Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was hoping to finish on the final Tirreno-Adriatico podium but fifth place, 2:24 down on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) was another confirmation of his consistency in 2024 as he builds towards the Giro d’Italia.
The Western Australian is also in a contract year and determined to take control of his own destiny be it at Decathlon AG2R or elsewhere. He has also learnt from the disappointments of 2023.
O’Connor was just 32 seconds down on fellow Australian Jai Hindley and third place overall and was always part of the select group of climbers who fought the placings behind Vingegaard.
“It was incredible what Jonas did yesterday. I did the best I could, I tried to follow for a while but it was a useless attempt,” O’Connor told Cyclingnews.
“Today I rode thinking about the podium but it didn’t work out.”
O’Connor didn’t ride the Tour Down Under this year but has already raced for 24 days, as he front-loads his season to ensure he is ready for the Giro d’Italia.
He won the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia one-day race on his season debut and then won the stage to Jabel Jais at the UAE Tour, just missing out on overall victory to Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny).
Tirreno-Adriatico was a final goal before he takes a break and begins his final preparation for the Corsa Rosa. He returns to the Giro d’Italia for the first time since 2020, where he took his maiden Grand Tour victory at Madonna di Campiglio, securing his move to AG2R La Mondiale for 2021.
“If you target the Giro, you have to be good from the start of the season. I think the only person who can do a slow build is Geraint Thomas, everyone else tries to be good from the word go,” the Australian explained.
“I’m not doing a lot of races but I want to do well in every race I do. It’s important to perform and to be at my level.”
“If I’m healthy I think I can win races and consistently be in that top five in races like Tirreno-Adriatico. If I only peak for the Giro, I’m going to miss out on opportunities and there’s also a lot of risk to a slow build. If I crash out of the Giro on stage 2, my race can be over and I’d have wasted half a season. I think it’s possible to hold good for all year and then hope it peaks during a Grand Tour. That’s my plan.”
O’Connor’s contract with Decathlon AG2R ends this year. He won a mountain stage to Tignes, finished fourth overall in the 2021 Tour de France and became the…
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