred method of uphill finish line sprints, and instead engage his boy racer, going from afar, turning the screw earlier and not releasing the accelerator until he’s pressed stopped on his head unit.
Just after fellow veteran Michael Woods won the stage for Israel-Premier Tech, 13 minutes down the road Roglič was being teed up for his GC-altering performance by four Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe teammates who set such a searing pace that O’Connor was already off the back of the lead group. With his tongue wagging and head bobbing, it was to be a long and often lonely remaining five kilometres to the top for the red jersey.
Roglič, though, was at his very best. Rarely have we seen him this destructive. He was first joined by Enric Mas, with his compatriot Mikel Landa trying to stay with the VIP party, but at 2.3km to go Roglič accelerated and quickly distanced his rivals as if they were mere roadside spectators trying to keep up. Mas, with his cheesy grin and white teeth on constant show, lost 52 seconds, as did fellow podium contender Richard Carapaz, but O’Connor wouldn’t emerge until 63 huge seconds later. It was worse, much worse, than he could have expected.
With history dictating that Roglič will better O’Connor’s final day 24km time trial in Madrid by around one minute, 20 seconds, the Slovenian has as good as drawn parity with the Australian who must have felt like he was the victim in a Friday the 13th horror movie. The reality is that while the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider is capable of holding onto a big lead in a Grand Tour for over a week, he is not in the same league as Red Bull’s Roglič. But, then, not many people are. The only three who can confidently claim they’re better than him are at home, surrounded by their Tour de France jerseys. But neither of them, unlike Roglič, have three maillot rojos in their wardrobe, and he’s clearing space for a fourth. The battle for the podium is tight and wide open – eight riders are within 2:23 of Mas in third – but none of them look qualified to dispose Roglič of the lead he is closing in on. The only thing looking like it could prevent Roglič is a fall – and, no doubt at the back of his mind, there is an extensive and painful back catalogue of that happening.
O’Connor remains in red, albeit somewhat artificially given the Madrid TT, but he knows his time is almost up. Five mountain stages remain, four terminating in summit finishes, and apart from stage nine where he snatched four bonus seconds, O’Connor hasn’t looked capable of adding more time to his lead. It’s been a wild, fun, exhilarating journey, and it’s allowed cycling to show off its most enduring and attractive quality, that of anticipation and guessing what the future holds, but ultimately O’Connor’s eight-day lead has been as good as wiped out by three accelerations in just three stages. He will remain in the fight for a maiden Grand Tour podium – his career-long goal – but how many more days will the red jersey dream live on?
