Borders cyclist Oscar Onley still in Spanish race’s top five as finale nears
Kelso cyclist Oscar Onley was still within four minutes of a podium place in this year’s Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday, with five stages to go to make up that time.
The 23-year-old was one of 102 riders to clock 3:56:33 for Tuesday’s 116-mile 16th stage from Cortegana to Palos de la Frontera in Andalusia, including winner Matthew Brennan, that being his fellow Briton’s fourth stage win, but the Borderer had to settle for 43rd place.
That leaves him fifth in general classification, down one place week on week, on a cumulative time of 56:08:13 for the 1,428 miles covered up to that point, 5:44 behind Spanish front-runner Enric Mas and trailing third-placed Slovenian Primoz Roglic by 3:34.
It follows a 42nd-placed finish in Sunday’s 113-mile 15th stage from Palma del Río to Cordoba, in 2:37:44, 2:44 behind Belgian winner Wout van Aert, and 29th the day before, in 4:20:36, for 95 miles from Jaen to Sierra de la Pandera, 5:27 shy of Germany’s Marco Brenner up front.
Those two other Andalusian stages followed ones of 120 miles from Almunecar to Loja in Granada last Friday, 104 miles from Vera to Calar Alto in Andalusia last Thursday and 97 miles from Cartagena to Lorca in Murcia last Wednesday.
London-born Onley – taking part in his first grand tour since joining English team Netcompany Ineos in December, having been ruled out of July’s Tour de France by a shoulder injury – ended up respectively 36th in 4:37:00, 12th in 4:34:58 and 52nd in 3:17:18 in those three stages, 3:00 and 5:05 off the pace for the former two, with first places going to Van Aert and Slovenia’s Jakob Omrzel, and matching County Durham rider Brennan’s winning time for stage 11.
Weighing up his prospects of securing the podium place he’d been targeting following stage 15 of the Spanish race’s 81st edition, Onley told his team’s website: “The last week of La Vuelta will be hard.
“There are two easier days to start off and then from the time-trial on Thursday onwards, it’s going to be hard but we’ll see what happens.
“It’s been a bit of an up-and-down race. I’ve had a couple of setbacks, which is normal in a grand tour, I think.
“I’m just focusing on trying to get back to the level that I’ve been at on previous days in the first week, and I’m in an OK position, but I want more out of the race and I’m hoping to get more out of it.
“This grand tour has been quite different to the Tour de France last year. Looking back, last year was too easy, almost with no setbacks, but I think everyone has setbacks during a grand tour and I think the way the team and I have dealt with that has been really good.
“There have been some days that I’ve really struggled and thought that I could lose everything, so to still be sitting fifth in general classification is something quite positive.
“I’m just hoping for a clean, smooth last week and physically I’m starting to feel more like myself again, and I’m not too tired at this point.”
“There are two big mountain days left in the race and the last one, on Saturday, I know really well from doing a training camp in Sierra Nevada this year. I think half the peloton also know the roads really well, but it’s a really hard day and I think a lot could happen on that day.
“It could also get quite tactical as well between different GC guys and where everyone stands. I think that it will be an exciting day for the race.”
Looking ahead to Thursday’s 20-mile time-trial, the race’s second and last, from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera, also in Andalusia, he added: “This one’s more of a true test, I would say.
“The first one in Monaco in stage one was quite specialised, with all the technical aspects, and the focus for me there was really just to get through it and take no risks, whereas this one, it’s more on legs and how aero you are, so I’m hoping that the package the team have for the TTs can help me.”
The heat has been on for riders over the last two weeks and temperatures will continue to exceed 30C this week – round about double those of 17C to 19C forecast for his home-town of Kelso between now and Sunday – but Onley says that unaccustomed warmth isn’t troubling him too much.
“I enjoy the heat, but I would say this is a different heat to the type I enjoy,” he said. “It’s something I’ve not experienced, other than maybe during the Tour Down Under in Australia.
“I’ve not really experienced something this hot before, but I’ve not had any problems with it so far.
“I think the team, with the staff and the methods and the protocols they have in place to keep us as cool as possible, have been really good, and I think over the three weeks, that makes a big difference.
“Just simple things, like getting bottles and ice when the temperatures are like they are, they’ve really been good with that.”
Onley is due to ride 118 miles from Dos Hermanas to Seville today and 127 from Velez-Malaga to Penas Blancas, all in Andalusia, on Friday; and 116 from La Calahorra to Collado del Alguacil in Granada on Saturday ahead of the race’s 62-mile 21st and final stage in Granada on Sunday.