Pogacar hasn't damaged O'Connor's morale: "I regret it, but I also enjoyed it"

In a grand tour where Tadej Pogacar dominates and INEOS Grenadiers quickly emerged as challengers, there has been relatively little discussion about the other top riders in the general classification during the first week. On the first rest day in Naples, IDLProCycling.com spoke with the fourth-ranked Ben O'Connor at a press conference. The Australian from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale has been flying under the radar but is brimming with confidence. A podium in Rome is the goal, the climber won't settle for less.

O'Connor previously secured a solid top ten finish in the 2021 Tour de France, where he was fourth and won a stage. In the 2022 Vuelta a España, he also finished eighth. Yet, there has always been a feeling that he could achieve even more. Various mishaps, including crashes and illnesses, have plagued his performance in many critical races. Thus, being fourth in the Giro GC after nine days is something he can build on. "It was a good week, tougher than expected. The sprint stages were difficult and so were the racing conditions. But I'm happy with my fourth place in the classification. Not all moments were perfect, but I'm ready for the rest of the race."

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O'Connor does not rule out another attempt to keep up with Pogacar

O'Connor faced two crucial moments in the first week, which we can label as 'not perfect'. And that's not even considering the minor crash on day four. The first was on day two, when the 28-year-old mountain goat tried to follow Tadej Pogacar on the final climb to Oropa. He managed to keep up for a while, but eventually blew up and lost significant time to Pogacar and all his other rivals. "Looking back now, I regret it, but I also enjoyed it. It's cool that I tried and that I was good enough to even attempt it. I would have liked to stay in the draft longer, but that's a 'what if'..."

After that second stage, where O'Connor called himself 'the dumbest rider in the peloton', his confidence was fully restored by the rest day. "I'm ultimately a cyclist and I've paid for the consequences. That's life and I'm here to race. I learn from it, but if I feel really good, I won't be afraid to try it again. You might lose some seconds sometimes, but you also don't want to regret not trying. I'm here to race and if Pogi doesn't have a bad day, then good for him. I have my own goals here and attack the race as we planned. On the key days, I want to be there and if I have an off day, I need to limit the losses."

The second lesser moment was on day seven during the individual time trial to Perugia. O'Connor put in an impressive performance to finish eleventh, but a mechanical issue soon revealed that he had lost at least half a minute. "That mechanical problem was particularly unfortunate because I really could have gained some time on other guys," he acknowledges, also referring to the huge progress O'Connor had made recently on the time trial bike. That hadn't quite shown through in races due to various factors. "This Giro time trial was actually the first time people on a big stage could see that I've improved through hard work. We've been in the wind tunnel, done a lot of testing, and I train a lot on the Van Ryssel time trial bike. It's cool that it all came together."

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A Podium in Rome is 'a dream' for O'Connor

With another time trial of over thirty kilometers coming up in the second week, O'Connor is in a good position. The mountains will also loom large in stage ten and again at the end of the second week. "I'm among the best and I still feel pretty good. It's hard to target specific stages. I want to take it stage by stage and try to gain time on Dani (Martínez from BORA-hansgrohe) and Geraint (Thomas from INEOS Grenadiers) in particular. Reaching the podium in Rome is the dream. I need to be my best self every day."

"Tuesday will be immediately interesting, a 50-50 battle between the general classification and the breakaway," he points to an uphill finish. "We still want to try to win a stage with the team. That could happen from the breakaway on Tuesday; we have the riders for it. We don't want to put everything on me; these can coexist just fine. If you see how INEOS has repeatedly attacked with Narváez and Ganna, while still supporting Geraint… That's how you like to see it, every team ultimately wants to win a stage."

No trace of doubt, O'Connor has sunk his teeth into this Giro and seems ready to challenge for the podium. "My entire preparation was consistent, and I know where my limits are in terms of training volume. I've also found a better balance at home in pushing for fatigue but not exceeding it. This keeps me healthier. If I do go over the limit, I'm better off taking a step back rather than just training for the sake of training. I've been racing with the team for four years now, know everyone and have made good friends. We've now found the perfect way to prepare."