Australian Ben O'Connor has claimed the overall lead in the Vuelta a España after completing his collection of stage victories in all three of cycling's Grand Tours.

O'Connor was part of an early breakaway group in stage six but by the penultimate climb — and with 28 kilometres left to race — the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider went for glory on his own.

He punched the air in celebration as he crossed the line to add the victory to his stage wins at the 2020 Giro d'Italia and the 2021 Tour de France.

"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, 4 minutes and 33 seconds behind O'Connor, with German Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finishing third.

Three-time champion Primož Roglič began the day top of the general classification standings but O'Connor took the red jersey from the Slovenian, who finished 6 minutes and 31 seconds adrift of the winner.

O'Connor now has a 4:51 lead over Roglič on the general classification standings after his impressive ride on the 185.5-km stage from Jerez de la Frontera to Yunquera.

Portugal's João Almeida is a further 8 seconds back in third.

"I'm going to enjoy every moment," O'Connor 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 60km into the race.

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

But the group was whittled down to 13 who pushed the gap out to 5 minutes on the bunch with 70km to ride.

O'Connor and Gijs Leemreize dropped the others on the second climb, before the Australian left the Dutch rider behind as he powered on to take the stage.

Having finished fourth in this year's Giro and the 2021 Tour de France, O'Connor came into the Vuelta looking for a podium finish.

But he may now have even loftier ambitions after establishing such a large lead.

"It depends how I go in Cazorla and Granada, but it's an excellent opportunity and I'm just going to savour it as much as I can," O'Connor said.

The seventh stage is a 180.5-km ride from Archidona to Córdoba.

Reuters