Ben O'Connor's stoic defense of his lead on the toughest mountain stage of the Vuelta a España epitomized the moment when the leader of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale raced across the finish line in Granada, finishing third on the day with a bonus of 4 seconds!

Granada.

The minimal time O'Connor regained in Granada will almost certainly mean nothing at the finish in Madrid two weeks later. However, on a day when the loss of the red jersey was considered a foregone conclusion, being able to pull away from his rivals, albeit briefly, must have felt like the icing on a delicious cake.

Despite the fact that Decathlon had not held the lead in a Grand Tour since the 2009 Tour de France, the O'Connor team exceeded all expectations in the mountains of the Sierra Nevada.

O'Connor remained fully supported, even though his archrival Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe kept a steady pace on the first two climbs of the day, anticipating an attack by Primosz Roglic that never materialized. And on the final climb of Hazaryanas, and again at the finish in Granada, O'Connor was supported by wingman and climbing ace Felix Gall. [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]