Onley celebrates emotional comeback victory in Burgos - 'I wanted to show that I belonged here'
Oscar Onley described his stage 2 victory at the Vuelta a Burgos as a major relief after rewarding the support he received from Netcompany-Ineos during a difficult first season with the team.
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The 23-year-old powered clear on the summit finish at Pineda de la Sierra, beating Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Enric Mas (Movistar) to claim his first individual victory in Netcompany Ineos colours.
“It was nice to be able to pay back the team, because they’ve fully supported me this whole year,” Onley told Cycling Weekly after the finish. “Obviously being a new rider in the team, I wanted to show that I belonged here, so it’s quite a big relief.”
The victory carried extra significance following Onley’s return from the serious crash that ruled him out of the Tour de France.
During the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in June, the Scot crashed on a descent and landed in a tree above a deep ravine. He suffered a dislocated shoulder and a deep wound to his knee.
Back in competition, Onley showed few signs of hesitation on the steep final climb of the Valle del Sol. After Netcompany-Ineos controlled the closing kilometres, he produced the strongest acceleration in the uphill battle for the stage.
“I guess today I showed that I have good legs, so we’ll look at where I am on GC,” he said. “I lost a bit of time yesterday, but so did a lot of other GC guys. There’s still a lot of racing to come.”
The Scot will now turn his attention to Thursday’s queen stage, which finishes on the Puerto del Escudo after seven kilometres of climbing at an average gradient of nine per cent.
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