Ben O'Connor: Baby face becomes conqueror

[pastronef]

He attacked and nobody followed. Once again getting the most out of the disrespect of his peers.

if they didn't care about a silver medal it's not his fault

 

[Ilmaestro99]

New Wout Van Aert

Not true, he has good tactics, and gets the most out of his physical abilities

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

Hard to name a rider who has maximized results based on his abilities as much as him (maybe Gilbert? @Red Rick lol). Now has 4th in the Tour, 4th in the Giro, 2nd at Vuelta and 2nd at WCC to his palmares. Pretty insane resume for what I would consider a 2nd tier rider.

 

[AnotherArmChair]

I dont know what ye are all talking about.
Everyone but Pog is a second tier rider

 

[proffate]

I dont know what ye are all talking about.
Everyone but Pog is a second tier rider

I'm stoked to learn I'm in the same tier as mvdp.

 

[Savant12]

He attacked and nobody followed. Once again getting the most out of the disrespect of his peers.

I think he just timed his attack perfectly. Many riders tried to get away but were caught, and he just waited and followed and then went when there was a brief lull and at that time nobody could follow him.

 

[Peter von]

I think he just timed his attack perfectly. Many riders tried to get away but were caught, and he just waited and followed and then went when there was a brief lull and at that time nobody could follow him.

indeed, great timing from Ben, and great riding to stay well clear.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Ben O'Connor delivers a spectacular solo win for Jaco when it matters the most.

 

[yaco]

I expect a better overall performance at the Vuelta.

 

[Gobbo]

What a ride from him today. Epic win I am happy for him, since he is such a funny and charismatic character...

 

[jmdirt]

Congrats BOC!

 

[dobrien]

Fantastic win, truly happy for him (and his team).

 

[CyclistAbi]

Chapeau!

 

[42x16ss]

I expect a better overall performance at the Vuelta.

me too, but to be fair, that stage1 crash wasn't really one he could have avoided

 

[42x16ss]

He attacked and nobody followed. Once again getting the most out of the disrespect of his peers.

At this point of a GT and a stage like that, if nobody responds it's usually because they can't

 

[P4rthen0n]

Great win by Ben!!

And out of nowhere he is in the top10!

 

[Cookster15]

Great win today. I see BoC's big win is surprisingly the top story today at Fox Sports Australia. A site more renowned for mainstream sports like football codes, cricket and Formula 1 ....

‘About time’: Aussie outshines world’s best with stunning Tour triumph on ‘brutal’ mountain stage

‘Never lived anything so hard’: Aussie crushes top rivals in shock Tour triumph

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[movingtarget]

Hopefully he can clean up another stage win at the Vuelta if he rides. He said he had much better legs yesterday.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Great ride. 5000cals before they even started Loze does indeed sound huge.

O’Connor showed true class after leaving his final breakaway companion, Movistar’s Einer Rubio, 16km from the finish. “It was the perfect scenario for me to win, knowing that I actually had legs today compared to other days in the race. We got to the bottom of the climb and it was already pretty much 5,000 calories burnt,” O’Connor said.

“Like, that’s huge - huge. And that’s at the bottom of the climb. And then another hour to go. So it’s one of those situations where I know I’m good in that scenario. It’s all about managing your efforts, managing also when you get rid of your fellow breakaway companions. And you have to be sure that that’s gonna be the right move to go it alone. I’ve pretty much always gone solo when I’ve won, so I think I’ve got a good knack now of figuring out when to go or not.”

 

[yaco]

me too, but to be fair, that stage1 crash wasn't really one he could have avoided

My reference was to Jayco's overall preparation for O'Connor leading to the TDF. They tried an old school preparation where you start the season off on a low base and then build to your major target. This creates two problems. The first problem is when you forgo the beginning of the season, then you have a crash in stage one, and then you forgo GC aspirations. Secondly, O'Connor works best when he starts the season in good shape and then maintains it. Anyway, there will be a change of emphasis in 2026, so expect to see O'Connor over the Aussie summer.

 

[ice&fire]

At this point of a GT and a stage like that, if nobody responds it's usually because they can't

Look at the date of the post you respond to and try to figure out what was the race I was watching when I posted it.

 

[Cookster15]

Surprised to read O'Conner mentioned here in the possible contenders. He is a long shot but maybe not impossible to grab 3rd? BOC has impressed last two years. Finished 11th on GC at the TdF but his win on Loze was very impressive. And with a climbing heavy and TT light parcours 2026 route that helps him too.

Tour de France 2026 contenders – Analysing the riders who will be in the battle for yellow next July

Following the route announcement, here's the current state of affairs regarding the favourites, the outsiders and the total dark horses

www.cyclingnews.com

 

[Squire]

Surprised to read O'Conner mentioned here in the possible contenders. He is a long shot but maybe not impossible to grab 3rd? BOC has impressed last two years. Finished 11th on GC at the TdF but his win on Loze was very impressive. And with a climbing heavy and TT light parcours 2026 route that helps him too.

Tour de France 2026 contenders – Analysing the riders who will be in the battle for yellow next July

Following the route announcement, here's the current state of affairs regarding the favourites, the outsiders and the total dark horses

www.cyclingnews.com

Random anglo media content generation. Also the route does O'Connor no favours. Pretty much just one massive grindy mountain stage and lots of explosive/lighter stuff.

To be fair, there aren't that many exciting guys not on the biggest teams, so Cyclingnews might as well pick an Anglophone rider for that article I guess. But I'm picking Onley as highest placed English-speaker on GC.

 

[yaco]

O'Connor will perform much better in 2026 because he will be fit from the start of the season, instead of this year's slow build up to the TDF in which he never got into top shape. Expect him to be in good shape for the Aussie summer.

 

[Netserk]

He is just not a very good climber. Especially on modern routes.

He is great in longer, grinding slogs. Greatest GT successes have been breaks.

The freshest efforts in the Tour were the MTT and Ventoux. He was horrible. In the Vuelta it were Moncalvillo and Ancares.