ANALYSIS | Ben O'Connor: A Podium At Last?

Ben O’Connor’s Grand Tour career has often been a story of what could have been. His moments of brilliance, such as powerful solo attacks, have often been undone by one too many bad days where his legs failed him.

Despite his immense potential, O'Connor has had a tendency to fall just short when it mattered most. But his victory on Stage 6 of the 2024 La Vuelta a España feels like a culmination of years of near misses and what could have been.

The 28-year-old Australian, who finished fourth in the 2024 Giro d’Italia, stormed into the red jersey after a dominating ride on stage 6’s hilly stage. Despite his impressive Giro result earlier this year, rival teams failed to take the threat seriously as O'Connor was given the freedom to join the breakaway on the stage. The break was where the action was always likely to happen, and O'Connor made the most of the opportunity, not only taking the stage win but also seizing the overall lead with a significant margin over former leader Primož Roglič.

A long time coming

The day began with the promise of a breakaway victory, as dozens of riders sought to escape early on the stage. With the GC riders in the mix—aware that time could be gained just as Sepp Kuss had done on a similar stage last year—the early kilometres were fast-paced and chaotic. A large group of over 30 riders went up the road before the first significant climb, but it was on the ascent that O’Connor showed his class.

A select group of breakaway contenders formed, including Florian Lipowitz, Cristián Rodríguez, and fellow Australian Jay Vine. Although there were other strong climbers in the mix, O'Connor was clearly the man to watch. The Australian executed a powerful move, going solo in the final kilometres and extending his lead over the peloton with every turn of the pedals. As the road tilted upward toward Yunquera, he powered ahead to take a decisive victory, putting over six minutes into the chasing pack.

This was a performance not just of strength but of supreme confidence. O’Connor, often the near man of stage racing, rode like a man who knew his time had come. The red jersey is now his, with a significant lead heading into the weekend.

O’Connor’s win on Stage 6 has been a long time coming. He has always been a rider capable of winning stages and contending for high places in the General Classification, but his career has often been littered with setbacks. His fourth-place finish at the 2021 Tour de France was a breakthrough, but even that performance had its ups and downs. After crashing early in the race, O’Connor pulled off an extraordinary solo win on Stage 9 in Tignes. His ride to victory was a display of his climbing prowess and grit, but he also had to survive moments of weakness on other stages, nearly cracking on the cruel slopes of Mont Ventoux. That Tour saw him miss the podium by a whisker, and the story was much the same at the 2024 Giro d’Italia, where he again finished fourth, just shy of the top three.

In that Giro, O'Connor showed his aggressive racing style, trying to follow Tadej Pogačar's brutal attack on Stage 2. While his ambition was clear, he went too deep into the red and ended up losing time—a hallmark of his career to date. He has often dared to race on the limit, sometimes paying the price for it. Should O’Connor have paced himself as Geraint Thomas did in the wake of Pogacar, the Australian would not have lost so much time.

O’Connor is also in a unique position, in that his trials and tribulations have been well documented on the popular Netflix series, Tour de France Unchained. In both the first and second series of the show, O’Connor’s frustrations and disappointing performances were covered in depth during the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Tour de France. O’Connor appeared to lack self-confidence, and could not replicate his 2021 form in either of the following tours.

But O’Connor’s decision to skip this year’s edition of the Tour de France may have provided him with the necessary escape from the limelight, as he appears to have truly regained his form and come back stronger, and more importantly, more confident in his abilities.

What next?

The victory in La Vuelta may mark a turning point for O'Connor. Known for his consistency over three-week races, he’ll now face the challenge of holding onto the red jersey in the high mountains to come. He’s had the taste of Grand Tour success before, but this time the stakes are higher. O'Connor is not just a stage hunter; he's now a serious contender for the overall victory. The questionable tactics of Roglic’s Red Bull team, and the fact that there is a general lack of GC firepower in the race, means that O’Connor has a genuine chance of wearing the red jersey in Madrid.

As he heads into the weekend with a comfortable lead, O'Connor will be hoping to finally banish the ghost of fourth places and bad days. If he can keep his momentum going, this could be the moment he delivers on the enormous potential that has been evident throughout his career. For now, O'Connor can savour this long-awaited triumph, but the hardest days are yet to come. Whether he can maintain his form and withstand the inevitable attacks from riders like Roglič and Almeida remains to be seen.

As O’Connor leaves Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale for new beginnings in 2025, he will want to mark the end of his tenure with the French outfit with the greatest moments of his career so far. What is certain is that this stage win, and the red jersey, has been years in the making.