Decathlon AG2R Ramon Diar management confirmed that Ben O'Connor has no plans to race in this year's Tour de France after winning the Giro d'Italia in 4th place overall.

Speaking on 2 May, O'Connor made it clear that the Giro d'Italia will be his top grand tour priority this year. Despite being ill in week 3, he finished 4th overall in Rome, but Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale also won 2 mountain stage wins in the team classification with Valentin Paret-Peintre and Andrea Vendrame.

"In my eyes, the fourth of the Giro is very, very good. And honestly, when you are fourth overall after three weeks, it means you deserve fourth."とJurdieはフランスのウェブサcyclismactu.net He speaks Western Australian.

"He had a mechanical problem, there is no regret because there is no crash either." Ben made his race, tried to keep up with the best, but he got a little stuck sometimes."

The Tour de France decathlon team will be built Austrian Felix Gal with the aim of repeating his overall top ten from 2023, Jurdi said along with a repeat of his stage victories from last year. Sprinter Sam Bennett is also expected to target the sprint stage.

"There is currently a group of 12 riders and they all know they are on this list," Jurdie said.

"There is still time to narrow down the selection. Ben O'Connor Currently he is not one of the 12 riders to appear in this pre-selection 1. 

"It is up to us for the technical staff to make a decision and we have regular meetings to develop eight riders for tours in France. We have made progress in certain respects, but the importance of the Dauphine and the Tour de Switzerland is due to the fact that we are looking for benchmarks, especially in the mountains.

Jurdie also discussed the impressive first half of the season, when the team has claimed 23 wins so far in 2024. 

He also agrees with French sports Director Marc Madiot, who in another interview on the same website says Tadej Pogañar (UAE Team Emirates) is the odds・on favorite for the upcoming Tour de France.

"It's very exceptional to see a team ranked 2nd in the UCI classification and won 6-1 on 23."とJurdieは語ったcyclismact.net .

"We need to make the most of it, but we need to keep our feet on the ground. We had good, consistent, performance throughout the first part of the season.

"Of course there's a lot of pride when you see us running behind the UAE team Emirates, which is untouchable, but ahead of some very big teams it's really impressive.

Asked to explain the reasons for this considerable year-over-year hike in success, Jurdie put it to multiple causes, from the new title sponsor of 2024, Decathlon's boost and the switch to Van Rysel bikes. "We knew the data on the bike was good, but it was only on the ground that we were able to confirm it both in training camp and in the first race of the season," Jurdie said, adding that the high level of aerodynamics of the bike was a key factor.

On top of that, he said, last year's 12-month training camp had generated debate about the need to "take the team out of the comfort zone and change things.""

There have also been significant changes in the management companies that operate the team, including France Cyclisme, the new boss, Dominique Serie and the restructured company.

Jurdie argued that the debate to keep Valentin Paret-Peintre, who won the stage at the summit finish of the Giro's bocca della Selva (Cusano Mutri), was very advanced, even though it is now linked to the 2025 Soudal-QuickStep.

He added that Tardepogakal, the full winner of the Corsa Rosa, is also the main GC man of the 7th month.

"It will be a more intense struggle than a fight for maglia rosa, that's for sure. He will go there as the [favorite] number 1, and then there will be a great fight for the yellow," Jurdie predicted.