Oscar Only's approach to his debut Grand Tour has never been so good. He did his first high・level training on May 7 and finished 10th overall in the Tour de Polognet, leaving for the Vuelta a España with an optimistic outlook.

The Vuelta itself also failed to make a much better start, the only team dsm-firmenich's team won from the gloom and controversy of the opening night team time trial in Barcelona, putting Lorenzo Milesi in a red jersey.

But less than 24 hours later, the only Vuelta was already over. Months of work were knocked down in an instant when Scott's wheels slipped from under him in the corner. While the Vuelta Peloton returned to Barcelona, Only was taken to hospital for an assessment of his broken collarbone.

"To be honest, it probably was more difficult mentally than physically," Only told Cycling News on a tour of Guangxi. "Crashing out of the grand Tour, especially your first tour, is very difficult mentally, especially after all the work I put in during the summer. It was pretty hard because I was focused on a lot of this year."

The only frustration was probably not helped by the way the Vuelta unfolded. The 21-year-old was intended to hunt stage victories in Spain, rather than ride for the general classification, and almost every time he switched to TV, he found himself watching missed opportunities.

"I know it's easy to say I could do something, but I was sure I could do something over three weeks. I was able to do what I was doing well from my numbers," Onley said. "I was going there for a stage opportunity, and it turned out there were a lot of chances in every breakaway," he said.

Only missed the opportunity to learn through experience about the rigors of Grand Tour racing, but instead of sticking to his truncated Vuelta, which he has already absorbed other lessons from this business, he decided to focus on the road ahead. The tour of Guangxi was always drawn in pencil on his 2023 schedule, and now the Chinese expedition gave his recovery period a sense of purpose.

Within four weeks, Only had already been fixed to the number on the CRO tour, and he was in line at Il Lombardy last weekend before boarding a plane to China. "Since Croatia, the type of form has been slowly building up, so I'm very excited for this week," said Onley, who raced through his scale as he accelerated on the final climb of Saturday's circuit race in Nanning, shredding the Peloton in the process.

It was a sign of intent for Sunday's crucial GC day to Nongla, a 3km climb to the finish could determine the destination of the red jersey. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates) is a favorite, but only shows aptitude for the kind of short, sharp effort required here.

"I've seen the highlights of the last few years and it looks like a pretty hard climb, so I don't know how many guys are there on Sunday," Onley said, "but I'm expecting a hard fight and I'm hoping to be myself there."

Whatever the result at Nongla, Onley's first full season at WorldTour level offered further hints of his potential after a breakout display on last year's CRO tour, even if Onley wasn't fully aware of the impact at the moment, it was a performance that required attention.

"At the time, he was just another rider in the race, so I didn't really think about how big the result was or how much attention it was getting," said Only. "But in retrospect, it's important to know that when I'm in my top shape, I can also compete, at least with those five or enough climbs.""

Only showed as much in 2023 as 6th overall on the Hungarian tour and 5th on the Alpuisel Tour on May 2, but admitted that it had slightly run out of steam by the time it hit the Dauphine Criticium the following month. Then again, all such teething problems are part of the process. His performance in Poland suggested that he was firmly on track. And despite the disappointment of the Vuelta, the sun has not yet set in his season. The climb to Nongla calls.

"I didn't come into the season with too many expectations, it was more about getting a sense for the WorldTour race and seeing how it goes," he said. "With the season going on, I've seen that I can compete for results in bigger races," he said. So maybe my expectations are a bit higher. I'm not disappointed, but I'm still missing that big result this year. So hopefully this week I can do something.”