Not driving the 2024 Tour de France labored out fairly effectively for Ben O’Connor.
The Australian secured his first Grand Tour podium on the Vuelta a España by tenaciously hanging on to second place after 13 days within the chief’s pink jersey. He closed out his closing season with Decathlon–AG2R in fourth place on the UCI world rankings.
“Not doing the Tour was a refreshing selection, that the crew backed,” O’Connor informed Cyclingnews in Saitama forward of the Tour de France criterium.
“They gave me the liberty to not do it and, to be truthful, additionally our household had a child due at the moment, so it’s not prefer it was doable.”
A yr with out the strain of “the boiler room of the Tour“ labored out effectively for the rider from Perth. However he might be again in France in July after making the change to Jayco-AlUla.
“We’ve temporary plans, however we don’t have any set form of factor that we’re going to leap into,” O’Connor mentioned of his schedule for his upcoming first season with Jayco-AlUla.
“I’m positively going to return to the Tour although, that’s for certain. That’s most likely the primary goal, I might love to present that race one other crack and see the way it finally ends up.”
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It’s going to, nevertheless, be in modified circumstances as firstly “each crew goes about issues in another way” mentioned the rider who’s now heading into the third WorldTour squad of his profession.
The 2-pronged strategy, with a dash group led by Dylan Groenewegan working alongside the GC contender, typically taken by Jayco-AlUla, is an instance of this.
“It’ll be new for me,” mentioned O’Connor.
Change, nevertheless, has labored out fairly effectively for O’Connor previously, along with his first yr of racing with AG2R delivering a Tour de France stage win and fourth total in 2021.
Laborious to beat
O’Connor might have been on the best way out of Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale in 2024, however there was actually no easing off – even with the arrival of his first youngster mid-year – and no curbing of his ambitions.
Not solely was there the stage win at La Vuelta a España that accomplished the Grand Tour set for O’Connor and second total however there was additionally a run of different spectacular runner-up spots, from the UAE Tour, the Tour of Alps and in addition the silver medal behind Tadej Pogačar on the World Championships highway race.
The consistency of his placings among the many high ranks all through the season was exceptional. The yr began with a win at Vuelta a Murcia and a stage victory on the UAE Tour and on high of the lengthy record of aforementioned runner up spots he didn’t as soon as end outdoors the highest 5 total in a stage race. He was fifth at Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth on the Giro d’Italia.
That consistency is what lifted O’Connor to fourth within the 2024 UCI rider rankings, solely behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Staff Emirates), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), whereas he was simply forward of Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
“I believe it might be onerous to beat as an total season,” mentioned O’Connor.
“To be fourth on the earth, that rating was a bit foolish. I actually did not anticipate an total season to be that good. That is a extremely honouring form of quantity.
“I simply reveals this stage of consistency all through the entire yr and that most likely, for me, is sort of the factor I’m most happy with for the yr.”
Ben O’Connor has one final celebration along with his Decathlon-AG2R teammates at La Vuelta a España
“Issues simply labored out as I all the time envisaged them,” mentioned a contented O’Connor, amiable and chatty away from the stress snd depth of racing.
“You understand, I all the time noticed my progress or the cohesive crew spirit going alongside on this sort of pathway, and we lastly bought that every one proper this yr and I believe that was a extremely particular factor.
“To have teammates that have been completely 100% dedicated to you, but in addition to the crew effort, to the crew goal and so they additionally should be sturdy sufficient to have the ability to try this.
“That was one other factor. This yr it was actually rewarding to have, you already know, a teammate that would save your day, or at La Vuelta, the group of boys that I had was incredible – they have been selfless, they have been proud and so they have been additionally actually sturdy, and that crew effort was actually a particular factor.”
His closing race with the French squad, the place he held the pink jersey of the race chief for 13 days, might barely have turned out higher.
“It was a cool interval of my profession, and now you flip the web page to the following one,” mentioned O’Connor.
The 28-year-old not solely provides Jayco-AlUla a confirmed Grand Tour podium contender to exchange the departing Simon Yates, however one that may assist it rally a nation behind its residence crew, significantly when all eyes are focussed on the competitors for yellow in July on the Tour de France.
“To be an Aussie GC man, going to the Tour with an Aussie crew; I do not know in the event that they’ve actually had that earlier than,” mentioned O’Connor.
“I believe that is an thrilling factor for Aussie biking, to be sincere.”
