2024 Season Review | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team: Ben O'Connor shines at the Vuelta a Espana, as the team shoots up the UCI rankings

Over the past few weeks, we have started to review each World Tour team’s 2024 season. So far, it feels as if we have done a lot of negative reviews, of teams who unfortunately underperformed this year. But that ends today, as we have a look at the superb season of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team.

The French outfit finished the year ranked sixth in the UCI rankings, up an incredible 12 positions from 18th the year before. The team had a very difficult 2023, and bounced back in magnificent style in 2024, something some of the other teams we have reviewed will hope to emulate in 2025.

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team finished the year on 15917 UCI points, a big improvement from 2023. The team was particularly strong in the spring, before having an epic conclusion to the Grand Tour season at the Vuelta a Espana. The team won an incredible 30 races in total throughout the year and picked up massive results in General Classifications as well.

Let’s look at how Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team turned around their form in 2024, and if there were any areas the team could still look to improve.

Ben O'Connor claimed the team’s first win of the season at the Vuelta Ciclista a la Region de Murcia. The race came alive on the climb of the Collado Bermejo, where an elite group including Sepp Kuss, Daniel Martinez, and O'Connor bridged to the leaders. O'Connor attacked on the descent towards the finish, securing victory with a 12-second lead over Tim Wellens and a much bigger gap over the rest of his rivals. This was the start of what would be a massive year for O’Connor and the team.

O’Connor kept up his strong form with a win on stage 3 of the UAE Tour, and came second overall in the GC to bring home 190 UCI points. Throughout the spring, O’Connor had strong finished in all the short stage races, and picked up fifth in the GC at Tirreno-Adriatico, and second in the Tour of the Alps.

Aurélien Paret-Peintre came fifth at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, contributing 100 points to the team. Despite his successes, this shows that there is still room for improvement for the team in the classcis, as Paret-Peintre’s fifth place at Liege was their best overall result in a monument. Whilst this is definitely a weakness, it’s one of very few for the team in 2024.

At the first grand tour of the year, the Giro d’Italia in May, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team picked up two stage wins. Valentin Paret-Peintre secured his first professional victory at the Bocca della Selva summit finish, and Andrea Vendrame claimed stage 19 with a solo attack 28km from the finish.

These were both massive results for the team, as was Ben O’Connor’s fourth place in the GC which brough in an important 220 UCI points. But, the Australian was disappointed to once again finish just off the podium at a grand tour, and a lot of his lost time can be put down to trying to follow Tadej Pogacar for too long on the second stage. Fortunately for O’Connor, his career defining moment (so far) was just around the corner.

The Tour de France in July brought perhaps the team’s most negative performance of the season. A lot had been made of the squad’s red-hot form throughout the spring season and Giro, and many predicted the team to pick up several stage wins at the Tour. After all, this is their home race, and in 2023 this was the race that rescued their season, particularly through Felix Gall. Perhaps this year, they made the wrong decision leaving O’Connor at home, as they failed to pick up a single stage win at the Tour, which was very underwhelming for the team after so much promise beforehand.

But the team had no reason to panic, as their greatest result of the season came next. On stage 6 of the Vuelta a Espana, Ben O’Connor launched a simply stunning solo attack to win the stage, taking with it the team’s 30th win of the year, and the red jersey from Primoz Roglic.

O'Connor joined a breakaway on the mountainous stage and seized the opportunity to attack. With 62 kilometres remaining, he made a decisive move with Gijs Leemreize. While the duo worked together initially, O'Connor's superior climbing ability allowed him to go solo on the penultimate climb. He continued to build his lead despite the absence of a chase from the peloton and secured a memorable stage win atop the final hilltop finish in Yunquera. This victory gave O’ Connor an impressive lead of over 6 minutes on the main peloton, and the main GC contenders including Roglic and Enric Mas.

O’Connor went on to hold the red jersey for nearly two weeks, but in the end the unstoppable Primoz Roglic finally reclaimed the jersey and his fourth Vuelta title on stage 19 on the Alto de Monclavillo. Still, O’Connor held on take second in the GC, securing his first ever grand tour podium, and team’s biggest points haul of the year: 290 points.

But he wasn’t done there, as a couple of weeks later, the Australian came second in the World Championship road race, finishing just behind the mighty Tadej Pogacar. This wrapped up what was comfortably the best year of his career.

The biggest transfer news is of course Ben O'Connor's departure to Team Jayco AlUla for 2025, which is a concern for the team going forwards. Having joined Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in 2021, O'Connor was comfortably the team’s most important rider this year. His stellar 2024 season included fourth at the Giro d'Italia, second at the Vuelta a Espana, and silver at the World Championships. The team bid him a heartfelt farewell, celebrating his development into one of the top 5 riders in the peloton.

New arrivals include Johannes Staune-Mittet from Visma | Lease a Bike. The 22-year-old Norwegian, who impressed in the U23 category with a win at the 2023 Giro Next Gen, will look to make an impact after a quiet 2024 season. Meanwhile, Alex Baudin has left for EF Education-EasyPost, and veteran Larry Warbasse has joined Tudor Pro Cycling Team. The experienced Luke Rowe, formerly of INEOS Grenadiers, has retired and will take on a new role as sports director at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in what could be an excellent managerial signing for the French team.

One thing is clear however, the team must look to fill the gap left by O’Connor. It’s little doubt they will be nervous departing with the Australian, and they may struggle to fill the gap he has left in the team.

To give Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team anything lower than 9/10 feels incredibly harsh, however some marks to have to be docked due to not winning a stage at the Tour de France. Apart from that, they truly were one of the very best teams in the peloton this year, and Ben O’Connor’s Vuelta podium is one of the team’s greatest ever moments. They were one of the standout performers of the spring, and we can’t forget their two wins at the Giro.

It’s set to be a hard task for the team to replicate this in 2025, especially without Ben O’Connor. But it is safe to say that 2024 was an exceptional year for the French outfit, and they deserve all the applause for their climb up the UCI rankings.