Why O'Connor and Decathlon AG2R could become the big entertainers of the Giro's final week: "Ben just goes all out"

For two weeks, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team had to cling to the back of Ben O'Connor's bike, especially after he exhausted himself on day two by trying to follow Tadej Pogacar. After that mistake and two excellent time trials, the Australian enters the decisive final week of the Giro d'Italia in fourth place in the GC. With a lot of mountains ahead, the French team is finally letting their leader loose...

O'Connor made it perfectly clear at his press conference on the first rest day. "Looking back now, I regret it, but I also enjoyed it," said the 28-year-old climber, reflecting on his attempt to follow Pogacar up Oropa. It ultimately cost him 33 seconds to riders like Geraint Thomas and Daniel Felipe Martínez, which is roughly the full deficit he had before the fifteenth stage.

It was a brave act, although O'Connor called himself "the dumbest rider in the peloton" shortly after finishing. However, that's also who he is, as he put it so beautifully last Monday. "Ultimately, I'm a cyclist and I have 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 do it again. You might lose some seconds sometimes, but you also don't want to regret not trying. I'm here to race."

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Warbasse knows no one who can make themselves suffer as much as O'Connor

A true racer, which is also how Larry Warbasse describes his team leader. The 33-year-old American has been riding with him for several seasons. "We haven’t seen the best of him yet. This Giro has mainly been about holding him back, especially after that second day. The last week is very tough, so until now it's been a game of waiting. That waiting ends on Sunday, when the real race begins. We're going to see a lot of action and dead bodies at the finish."

"It could be a great day for the team," Warbasse says with a sense of understatement. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale already won a stage on day ten with Valentin Paret-Peintre and has often been involved in the breakaway. His brother Aurélien Paret-Peintre is also riding impressively strong, as is Alex Baudin. The team has an incredibly strong block for the mountains, but: "It's too easy to say that we should go all-in in the stage towards Livigno. It's going to be a really big day and we need to be smart about it. You don't want to blow up your men too early, we need our bullets for the final climb and the final week."

In the upcoming mountain stages, O'Connor will then try to realize his podium ambitions. According to Warbasse, that is a realistic goal. "I'm quite conservative as a rider and Ben is the complete opposite. But that's also why he's so successful as a rider. He takes risks that others wouldn't take because they think too much. Ben just goes all out and I know no one who can make themselves suffer as much as him. I was with him at altitude on Mount Etna and he really pushed himself to the limit there. Apparently, he likes pain, which is a good trait for a cyclist to have!"

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Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and O'Connor are excelling in 2024

That shift in Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's favor is also due to the financial boost the team received last winter with Decathlon becoming a sponsor, according to Warbasse. "It's motivating when a new sponsor comes in. They invest a lot of time in the equipment, coming to the training camps, and they were here at the Giro on a time trial day. The engineer rides with us and asks for feedback. Decathlon is very involved. They've tested all our riders on the track and with that motivation, we head to the races."

That's paid off. At the time of writing, the French team has already won eighteen times in 2024. That's up from twelve, eleven and nine wins in the last three seasons respectively... "When you see your friends winning, you want to win yourself. And now the focus is much more on winning, rather than everyone just performing well. We no longer go to a race with five leaders, but with one. We've always had a high level as a team, but it's cool that high-level guys are now going all-in for a man at the highest level. That's how you win races."

O'Connor's performance in stage 14's time trial (which was good for a seventh place) told the whole story. Never before had he ridden a time trial with a 62-tooth front chainring, but in 2024 he's so good that he can do it successfully. "It's nice to see that the hard work pays off."