Ben O'Connor
"I had the feeling I could win the stage".
"I felt like I was all alone in the world today. When the first group left, I was a bit disappointed not to be there, because it was a good opportunity. But when the race started again, I slipped into the breakaway. I felt it was a day full of great opportunities, and I had the feeling all along that I could win the stage. It was special to dominate like that, and I loved every moment of it. Before La Vuelta, I was looking at the list of winners of three Grand Tours, and I'm proud to add my name to that list. Wearing this red jersey is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I'm going to savor every moment."
Stéphane Goubert
"A great stage and an excellent team
"It's been a great stage and a great team, the collective has been up to scratch and Ben (O'Connor) has been on top of it all. Today he was untouchable, it was really great Ben. He managed to get into the breakaway just when the peloton needed a breather, which enabled them to get ahead. The front group wasn't getting on very well, so Ben wanted to accelerate and went off on his own, pedaling away, having worn down his rivals one after the other. He joins a very select group of stage winners in the three Grand Tours. On top of that, he takes the leader's jersey, which is a reward for the whole team. Now it's up to us to do everything we can to defend it.
The news
The overall team ranking
After the sixth stage of the Vuelta and Ben O'Connor's winning breakaway that awarded him the red leader's jersey, also the first leader's jersey for the team on the Vuelta. The whole team was rewarded by taking the lead in the team classification.
Clément Berthet fourth of the stage
Clément Berthet, who rode alongside Ben O'Connor in the day's breakaway, fought hard right to the end, finishing in a fine fourth place to move up to eleventh overall. Felix Gall remains in the top 10 overall, in ninth place.
A successful day at the Tour du Poitou-Charentes
The team also performed well on the roads of the Tour du Poitou-Charentes, with Larry Warbasse taking fifth place in the time trial and overall. Arthur Blaise, who started at the beginning of the day, held the lead for a long time before finishing in sixth place.
3
The number
Like the number of stage wins in a Grand Tour for Ben O'connor. After the Giro d'Italia in 2020 and the Tour de France in 2021, Ben enters the closed circle of triple stage winners in the three Grand Tours with his victory at the summit of the Alto de las Abejas in the Vuelta.
