History made as three Aussies make the podium at La Vuelta a España

The final Grand Tour of the season wrapped up on Sunday with three Australian riders securing positions on the podium – an achievement that hasn’t been done by any nation since 2015.

Ben O’Connor wore the red jersey for 13 consecutive days during the race, making it the longest time an Australian has worn the leaders jersey at a single edition of any Grand Tour.

O’Connor had a five-minute lead when he secured the red jersey on stage six, but the threat of Slovenian Primoz Roglič from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe was lurking before he went on a damaging solo attack on Stage 19 to reclaim the red jersey and secure the overall win.

Speaking to CyclingNews about finishing second overall, O’Connor said, "For me, second is a win.”

"I didn't expect to have the [leaders] red jersey and to have it for two weeks.

"To finish on the Vuelta podium is a dream come true. It's something I've been chasing for the last couple of years and to get it at last is amazing."

Kaden Groves became the first Aussie to defend their jersey at a Grand Tour after winning the points jersey back-to-back.

Groves had an impressive campaign at the Spanish race, winning stage 2, 14 and 17, and coming a close second on stage 3.

He secured the sprint jersey after Belgian rival Wout van Aert crashed out during stage 16.

Groves’ success at La Vuelta makes him the fourth highest ranked Australian in grand-tour history after winning eight stages at Grand Tours over the past three years.

Five months after sustaining major spinal injuries that nearly ended his career, Jay Vine has made an unbelievable comeback to claim the polka dot jersey and cement himself as the King of the Mountain.

In April this year, Vine sustained serious injuries after crashing at the Itzulia Basque Country resulting in fractures in his cervical, thoracic spine and skull. Just five months later, he found himself racing through the same Basque Country roads, but this time with the polka dot jersey on his back.

"The recovery that I've had is amazing. At the time, we didn't really know if I would be able to ride again, let alone compete. So to be able to be here with the jersey, it was like a dream. 

Similar to Groves, Vine admitted that Van Aert’s crash played some part in him collecting the KOM jersey, saying to his Instagram followers, "It's a real shame to see Wout go out the way he has, you never want to take a leader's jersey in this way.”

Vine held on to the polka dot jersey for the remainder of the race and etched his name into cycling history alongside Ben O’Connor and Kaden Groves.