When Ben O’Connor launched his assault on stage 6 of the Vuelta a España, he could have already dedicated to a brand new group however there was nonetheless loads at stake as he trusted his intuition reasonably than the shouts from over the radio warning that this transfer was folly reasonably than impressed racing.
The Australian was about to depart Decathlon AG2R for Jayco-AlUla on good phrases. He didn’t wish to change that as he charged off in an formidable break on his final race with the French squad however nor did he wish to cease utilising a attribute on the core of a lot of his success.
“It is a facet of biking that I can not lose, I can not lose that aggressivity to chase wins or to place myself on the market in a dangerous scenario,” O’Connor advised Cyclingnews as he mirrored on an excellent 2024 season.
“Within the Vuelta I had every part to lose. We went there as a group for a prime 5 general for me, and I put myself on the market. If it went fallacious, all of the boys are going to be like, ‘What did you do?’ My administrators are additionally shouting within the radio at one level, like, ‘do not proceed with it, cease pulling, that is simply not going to work’.”
“You set your self on the road. If I did get caught, after which who is aware of, it will get actually troublesome once more and I drop, or in two days time I drop in Granada [stage 9], it will all the time come again to me and that effort,” accepted O’Connor.
“I did not wish to wreck my time with the group by screwing it up. You needed to take an enormous leap of confidence in your self at that second and say, ‘Nah, I am good. I am good. It is gonna work out. It’ll work!’. And you’ve got to have the ability to again that up.”
It did work in fact, with the Australian taking the stage and the purple chief’s jersey, plus the 4:51 hole he carved out on the general to Primož Roglič.
That helped him maintain onto the race lead till stage 18 and end the 21 days of racing with the second spot on the general podium in Madrid.
The most recent race content material, interviews, options, evaluations and skilled shopping for guides, direct to your inbox!
(Picture credit score: Future)
In his first Grand Tour with Decathlon AG2R in 2021, O’Connor had confirmed his podium potential with a fourth place in Paris after a equally audacious transfer. His second place on the Vuelta a España meant he was ending his final race with the French squad with the realisation of a Grand Tour podium dream.
The tip of 1 period, a ultimate celebration with the group as he signed off with a season that would hardly have gone higher.
“I’ve actually loved the time with the group, and I feel they’ve additionally actually in all probability appreciated a really completely different solution to have a pacesetter inside the group,” stated O’Connor.
“It was a cool interval of my profession and now you flip the web page, onto the following one.”
Ben O’Connor when he was within the chief’s purple jersey on the Vuelta a España (Picture credit score: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Proper time, proper place, proper rider
The following one begins with Jayco-AlUla on January 1 as O’Connor was simply the rider the Australian group was in search of because it contemplated its choices for 2025 and past.
The group is growing variety of GC riders – from Luke Plapp and Eddie Dunbar to Chris Harper – however Simon Yates’ contracted finish in 2024 and he opted to maneuver on. A brand new Grand Tour group chief was wanted.
“We needed to have a back-up plan able to go,” Matt White director of Excessive Efficiency and Racing advised Cyclingnews.
“So we had been already wanting across the market to see who was out there and who could be match for the group. Clearly, Ben’s identify got here as much as the highest of our record.”
And that was even earlier than the rider from Western Australia had the strongest season of his profession, with that second place general on the Vuelta a España remodeling his Grand Tour potential right into a actuality.
Nonetheless that was only one entry amongst an extended record of highly effective outcomes that ran proper by way of from runner-up spots on the UAE Tour, the Tour of Alps and likewise the silver medal behind Tadej Pogačar on the World Championships street race.
In reality O’Connor didn’t as soon as end exterior the highest 5 general in a stage race and that consistency helped carry O’Connor to fourth on the earth rankings for 2024.
“His consistency is one thing that basically attracted us to him and I nonetheless do not assume he has reached his potential,” stated White.
“Till this yr we might seen flashes of brilliance, clearly with the fourth place within the Tour de France and another large outcomes right here and there, however this yr he managed to place a extremely, actually constant yr collectively.”
“Then the opposite factor as properly is we have by no means had an Australian chief of the group within the Normal Classification, in order that clearly is engaging to us as properly,” stated White of the squad which has managed to place a rider on a males’s Grand Tour general podium thrice in its 13 seasons on the WorldTour.
The primary rider was Colombian Esteban Chaves who got here second on the 2016 Giro d’Italia plus third on the Vuelta that yr whereas British rider Simon Yates delivered a primary Grand Tour win for the lads’s program when he gained the Vuelta in 2018.
“To be an Aussie GC man going to the Tour with an Aussie group. I feel that is an thrilling factor for Aussie biking, to be sincere,” stated O’Connor of his Tour de France plans for 2025.
Hitting the bottom working
Ben O’Connor forward of the 2024 UCI World Street Championships street race (Picture credit score: Dario BelingheriGetty Photographs)
Having an Australian rider capturing for the largest GC targets on an Australian-based group additionally issues simply as a lot behind the scenes.
Communication can usually be simply that little bit simpler within the mother-tongue, with nuances simpler to understand and reactions maybe extra simply understood when all concerned are viewing the scenario by way of the same cultural lens. It’s actually an element that appealed for O’Connor – a rider who had the emotion in his reactions put beneath the microscope within the Netflix Unchained collection on the 2023 Tour de France.
He could also be stepping in as a pacesetter at a brand new group in 2025, however whereas it has an in depth mixture of nationalities, the DNA and really feel of the squad is clearly Australian.
“I feel simply being with that Aussie group will probably be quite a bit simpler mentally, to take care of issues that it’s essential repair, particularly, you’ll be able to specific your self, as it’s best to be capable of, and folks in all probability perceive,” O’Connor stated.
He added that this utilized equally for when issues had been going proper as once they had been going fallacious however that it was additionally simply as essential within the basic chit-chat as “creating extra mateship” as he moved into the brand new group was one of many large issues he was wanting ahead to.
A change, nevertheless, all the time brings new challenges and one thing the rider must get used to is lining up on the Tour de France in a group that has lengthy tackled the French Grand Tour with twin ambitions.
2025 gained’t be any completely different, with O’Connor to move a GC-focused group whereas one other part of the group will probably be tailor-made to the wants of sprinter Dylan Groenewegen.
White, nevertheless, doesn’t see that as a difficulty given the anticipated state of affairs for the 2025 version of the Tour de France.
Nobody’s in search of Jayco-AlUla to regulate the Tour de France, are they?
“The main focus for Ben goes to be the Tour de France but it surely would not matter what he does within the spring, the 2 favourites for the Tour de France are going to be [Jonas] Vingegaard and [Tadej] Pogačar. So nobody’s in search of Jayco-AlUla to regulate the Tour de France are they? So you’ll be able to take a distinct group to complete third, fourth or fifth on the Tour de France than when you find yourself making an attempt to win it.”
If O’Connor’s show on the Street World Championships is something to go by – he was a part of the profitable blended relay group after which took second within the street race – there is no such thing as a cause to assume he shouldn’t adapt rapidly to the brand new however in some some methods nonetheless acquainted group. In reality it was quickly after the shift to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in 2021 that he delivered fourth general in his debut on the Tour de France.
It needs to be no shock then that Jayco-AlUla need to the rider to rapidly decide up on the momentum of 2024 within the yr forward.
Plans are in place for him to take up the GC reins immediately, with Mauro Schmid and Eddie Dunbar recognized as among the many key riders the group want to have round O’Connor.
”We’re positively planning on hitting the bottom working and I feel Ben will slide straight into management right here very properly,” White stated.
”I feel we have got some good, good guys we will put round him instantly, and we’ll attempt to kind of run a few these key riders round him fairly usually so by the point we do get to the Tour will probably be with a little bit of synergy there already.”
What’s extra, it’s clear that whereas the plan could also be for the rider to rapidly discover his consolation zone inside the group, the intention will probably be to say true to his type of pushing approach out of it on the street.
(Picture credit score: Future)
“He would not out climb Tadej or Jonas, most individuals on the earth cannot do this, so as an alternative of enjoying a conservative recreation ‘observe, observe, observe’ he has a distinct tactic,” stated White.
“He throws it on the market, rides aggressively and appears for alternatives the place loads of different GC guys do not, which is a good expertise to have and an thrilling solution to race.”
And, for O’Connor, one which has confirmed essential to his success.
The rider now has stage wins throughout all of the Grand Excursions and a podium at one, an expertise which has left the 29-year-old in search of extra as he heads into a brand new part of his biking profession.
“I must win a WorldTour stage race, as a result of I’ve missed that up to now, and I simply wish to be on the rostrum of all Grand Excursions ultimately,” stated O’Connor.
“If you’re on the steps in Madrid, or whether or not it is Rome or Paris, it is a fairly particular factor, as a result of it’s not only for your self too, it is the entire group, the entire ambiance, everybody round you, that is received you that you simply to that time.
“That is very a lot a factor that must be finished once more, as a result of it was a particular second and one that offers you loads of pleasure.”
Your Trusted Source for Accurate and Timely Updates!
Our commitment to accuracy, impartiality, and delivering breaking news as it happens has earned us the trust of a vast audience. Stay ahead with real-time updates on the latest events, trends.
