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Ben O’Connor says he defied even his own expectations on a historic day for Australian cycling as he and countrymen Kaden Groves and Jay Vine all finished Vuelta a Espana on the podium as Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic sealed a record-equalling fourth title on Sunday.
For O’Connor, who led for much for the race, it was his first grand tour podium place after finishing second, while Groves, who won three stages, claimed the green jersey for the second year running and Vine the polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountains.
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It was the first time two Australian riders had won two standings in an edition of La Vuelta, having only happened once in the Giro d’Italia.
Having led by nearly five minutes after O’Connor unexpectedly took the red jersey from Roglic on stage 6, the Australian said he had the race of his life to finish runner-up.
“I expected to be good (at the start of the Vuelta) because I knew I was but not second overall,” said O’Connor, who was greeted at the finish by his wife Sarah, who gave birth to the couple’s first child just before the Vuelta.
“Sometimes you’ve got to trust your gut and other times you could probably be a little bit smarter and not trust your gut as well, so I think it’s about picking your moments in grand tours and that’s probably the thing I’m taking away.”
O’Connor said there would be a “pretty big celebration” after the race.
Vine, who fractured his neck in horrific crash in April when his wife was 22 weeks pregnant, conceded it was “incredible” to have returned to his best so fast.
“To finish that up is fantastic, especially after the year that I had. I feel like my season is just starting, so I’m looking forward to the rest of it,” he said.
“It’s pretty incredible (to be here after the crash I had in Itzulia). The recovery that I’ve had is amazing. At the time, we didn’t really know if I would be able to ride again, let alone compete.”
Victory was all the more special for Roglic, who was forced to abandon the Tour de France ahead of stage 13 after crashing twice in consecutive stages.
