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Vuelta a España: Ben O'Connor wins stage 6 and takes race lead
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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage of the Vuelta a España!
Just under an hour to go until the stage start today.
Here's a look back at what happened yesterday on stage 5 in the sprint finish.
Vuelta a España: Pavel Bittner swipes stage 5 victory ahead of Van Aert and Groves
There was no change in the Vuelta GC standings after stage 5 but here's a look at the stage results and the current general classification.
Today's stage begins at a novel location – inside a Carrefour supermarket in Jerez de la Frontera!
Cash, card or bike, sir? Carrefour hypermarket to host latest Vuelta a España offbeat stage start
A look at the profile of today's stage 6 with five classified climbs filling the route.
And here's a look at the stage map as the race heads east across the southern tip of Spain to Yunquera.
Just over quarter of an hour before the riders set off to start the 8.4km neutral zone.
Here's a look at the current jersey holders.
Primož Roglič in red, Wout van Aert in green, Sylvain Moniquet in polka dots, and Antonio Tiberi in white.
🏆 Podium stage 5⃣ | Podio etapa 5⃣❤️ 🇸🇮 @rogla | @CarrefourES💚 🇧🇪 Wout van Aert | @skoda_es💙🇧🇪 @sylvainmoniquet | @loterias_es🤍 🇮🇹 Antonio Tiberi | #Plenitude #LaVuelta24 📸 @sprintcycling pic.twitter.com/V7GL9jVxVeAugust 21, 2024
Four classified climbs across 181km end on top of Alto de las Abejas with GC shakeup possible
The riders are rolling out in the Carrefour supermarket in Jerez de la Frontera to start the stage.
Luis Angel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) are the local boys today.
Maté hails from Marbella, an hour south of today's finish.
Here's a shot of the riders lined up at the start today.
Bike race in a grocery store. What's not to love? #lavueta pic.twitter.com/OCpKTtn3IzAugust 22, 2024
185.5km to go
The flag has dropped and now racing is underway on stage 6 of the Vuelta!
Attacks from the start on this flat opening to the day. Plenty of hills to come, though.
Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Dstny) are among the early attackers.
Stage 6 of the Vuelta rolls out of Carrefour.
Felix Engelhardt (Jayco-AlUla) is on the move solo now.
171km to go
Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) joins the German on the attack.
Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) tries to make it across, as does Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
It's all back together now as the peloton chases down the attackers.
167km to go
A split in the peloton! João Almeida is caught out.
Riders now on the attack at the front as the split peloton comes back together.
Green jersey Wout van Aert is on the move at the front.
That move is brought back.
158km to go
The gap between the two parts of the split peloton was up to 15 seconds there but it's all back together now.
Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) and the Groupama-FDJ duo of Quentin Pacher and Stefan Küng are on the move now.
Schmid is quickly caught while the Groupama-FDJ duo continue at 12 seconds up on the peloton.
Pacher and Küng have been caught and now things are all back together.
147km to go
The riders are now taking on some small hills but it's still largely flat ground on the way to the first climb of the day, the first-category Puerto del Boyar.
Still no breakaway at the moment.
Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Gijs Leemreize (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) and Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) are now on the move.
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Another split in the peloton and the first group joins that small group of riders who were on the attack.
A look at the splits in the peloton during this early part of the stage.
A large group of over 30 riders at the front now.
It's been a very quick start to today's stage. The average speed of the first hour has been 48.6kph.
30 seconds between the front group and the rest of the peloton.
The lead group contains riders such as Josh Tarling, Mauri Vansevenant, Dani Martínez, Andreas Kron, Victor Campenaerts, Filippo Zana, and Jesus Herrada.
Briton nearly two minutes down on race leader Primož Roglič but will continue as UAE co-leader
Pelayo Sánchez led the way over the top of the climb for 10 points. Jay Vine (6) and Rodríguez (4) were next in line.
102km to go
More attacks fly from the peloton down the other side of the climb.
Carlos Canal (Movistar), Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers) and Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) are on the move.
A shot of Berthet, Sánchez and Rodríguez going on the attack on that last climb of the Puerto del Boyar.
An average speed of 42.5kph after two hours of racing.
The peloton is at 1:10 down on the break.
Soler is caught and now tries another move. He's joined by Sam Ooomen, whose Lidl-Trek teammate Mathias Vacek is also attacking.
Wout van Aert is also trying to get away.
The attackers haven't managed to make it away, however.
Still 13 out front, with Florian Lipowitz the most dangerous on GC at 1:50 down on the race lead.
89km to go
1:45 between break and peloton.
Along with Lipowitz, Ben O'Connor (at 1:56), Cristian Rodríguez (at 1:58) and Urko Berrade (at 2:07) are also close to the race lead.
The gap to the break passes 2:10 and now all four men are virtually ahead of race leader Roglič.
Roglič races through a well-decorated town on today's route. The green and white flag banner flying with the Spanish flag is the Andalucían flag.
Jon Aberasturi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) has abandoned the race.
The riders are descending at the moment before another long, gradual uphill to the third-category Puerto del Viento.
Three minutes for the break now.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are in charge at the front of the peloton.
The gap is only going up as the riders roll on.
73km to go
It's almost up to four minutes now.
Bahrain Victorious take over the pacemaking.
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68km to go
The gap is now up to 5:05.
Uphill now as the riders move on towards the Puerto del Viento (6.6km at 4.2%).
Bahrain have cut the time gap down to 4:35.
Ben O'Connor and Gijs Leemreize are on the attack from the breakaway.
The duo have a small gap on the climb.
They're gaining time on the way up despite riders trying to move behind.
A view of the break before the big attack.
O'Connor and Leemreize now have 50 seconds and counting as they near the top of the climb.
55km to go
Frigo, Berrade, Sánchez attack the chase group.
O'Connor and Leemreize have 55 seconds on the main chase as they cross the top of the climb.
Frigo and Berrade are at 25 seconds down.
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5:25 back to the peloton, which has only just crossed the top of the climb.
Frigo, Sánchez and Berrade are gradually closing in on the two leaders.
Vine, Vansevenant, Lipowitz, Rodríguez are at 1:30.
47km to go
Two more climbs left to run, both third-category tests.
The riders still on the downhill run after a short climb on the descent from the Puerto del Viento.
Around 15km to go until the start of the next climb.
The Puerto Martinez (3.5km at 5.9%) is the next climb of the day.
Just over 30 seconds between the leaders and the chase now. The remainder of the break is at 1:05 back.
37km to go
The two leaders plough on alone towards the next climb. O'Connor is the virtual race leader.
Frigo, Sánchez, Berrade continue at 30 seconds down.
Kenny Elissonde (Cofidis) has abandoned the Vuelta.
5:40 back to the peloton now.
It's a mix of UAE and Red Bull leading the peloton currently.
31km to go
50 seconds between the two lead groups.
The chasers are losing time.
Now the leaders are starting the next climb, the penultimate hill of the stage.
Berrade drops back from the chasing trio on the climb.
It looks like O'Connor will be riding into the red jersey today.
Up front, the Australian goes solo on the climb, leaving Leemreize behind.
Behind the leaders, Frigo accelerates away from Sánchez.
26km to go
O'Connor is in the final kilometre of the climb now and he's 10 seconds up on Leemreize.
Meanwhile Movistar and Lidl-Trek move to the front of the peloton.
O'Connor goes over the top of the climb alone.
Further back, Berrade is almost back with the remains of the break at almost two minutes down.
The peloton is over six minutes off O'Connor.
It's looking good for O'Connor, who now lies 50 seconds up on Leemreize as he tackles the descent.
He heads into the final 20km of the stage now.
19km to go
Marco Frigo goes down on the descent. He falls taking on a left-hand corner but is quickly back up and running.
Frigo is 1:35 down on O'Connor.
A 41.8kph average for the stage as a whole so far. Four hours of racing done.
A shot of O'Connor and Leemreize before the Australian went on the attack.
Adam Yates and Welay Hagos Berhe have reportedly crashed in the peloton.
15km to go
O'Connor now has a minute on Leemreize and should be good for the win. The main part of the break is at three minutes down while the peloton is at 6:15 down.
O'Connor should also take the race lead. The likes of Berrade, Lipowitz and Rodríguez should also be filling out the top of the new general classification.
Movistar continue at the head of the peloton. Red Bull also up there.
No big moves coming from behind. The peloton are happy with the current situation.
Meanwhile nobody else is within striking distance of O'Connor to affect the front of the race.
9km to go
Uphill now for O'Connor in the final 10km of the stage.
O'Connor is in virtual red by three minutes, while Roglič is currently at almost five minutes down.
He now begins the final climb of the day, the third-category Alto de las Abejas (8.9km at 3.9%).
Several riders from the break have been caught by the peloton.
It's still Movistar leading the way in the peloton.
All uphill to the line now. The peloton isn't making any ground on O'Connor, however.
Into the final 6km now.
5km to go
Still 6:40 from O'Connor to the peloton.
O'Connor has stage wins at both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France to his name so he's on course to join the club of the treble stage winners.
Now it's Red Bull leading the peloton, still at 6:40.
O'Connor continues to eke out a few extra seconds.
3km to go
Leemreize is at 2:40 down.
Lotto-Dstny also helping Red Bull in the chase.
6:45 for O'Connor now.
Ben O'Connor climbing his way to the win and the race lead.
Into the final 2km of the stage for the leader now.
He leads by over three minutes.
1km to go
O'Connor passes under the flamme rouge.
Leemreize is at 3:25.
O'Connor has unsurprisingly been handed the combativity prize today.
O'Connor is now racing into the final metres of the stage.
He's pushing all the way to the line.
Finish
Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) wins stage 6 of the Vuelta a España!
O'Connor takes some time to celebrate the 10th win of his career as he crosses the line. A few seconds lost but he won't mind.
Now we wait for the peloton and the final time gap.
Bahrain now helping Red Bull and Movistar in the chase.
The peloton is 2.5km from the finish and already two minutes down.
Vuelta a España: Ben O'Connor wins stage 6 and takes race lead
Australian rider takes enormous solo breakaway win to move into overall lead
Frigo crosses the line in second place at 4:33 down. He overtook Leemreize unseen by the TV cameras on the way up.
Lipowitz, Berthet and Rodríguez sprint past Leemreize in the final metres to take third, fourth and fifth at 5:17 down.
Now the peloton is coming to the line.
The group is already over six minutes down.
The peloton comes to the finish at 6:32 down.
Ben O'Connor celebrates the stage win.
He'll lead the Vuelta by around four-and-a-half minutes now.
Here's the stage result and updated GC picture.
O'Connor now holds the overall lead by 4:51. Almeida is in third overall at 4:59.
Lipowitz is up to fourth at 5:18, five seconds up on Mas.
Another man from the break, Cristian Rodríguez, is sixth at 5:26 down.
Isaac Del Toro led the peloton home at 6:31 down.
Ben O'Connor in his new red jersey as race leader.
Here's what Ben O'Connor said after his win today...
"I'm proud to put my name there on that, on that list, and I guess I have the red jersey as well – so it's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
"I felt a little bit in my own world today. When the group of 30 went I was a bit disappointed because I thought it was a pretty good opportunity.
"When the race opened up again, I kind of just went for it. I felt today it was just a day to seize my opportunity, and I just laid it all out there. I felt like I could win this stage from the start. It's pretty special when you can just go out and crush it like that. I absolutely loved every moment."
Jon Aberasturi and Kenny Elissonde were DNFs today and now Rigoberto Urán has joined them in leaving the race. The Colombian was caught in a major crash, his EF Education-EasyPost team have reported.
Rigoberto Urán was involved in a large crash on stage 6 of the Vuelta today. He did not finish the stage and is currently being assessed by medical staff. Further updates to come.📸: Harry Talbot pic.twitter.com/SIHXBwxSXWAugust 22, 2024
O'Connor is secure in red tonight as the new race leader. Only one of the other jerseys has changed hands today.
The white jersey of best young ride has moved from Antonio Tiberi to Florian Lipowitz after the German's ride in the breakaway.
Elsewhere, Wout van Aert continues in the green jersey as points classification leader.
And Sylvain Moniquet is still the mountain classification leader.
The current GC standings at the Vuelta a España
Ben O'Connor punishes peloton in mountains on stage 6 and puts 4:51 on Primož Roglič, now in second overall
