
In football, they'd call it running down the clock. In the Vuelta a España, it's always useful to burn off the days. Ben O'Connor's task from here to Madrid isn't simple but it's certainly clear. He has a lead of 3:16 over Primož Roglič and he must ration that time carefully across the next nine stages.
When Roglič et al failed to test O'Connor's mettle on the rugged road to Baiona earlier this week, they were chided in the pages of AS about the risk of running out of road before they could divest him of the red jersey. "Un día menos para O'Connor," trilled the headline. One day less for O'Connor.