Winning the hardest stage of the Tour de France will surely remain a major highlight of Ben O’Connor‘s career long after he has retired. But globally, injuries and crashes and subsequent GC setbacks meant that overall the Australian could not enjoy or do the racing the way he wanted – and at the Vuelta a España the Jayco-AlUla leader is feeling far more upbeat all round.
As the runner-up overall in the 2024 Vuelta sees it, compared to the 2025 Tour, in the Spanish equivalent event, he’s able to do what he calls “some straightforward racing.”
So far, O’Connor has quietly kept himself in the GC battle without any standout moments, but without any disasters, either. After shedding a little time in Andorra but then staying with the main group at the second Pyrenean summit finish of Cerler, he’s currently lying 17th at 3:53 on leader Torstein Træen (Bahrain Victorious).
“Yesterday [Friday] was good, much better [than Thursday], the final climb wasn’t as hard as we probably expected, so it was a shame not to get more out of it, but there’s plenty more to come,” O’Connor told reporters at the stage 8 start in Monzón.
Regarding the major GC battles, he said, “I think just purely the nature of the course has been pretty straightforward, and ultimately not that technical – but it’s going to come.”
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