Australian surprise packet Ben O'Connor has savoured his first "super easy" day as a runaway Grand Tour race leader, losing only six seconds of his big advantage at La Vuelta a Espana.
O'Connor, suddenly having to come to terms with protecting a near five-minute lead in the Spanish Grand Tour after an amazing solo stage-six triumph on Thursday, found himself the hunted one just 24 hours later.
Yet the Subiaco rider handled the first examination from the Red Bull BORA Hansgrohe team of his nearest rival Primoz Roglic with aplomb on the 180.5km seventh stage from Archidona to Cordoba, which was won in a sprint finish by Belgian superstar Wout van Aert.
O'Connor lost only six bonus seconds to Roglic, who won an intermediate mountain sprint, still leaving him with a handsome lead of four minutes 45 seconds.
Having successfully negotiated BORA's attack on the final climb, the 28-year-old Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale leader beamed: "It was a super easy day until the finale which was explosive.
"I wasn't surprised Primoz went for the bonus, but it wasn't a crazy, explosive attack on the climb, so I was pretty comfortable at how I felt today and happy with the way it turned out.
"I guess every single little bit (of time won back) counts (for Roglic) and I can't really do much against Primoz's strength for the bonuses, but you have to take a lot of bonuses to make up that amount of time. All in all, a good day."
O'Connor reckoned that wearing the leader's red jersey felt like "the biggest reward in my career".
"It feels good - and it looks good as well, so hopefully I can wear it for quite a few days to come," he smiled before the start of the stage.
Asked how many selfies he had taken with himself wearing red, he added: "I'm not that vain - I've taken three!
"To wear a leader's jersey is rare, doesn't happen very often - and many great guys don't have that opportunity, so I'm going to try and seize it."
Asked about how he expected to defend the jersey over the next two tough weeks, he laughed: "By riding full to the finish line on every mountain top.
"Tactically, it might get a little tricky in the second week. If I still have the jersey by then, who knows? But I still have to do my own thing. I know what my strengths are and in the end, it's who's quickest to the finish line."
Many of his colleagues fancy the West Australian will now take all the beating.
Defending champ Sepp Kuss admitted: "For sure, Ben's chances are high. He's a super strong rider as he showed yesterday. Pulling out the advantage he did was super impressive. He's a big candidate now."
Kuss helped Team Visma-Lease a Bike colleague van Aert grab his second win of la Vuelta after Australian rival Kaden Groves' hopes went crashing 25km from the finish as he took a tumble after clipping Nairo Quintana's back wheel.
The Queenslander is now 41 points behind van Aert in the race for the green jersey.
