Primož Roglič is angry. The throwaway short answers and the clichés of “we’ll see what happens” mask his inner rage. He knows he and his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team messed up on stage six of the Vuelta a España. He knows that it’s not going to be easy unseating Ben O’Connor at the summit of the general classification. And he knows that if he is to win a record-equalling fourth red jersey, he must turn his fury into something positive.
He tried on stage seven to unsettle O’Connor, claiming six bonus seconds on the final climb, and on stage eight, the penultimate day in Andalucía, he went even better, taking almost a minute out of the Australian’s lead. On a steep finishing climb in the small town of Cazorla, Roglič went once, went twice, and finally, on the third time, distanced the race leader.
Come the top of the narrow, twisting road, an ascent indistinguishable from so many other Spanish tracks that end at a castle or church, Roglič did what he’s done so many times in the past six years: beat Enric Mas in a finish-line sprint to claim 10 bonus seconds. More importantly, however, was that O’Connor crossed the line 46 seconds in arrears. The day’s outcome was worse than O’Connor would have predicted.
As a result, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider’s lead has been cut to 3:49, but with expectation being that he would cede more than a minute to Roglič in the final day time trial, you could say that his real-time lead is in fact around two-and-a-half minutes. With so many more puertos and mountain-top finishes to come, Roglič will be optimistic – but not certain – that he can atone for his stage six horror show and prevent O’Connor from stealing an unfancied victory.
Roglic’s victory in Cazorla was his 14th in the race, moving him to sixth in the all-time stage wins record list. But he understands that dislodging O’Connor requires more than just edging out a rival under the final line gantry; it demands braver, riskier and more inventive tactics. Summarised, he has to go from further out, because if he doesn’t, O’Connor is capable of holding on. It’s evident the Slovenian has received the memo.
Stage nine presents another opportunity for Roglič. Though the day finishes with a fast downhill into Granada, bringing to an end the race’s stay in the south of the country before heading to the more verdant and cooler north, the peloton have to tackle Alto de Hazallanas twice. If O’Connor could design a climb that would undo him, it would be Hazallanas. It’s narrow; it’s painfully and consistently steep; it’s devoid of any shade; and at 7km long there’s enough road and launchpads for Roglič to inflict maximum damage.
What we saw on stage eight, and to a lesser extent the day before, is that Roglič is not in a mood to bide his time; to the contrary, he’s in a rush to claw back the minutes, eager – desperate, even – to wipe O’Connor’s advantage as quickly as possible.
Behind him, other GC contenders are falling away – and fast. Sepp Kuss, the defending champion, lost another minute in Cazorla, while UAE Team Emirates suffered the sort of disastrous day they’re not used to having, with Adam Yates continuing to suffer and João Almeida finishing almost five minutes back. The reality is if Roglič does pull O’Connor back, it’s his race to lose. Mas is riding well, as he does every Vuelta, but unless Roglič crashes and falls – a possibility that really can’t be ruled out given that he does so on average once every 18 race days – it’s unlikely to be the Spaniard who takes red off O'Connor. It’s going to be Roglič.
While we await the final outcome of the following two weeks of racing, we do so watching a side of Roglič we’ve rarely seen before. Cold, calculated and focused are the 34-year-old’s everyday characteristics, but throw anger into the mix and you get a menacing Primož Roglič that makes for great bike racing. Will O’Connor resist or surrender?
