“Hopefully I can follow Pogacar when he attacks" - Ben O'Connor expecting GC attacks on stage 2 of Giro d'Italia
Cycling
Crossing the line in 19th place on stage 1, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team's Ben O'Connor already finds himself 14 seconds down on Tadej Pogacar at the 2024 Giro d'Italia.
With a mountainous finale to stage 2 on the mythical slopes of Oropa, the Australian is predicting more GC attacks this afternoon. “The first day is always tricky, it's different for each person. I often have some difficulty getting started, that's why I'm happy that I rode well yesterday," reflected O'Connor in his pre-race interview ahead of stage 2.
Although Tadej Pogacar didn't manage to take the stage on the opening day, that honour going to Jhonatan Narvaez of the INEOS Grenadiers, the Slovenian managed to take time on all his main rivals and O'Connor is expecting Pogacar to attack again on stage 2.
Will the Australian be able to match the UAE Team Emirates leader on Oropa? “Hopefully I can follow Pogacar when he attacks," O'Connor assesses. "I'm going to try to ride my best climb and then I'll see where it ends up.”
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
Loading
🇫🇷@trobroleon C'est parti pour les ribinoù ! and Off they go! #DECATHLONAG2RLAMONDIALETEAM - © A.S.O./Lucas Blonce Lossec
5 Comments