•
Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 12:47 PM
Video Who will be the biggest challenger to top favorite Tadej Pogacar in the Giro in the next three weeks? Perhaps 29-year-old Australian Ben O’Connor will sign for that role. At the French Decathlon AG2R he acts as the absolute leader, but he sometimes has to be spared from bad luck. It is that bad luck that often killed him in the past, O’Connor says in conversation with CyclingFlits.
“The Giro is one hundred percent the main goal of the year. The Tour of the Alps was my last preparation race, which I also wanted to win. It was the ideal final test before the Giro, where I already wanted to prove that I was ready. Afterwards you still have to keep improving, of course, but there is nothing better than coming close to winning just before your main goal. That gives confidence, it shows that you are ready.”
Win in the Tour of Murcia, second and a stage win in the UAE Tour, fifth in Tirreno-Adriatico and second in Tour of the Alps: this was without a doubt your best start to the season ever.
“In terms of results, for sure. I’ve been feeling good all year, I’ve never been sick. That’s the most important thing. What you have seen from me in recent months is actually how I should always perform. You know that you have a certain level and certain capabilities, but as a rider you also experience a lot. Things happen that cause your shaping curve to go up and down. But it’s nice that everything is finally following the path I had in mind. I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Is it that simple?
“Of course there are a number of things going on. I have learned a lot from the past years, for example what works for myself in preparation. And – even though that may sound crazy – I have learned to stay healthy and take better care of my body. On the one hand in terms of nutrition, but also in general. Sometimes you’re just too stressed, or you’re doing too much training. It was a matter of figuring out: at what point do you reach your limits? And at what point do you exceed that limit? That’s a very thin line sometimes. This year we have found that balance.”
Can I say that you have been inconsistent at times in Grand Tours? There was that fourth place in the 2021 Tour, but there was no real follow-up to that.
“Yes of course. However, there were sometimes extenuating circumstances for my results. You should not include the 2022 Tour de France, because I was suffering from a muscle injury at the time. Afterwards I went to the Vuelta, and it wasn’t that bad there. I was eighth, which is neither good nor bad. Last year I went to the Tour again, but unfortunately I got sick there.”
O’Connor was on a roll in the Tour of the Alps – photo: Cor Vos
“That’s the thing: all it takes is one small setback in that one big goal of the year, and you’ll be blown away. Then everything will have been for nothing. That’s a shame, because I love big tours. For that reason, during the last three rounds, the qualities I have within me have no longer emerged. I have to be very careful in my run-up to the Giro. But I will do my best.”
So you do have the capabilities, but above all you have to stay healthy?
“Yes, that’s how it feels to me sometimes. From the moment such a setback follows, it is very difficult to overcome it. Sometimes you can climb back up the ladder and feel good again, but that is rather rare.”
You have never been on the podium of a Grand Tour. Is that a career goal?
“Certainly. I don’t think it’s a crazy dream, or one that’s impossible to achieve. If I’m consistent enough, I can definitely do that. It would be a dream to one day achieve that. But I actually say that before every Grand Tour in which I am starting. Hopefully it will work out this year (laughs).”
On paper you are one of the big contenders, but there is the Tadej Pogacar factor, who is considered unbeatable by many. How do you view that?
“You have to admit: normally he should win. But you know how those external circumstances can affect any rider. Pogacar can also get sick, or step on his breath and explode. We have seen that in the past. In my opinion, it is especially important to focus on yourself: what does the plan look like? How am I going to approach the competition? I want to fight for my spot, that is the feeling I will leave with next week. There’s no point in thinking about where I’m going to stand now.”
Also striking: not only you, but the entire team is doing extremely well. Is that thanks to those new Van Rysel bicycles?
“Yes, you notice that the team is running well. It is not necessarily solely due to those bicycles, but a combination of all the little things. It’s a pleasure to see all the boys performing at their maximum level. We are winning races, we are fifth in the UCI Ranking. That’s where our team goal should be, and it’s nice to see everything coming together now.”
