Not competing in the 2024 Tour de France has worked out pretty well for Ben O'Connor.

The Australian earned his first Grand Tour podium at the Vuelta a España. He finished his last season with Decathlon-AG2R in fourth place in the UCI world ranking.

Before the Tour de France criterium, O'Connor spoke to Cycling News in Saitama, Japan.

“They gave me the freedom not to participate in the Tour, and to be fair, our family was expecting a baby at that time.

A year free from the pressure of the “Tour's boiler room” has been good for the Perth-born athlete. However, after his move to Jayco Aroura, he will return to France in July.

“I have a simple plan, but nothing set in stone that I'm going to jump into,” O'Connor said of his schedule for his first season at Jayco Aloura.

“I'm definitely going back to the Tour. That would be my main goal, and I want to give that race another shot and see how it turns out."

”I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it back to the Tour.

However, things will change, as “different teams do things differently.”

One example is the two-pronged approach generally taken by Jayco Aroura, with a sprint group led by Dylan Groenewegan running alongside the GC contenders.

“It's new for me,” said O'Connor, who in 2021, his first year with AG2R, took a stage win and fourth overall in the Tour de France.

O'Connor may have left Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale in 2024, but the birth of his first child in mid-year did not dampen his ambitions.

O'Connor not only won a stage at La Vuelta a España and finished second overall in the Grand Tour, but also won the UAE Tour, the Tour of the Alps, and the World Championships road race with a silver medal behind Tadej Pogachar, an impressive runner-up He continues to do so.

The consistency of his top finishes throughout the season was remarkable. The year started with a win at the Vuelta Murcia and a stage win in the UAE Tour, but in addition to the aforementioned runner-up finish, he never finished outside the top five overall in a stage race. He was fifth in Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth in the Giro d'Italia.

This consistency propelled O'Connor to fourth in the 2024 UCI rider rankings, behind Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates), Remco Evenepoel (Sourdal-Quick Step), and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Desseuninck), He was just behind Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck).

“I think it will be hard to win with my overall record this season,” O'Connor said.

“Fourth in the world was kind of a ridiculous ranking. It was kind of ridiculous to be ranked fourth in the world. It's a really honored number.”

“We were able to show this level of consistency throughout the year.

“Things worked out the way I always envisioned,” said a satisfied O'Connor, affable and chatty away from the stress and intensity of racing.

“I've always seen my progress and the cohesiveness of the team as we've gone along this way.

“Having teammates who are willing to give 100% of their all, not only for themselves, but for the team effort and for the team's goals.

“That was another thing. At La Vuelta this year, I was helped by my teammates, they were selfless, proud, and strong.

In his last race with the French team, he defended the race leader's red jersey for 13 days. Said O'Connor: “It was a great period in my career, and now I'm turning the page on the next one.”

The 28-year-old O'Connor will not only provide Jayco Alura with a Grand Tour podium contender to replace Simon Yates, but will also help rally the public behind his home team as attention turns to the yellow battle at the Tour de France in July.

“To be the GC boys of Aussie, to go to the Tour with the Aussie team.

“I honestly think it's an exciting thing for Aussie cycling. Stay tuned for a feature on Ben O'Connor's hopes for the future and his move to the Aussie team in Cycling News in the coming weeks.

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