Ben O’Connor will start the second week of the Vuelta a Espana in the red jersey and with a considerable gap on the other GC rivals after a tough first week.
“I don’t really feel that much pressure in the red jersey, to be honest,” O’Connor said in his team press conference on Monday’s rest day.
“It’s kind of unexpected. I never thought about after the great jersey here at the Vuelta a Espana and some people never have the chance to wear a leader’s jersey at a Grand Tour.”
“Many GC guys also never have the chance. So I’m just enjoying it and actually just loving racing from the front, knowing they’re leading the race and it’s up to other people to make the moves, rather than myself.”
“When I won the stage, I took the jersey, but I never had any pressure for holding the jersey by that point,” he said. “But then yesterday was a completely different story, you know, and I was managing the race, controlling it with the boys and doing a really good job.”
