Ben O’Connor sets sights on 2025 after superb Vuelta a Espana performance: “I’m definitely going back to the Tour de France”

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.