Ahead of his first trip to the Giro d'Italia since 2020, Ben O'Connor showed some impressive form at the Tour of the Alps, bagging himself a finish of 2nd overall behind Juan Pedro Lopez.
"We can be very pleased with how we managed the game, being aggressive," the Australian reflected post-stage to the official channels of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team as teammate Aurelien Paret-Peintre sprinted to the stage win of Friday afternoon from a reduced bunch and Valentin Paret-Peintre moved up to 4th overall with some bonus seconds.
"We were probably the strongest team here and so I am proud of everyone," O'Connor continues. "Aurélien's victory was very cool, he worked hard for me and has now seized his chance. I'm now going to take good care of myself for the next two weeks, let all the work sink in and then go to the Giro with ambitions."
A stage winner at the Giro d'Italia back in 2020, O'Connor hasn't been back to the race since. Instead, as leader of a French-based team, much of his focus has been on the Tour de France, even finishing 4th overall back in 2021. Based on his current form, O'Connor seems a viable challenger for a first career Grand Tour podium in Italy next month.
🇮🇹 @Tourof_TheAlps 🥈 @ben_oconnor95 termine 2e du classement général final 👊 Un bon retour à la compétition à 2 semaines du Giro d'Italia. 4⃣ @Valent1_Paret était tout proche du podium au général, il termine à la 4e place 👏👏 🥈 @ben_oconnor95 finishes 2nd in the GC 👊 A…
