Ben O’Connor sets sights on 2025 after superb Vuelta a Espana performance: “I’m definitely going back to the Tour de France”
Cycling
Ben O’Connor’s 2024 season was nothing short of outstanding,
marked by a strategic decision to skip the Tour de France. His struggles during
the 2023 Tour, captured in the popular Netflix documentary Tour de France:
Unchained, were well-documented, but this year he turned his fortunes
around with remarkable performances in other major races.
The Australian rider finished fourth in the Giro d’Italia
and secured his first Grand Tour podium at the Vuelta a España in September,
coming in second behind the formidable Primoz Roglic. O’Connor’s defence of the
red jersey was impressive, as he held onto it from stages 6 to 18 before
ultimately being overtaken by Roglic, who went on to claim his fourth Vuelta
title.
Having been with the UCI WorldTeam Decathlon–AG2R La
Mondiale since 2021, O’Connor is now set to join Team Jayco-AlUla for the 2025
season. In an interview with Cyclingnews, O’Connor reflected on his
successful 2024 season and his aspirations with his new team.
Speaking about his upcoming season, the 28-year-old said,
“We have brief plans, but we don’t have any set kind of thing that we are going
to jump into.” However, he confirmed his main focus: “I’m definitely going to
go back to the Tour though, that’s for sure. That’s probably the main aim, I'd
love to give that race another crack and see how it ends up.”
O’Connor’s consistent performances throughout the year
earned him fourth place in the UCI rider rankings, even surpassing the highly
regarded Mathieu van der Poel. Reflecting on his season, O’Connor said, “I
think it'd be hard to beat as an overall season. To be fourth in the world,
that ranking was a bit silly. I really didn't expect an overall season to be
that good. That's a really honouring kind of number.
“It just shows this level of consistency throughout the
whole year and that probably, for me, is almost the thing I’m most proud of for
the year.”
Looking ahead, O’Connor is eager to take on the Tour de
France with his new team, Jayco-AlUla. “To be an Aussie GC guy, going to the
Tour with an Aussie team; I don't know if they've really had that before,” he
remarked. “I think that's an exciting thing for Aussie cycling, to be honest.”
As O’Connor prepares to embark on this new chapter, cycling
fans will be watching closely to see how he fares in 2025, as he looks to build
on his successes and take on the world’s most prestigious cycling race once
more.
Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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