"I can be up there in that top ten for sure" - Ben O'Connor keeps high ambitions under control at Tour de France

Ben O'Connor comes as an outsider for the Tour de France and one of the many contenders for the podium. Whilst Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard will be in the fight for victory, most expect, many others have their eyes on the podium.

"I just think it's understanding that even when you are at your very best it's just luck, or bad luck, or chance or fate that takes you out, making you unable to perform," O'Connor said in an extensive interview with Cyclingnews. "So I guess it's dealing with that first of all, and not getting too far ahead of yourself, because in the end of the race there’s going to be the stress and the situations where you have to make the right calls on the road. And if you're creating it a little bit, either at home or within the team beforehand, it doesn't help.”

O'Connor comes as the sole leader of AG2R Citroën Team, which brings in a lineup fully ready to help him both on the flat days and in the mountains. It's a more GC-guided team than usual, and with good reason as the Australian comes - as was the case last year - from a third place at the Criterium du Dauphiné, where he returned to his best form at the right time.

“I want to get cracking and finish the Tour de France again, see Paris and have that overwhelming feeling of accomplishment which fills you after the three week journey. And wherever you finish is wherever you finish, as you know that along that road you’ll try not to make as many mistakes and give everything."

O'Connor talks of a successful 2022 where he had managed to put all the pieces of the puzzle together ahead of the Tour, but he then crashed in the cobblestone stage to Arenberg and his subsequent injuries saw him abandon the race without giving a fight. He still rode to eighth on the Vuelta a Espana later on in the year, but this year he had been far from his best.

“Last year was really, really incredible because I was able to put together good races the whole way throughout the year up until The Tour. Whilst this year hasn't really been technically like that, not for lack of trying, but it just didn't work out," he explains. "So, yeah, I guess there are a number of different ways you can prepare, but this year looks like the slow build."

But at the Criterium du Dauphiné he has shown his best legs once again, by putting in a very strong time-trial, followed by consistent performances in the two mountain stages which earned him the spot. “I can't lie, I was a little nervous at the start. Nervous to know where I was sitting. I had some good, honest chats with the team. Just some genuine, thorough feedback with me asking ‘look I actually can't tell, am I good or not? Just tell me if I'm not good enough at this time!'"

"You want to know where you sit. You always want to compare yourself. Even if you know a Grand Tour is a different beast to a one-week stage race, it's nice to compare yourself and think going into the Tour that you're in with a good shot, that you've got a good chance to perform well in the race.” Sure enough the response was positive, and enough to convince AG2R Citroën Team to make changes in the lineup in favour of supporting him.

“2021 (where he eventually finished fourth) was the massive crash and I thought everything was broken, then last year, you know, the first road stage I also went down – it wasn't my fault crashing, you were just in the shit show. I'm just very keen to get past that and then enjoy the actual racing part of it.”

However despite his promising results, he talks of a place in the Top10, and not exactly of a higher spot, perhaps controlling the pressure put on himself. “I think just looking at Dauphiné, I know I can be up there in that top ten for sure. And you know, I dream of being able to finish further than that but in the end I would still be happy finishing in the top ten. I believe that personally I can do a result similar to what I did in 2021. But yeah, I don't really want to jinx myself."