Australian common classification contender Ben O’Connor is about to place his concentrate on the Tour de France for subsequent season as he joins Jayco-AlUla, in line with workforce boss Matt White.
O’Connor’s race programme for 2025 is already taking form, and he may goal a number of one-day races akin to Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia.
The 28-year-old is making the change to the Australian workforce after a profitable season for Decathlon-AG2R la Mondiale, by which he completed second at La Vuelta a España and World Championships Street Race and likewise fourth general on the Giro d’Italia.
“He’ll construct again from the Tour de France, and that race would be the primary goal for the summer time,” White informed Daniel Benson’s Biking Substack.
“There’ll most likely be a reasonably conventional build-up from February and the remainder of the spring, after which he’ll have a relaxation and build-up for the Tour. After which we’d even see him backing up on the Vuelta on the finish of the season,” he added.
Till now, O’Connor has been seen primarily as a rider for stage races, significantly the Grand Excursions given his earlier success. This yr, he additionally confirmed potential for one-day occasions via his glorious efficiency to come back runner-up to Tadej Pogačar on the UCI Street World Championships in Zürich.
“His coach thought he ought to focus extra on one-day races as a result of he put so little into it…so he can be pencilled-in for just a few one-day races subsequent yr. For instance Liege. It’s a race that fits his traits. Liege, Lombardia they appear good for him,”
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O’Connor’s glorious performances this yr eventuated in him ending fourth within the remaining UCI particular person rankings. White is worked up to have a rider of his calibre on board and hopes that the boldness gained in 2024 will push him on to even better issues in 2025.
“Ben has had an unimaginable yr and was one of the constant riders on the planet whenever you have a look at his season breakdown…In nearly each race he did, he was on the rostrum. It’s an thrilling time for us and the primary time we’ve had an Australian GC chief. We’ve had Aussie winners with [Simon] Gerrans, [Caleb] Ewan and [Michael] Matthews, however no GC chief.”
“He’s been in a position to put the package deal collectively extra constantly. He’s at all times proven flashes of brilliance all through his profession and he’s simply at a stage now the place he’s been in a position to put it collectively for giant stretches.”
“For Ben going into subsequent yr, the boldness that he’s gained this yr will solely be an actual profit. I do know he’s excited to affix an Australian workforce and lead from the entrance,” White added.
Group planning for 2025 is but to be fully finalised at Jayco-AlUla, however the framework for his or her 2025 Grand Tour groups is already in place and can be confirmed over the approaching weeks.
O’Connor is about to co-lead the Tour with one in all Jayco-AlUla’s sprinters, whereas the workforce can even take intention on the Common Classification within the Giro d’Italia.
“We’ll run the identical mannequin that we’ve had previously in that we’ll be taking a sprinter to the Tour and Ben. That’s the template we’ve had with Simon [Yates] and Dylan [Groenewegen]. We’ve acquired just a few different guys placing their hand up for the Tour, like Eddie [Dunbar], and Mauro [Schmid], so we’ve acquired a great group,” White stated.
“The satan can be within the element with regards to the route for the Giro. We’ll have somebody using GC there. In the mean time we’re considering perhaps Chris Harper for GC. It’s a race that fits his traits however we’re not going there to win. We’re going there for a prime GC consequence, whether or not that’s prime eight or one thing round there.”
