After coming through the opening mountain stage strongly in spite of a stomach illness, Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) suffered a setback in his bid for the Vuelta a España podium on Thursday as he conceded time on the action-packed finale to stage 6.
The British rider was initially with the best of the rest of the GC contenders when race leader Tadel Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) attacked on the final climb, but he came unstuck in a big way on the gravel section towards the top.
Onley, who was initially with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Enric Mas (Movistar) as they gapped key rival Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), dropped back towards the top and then lost more ground on the descent.
After linking up with a group of stragglers that included Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) for the flat 10km run-in, he crossed the line in 12th place, conceding 1:28 to Pogačar and Mas, and 52 seconds to Roglič, Gall, and Carapaz.
"It was pretty hard. The gravel went on for longer than I thought it would. I probably just overcooked a little bit and paid the price towards the top I think," Onley said.
"I just took the descent at my own pace. To be honest, I didn’t want to be alone for the headwinds to the finish, so when I saw Skjelmose and Kuss’s group coming up to me I was quite relieved. I tried to pull with them and then I just started getting cramps, so I was pretty useless."
Having started the day fifth overall, Onley now drops to seventh, some 5:37 behind Pogačar but 2:03 behind the true reference point for the rest of the GC contenders which is the second place now occupied by Mas. Onley is 1:16 off the podium itself, with Roglič sitting in third place.
Onley, 23 years old, retained the white jersey of best young rider by just three seconds as breakaway rider Rasmes Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) clung on to gain time, but the Belgian is not expected to mount a sustained GC bid.
Onley's next closest rival for that white jersey, Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché) fared even worse on the stage, losing a further two minutes.
"He is a strong rider. But there’s still over two weeks to go, so I don’t think it’s going to be a matter of three seconds between any of us by the end," Onley said of Debruyne.
"I think we’re the same age. I remember racing him as a junior. We were in the break together in the Dauphiné, I think he went second on the stage. I know he’s a strong rider, and the way he rode today is obviously impressive."
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