If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. After a broadly successful first week in the Giro d’Italia and with his notable time trial performance as one undoubted highlight, Ben O’Connor says he has no intention of changing his strategies in the next six days of the race.
Speaking to Cyclingnews and other media on the first rest day at Naples, an upbeat O’Connor went over his first week in detail and explained his pathway to his current GC position of fourth overall, 3:39 behind Tadej Pogačar.
He pointed out his time trialling has been improving steadily since midway through the 2023 season, with his top-ten performance in the Perugia time trial last Friday “the first chance for people to see that on the big stage.”
While the West Australian was palpably annoyed with himself after stage 2, where he attempted to chase down Pogačar on the Oropa summit finish, finally blowing up and losing a minute, eight days on, O’Connor took a much more positive spin on that defeat.
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“At least I was good enough to try,” O’Connor pointed out, “I still enjoyed that moment, even if it didn’t pay off.”
Overall the first week of the Giro had gone well for O’Connor. Although he pointed out that it “had been harder than I expected, particularly the sprint stages. I’m happy, there were a couple of moments which weren’t perfect, but overall we could see we’re ready for the rest of the race.”
O’Connor lost 2:06 to Pogačar but lost close to 30 seconds when he dropped his chain. He is 3:39 down on the dominant race leader but is in the fight for the podium places.
“I’m up there with the other five on GC, and I see myself as being one of the main contenders in the race,” he said with pride and confidence.
“I’m taking it stage by stage, trying to take time fighting for the podium against Dani Martinez and Geraint Thomas. If that eventually means getting onto the podium, that would be the dream. But you have to make sure to be at your best, day in and day out.”
Like his Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale teammates, O'Connor is enjoying a successful 2024 season. He is healthier and more consistent, reaping the fullest benefits of that progress at the Giro d’Italia.
He has been working with the same coach for four years, and the two have now reached a fully effective way of preparing the Australian best for his challenges and learning exactly where his limits lie in terms of training load.
“We’ve been putting me on that edge of fatigue but without going over it,” O’Connor explained.
The next step forward is to see how he handles the second week and second half of the Giro d’Italia, starting with Tuesday’s short but punchy stage and culminating in the 21-kilometre ascent of Cusano Mutri.
O’Connor said there would be a 50% chance for an early break to stick, given the entire stage is only 140 kilometres long, so it should not be too hard for the bunch to control.
The big question is how O’Connor’s improved form and consistency will play out against the top GC riders between Naples and Rome. Pogačar may or may not be beatable, but for now, he remains the ultimate reference point of the race.
“I’m here, I’m still racing, I have my aspirations,” O’Connor said. “If Pogi has a bad day, then he has a bad day. If he has an excellent day, then good for him.
“I’m going to keep on going with my approach, and If I can smash it on a stage, then I will. And I’ll get through the bad ones just as best as I can.”
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