Ben O'Connor reacts to his disastrous opening weekend at the Tour de France: "I'm simply not good enough at the moment"
Cycling
After finishing fourth at the 2021 Tour de France, similarly big things were expected of Ben O'Connor going into the 2023 edition of the race. After the opening weekend of racing however, that now seems unlikely.
Just two stages down and O'Connor has already lost time on both of them. At the start of the third stage, AG2R Citroen Team's big general classification hope currently sits 27th overall, 1:41 down on the overall leader Adam Yates. “Strangely, I'm simply not good enough at the moment,” he admits to Cycling News.
Things were made even worse for O'Connor on the second stage as he was one of the riders to hit the deck in a nasty crash. "I fell on two other riders, I'm sure they were worse off than me," said the 27-year-old Australian. “I was good until almost on top of the Jaizkibel, but after that I was really bad.”
“It's not ideal, but it doesn't mean I can't finish in the top ten of the final standings," he continues, casting a ray of hope on the situation. "We now get two sprint days and then we have the Pyrenees. I will continue to do my best and see if the top ten is still possible.”
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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