Vuelta a Espana 2024: Australia’s Ben O'Connor wins stage six to complete cycling’s ‘treble’
Ben O'Connor, who leads ahead of three-time champion Primoz Roglic, has now completed his Triple Crown after winning stages at the 2020 Giro d'Italia and the 2021 Tour de France.
Australian cyclist Ben O’Connor marched to a sensational solo stage six win to take the overall lead of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 on Thursday.
Riding on a 185.5km mountainous terrain from Carrefour Supermarket in Jerez to Yunquera with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, O’Connor was part of a breakaway group early in the race. However, with 28km left, the Aussie pulled clear of Gijs Leemreize of the Netherlands before crossing the finish line and punching the air in celebration.
Italy’s Marco Frigo, riding for Israel-Premier Tech, finished second after crossing the line four minutes and 33 seconds behind the 28-year-old Australian while Florian Lipowitz of Germany, riding for Bora-Hansgrohe, came in third.
With his stage six win in Vuelta on Thursday, O’Connor has now won stages in all three of cycling's Grand Tours, dubbed the Triple Crown of Cycling. He is the fifth Australian to achieve this feat. He won individual stages at the 2020 Giro d'Italia and 2021 Tour de France.
Three-time champion Primoz Roglic of Slovenia was forced to concede the red jersey to O’Connor after the Australian seized the overall lead of the race from him.
Roglic took six minutes and 31 seconds more to complete stage six on Thursday and O’Connor now leads Roglic by four minutes and 51 seconds in the general classification.
UAE Team Emirates' Joao Almeida of Portugal is third overall and he trails O’Connor by four minutes and 59 seconds. Meanwhile, defending champion Sepp Kuss has been underwhelming so far and languishes 6 minutes and 31 seconds behind the new race leader.
The seventh stage of Vuelta, to be held on Friday, is a 180.5km hilly route from Archidona to Cordoba.
The Vuelta a Espana 2024 is a three-week cycling race taking place in Portugal and Spain from August 17 to September 8. It is the third and final Grand Tour of the 2024 men's road cycling season. The race started in Lisbon and will finish in Madrid.
Australians with stage wins at all three cycling Grand Tours
- Simon Gerrans - 1 Giro d’Italia, 2 Tour de France, 1 Vuelta a Espana
- Rohan Dennis - 1 Giro d’Italia, 1 Tour de France, 2 Vuelta a Espana
- Caleb Ewan - 5 Giro d’Italia, 5 Tour de France, 1 Vuelta a Espana
- Michael Matthews - 3 Giro d’Italia, 4 Tour de France, 3 Vuelta a Espana
- Ben O’Connor - 1 Giro d’Italia, 1 Tour de France, 1 Vuelta a Espana