Oscar Onley thanks his INEOS teammate for limiting his time losses and protecting the white jersey after Vuelta crash

Oscar Onley has had a rough time at the Vuelta a España. The Scot was in an excellent position in the general classification and proved to be the strongest rider alongside Enric Mas on the previous mountain stage. However, a crash on Stage 12 and the heat in the final stretch took their toll on him, causing him to drop one spot in the GC.

As mentioned, Onley made an excellent impression as we wrapped up the first week in Stage 9. He didn’t win the stage, but he was the only one who could keep up with Mas, thereby gaining time on all his other competitors in the race for a podium finish in the Vuelta. “The podium is the goal,” he said after that stage.

The 23-year-old Onley got through Stages 10 and 11 in good shape and was looked able to launch an attack in Stage 12 on third-place Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and second-place Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). However, it didn’t come to that.

Onley crashed early in the stage, and although the climber said afterward that he was “okay,” it was too much of a coincidence that he quickly lost touch with the favorites in the final stretch of a stage like this. Mas, Gall, and Roglic pulled away, but Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) also proved to be faster.

"I just slipped on a roundabout," explained Onley, the wearer of the white youth jersey, after his early crash. He quickly made a comeback, but things went wrong in the final stretch. "I think I'm okay, but it was pretty hot. In the end, I just had to ride at my own pace on that final climb."

He expressed his gratitude to a teammate from Netcompany INEOS, who had dropped back from the breakaway group. “Jack Haig was really good. When I was with him, he took the lead on the flat section, which allowed me to conserve a lot of energy. I have to thank him for that.”

As a result, Onley managed to salvage the day somewhat. He lost just over 2 minutes to Mas and a minute and a half to Gall and Roglic. Carapaz moved past him into fourth place in the general classification, and stage winner Jakob Omrzel (Bahrain Victorious) is now closing in on him, trailing by 30 seconds in the young rider classification.

It remains to be seen how the injuries sustained in the crash with Onley will affect the rest of this Vuelta.