The general classification riders didn’t attack each other in the twelfth stage of the Vuelta a Espana so it was a relatively quiet day for Ben O’Connor, who crossed the finish line in the large group of favorites.
“The beginning was tough,” O’Connor said after stage 12. “It went really fast when the leading group left. Then we let them go and controlled the race”.
“We rode at a fast pace on the last climb. It was quite a fast climb, so not ideal for aggressive racing. I felt pretty good today.”
“I never lost that confidence [after losing time on stage 11],” O’Connor added. “I was just a bit irritated. It wasn’t like I didn’t believe in myself anymore. Tomorrow we have an extremely tough finish. It will be one of the important stages of this Vuelta.”
