O'Connor wins Vuelta stage six to take red jersey from Roglic

:Australian Ben O'Connor completed his collection of stage victories in all three of cycling's Grand Tours by winning stage six of the Vuelta a Espana on Thursday, and also took the overall lead after his solo run left everyone behind.

O'Connor was part of a breakaway group early in the race but by the penultimate climb and with 28 kilometres left to race, the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider went for glory on his own, punching the air in celebration as he crossed the line.

"It was beautiful racing, I think, all around," O'Connor said.

"I was looking at the triple Grand Tour winners, and a list of guys that have done it before this race started, and now my name is on that list."

Italy's Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) came in second, four minutes and 33 seconds behind O'Connor, with German Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finishing third.

Three-times former champion Primoz Roglic began the day top of the general classification but O'Connor took the red jersey from the Slovenian who finished in the peloton, six minutes and 31 seconds adrift of the winner.

O'Connor now has a four minute 51 seconds lead over Roglic after his impressive ride on the 185.5-km stage from Jerez de la Frontera to Yunquera, with Joao Almeida a further eight seconds back in third.

"I guess I have the red jersey as well so, it's going to be a once in a lifetime experience maybe, so I'm going to enjoy every moment," the new leader said.

The stage had a unique start, with the riders setting off from inside a Carrefour supermarket, and after navigating the aisles they faced a category one climb less than 60 kilometres into the race.

By then, there had been several attacks from the peloton, with a large group of over 30 riders managing to get away,