Ben O'Connor stormed to a 4th place at the 2021 Tour de France, and had big goals coming into 2022 off the back of it. It's been a very mixed season however, with injuries and illnesses occasionally wrecking his goals.
"I think it was really good. I can't fault the season, really," O'Connor told Rouleur. "I think I did everything I could have for it to be a good season. I was top 10 in pretty much every single race I did. That's already quite a good achievement." The 26-year old was a leading figure for AG2R Citroën Team, who attempted to build a block around him for the year following his GC success.
"Even in a race I DNFed like Paris-Nice with whatever that nasty bird flu was that was going around, I was in the front echelons and I'm proud of that. Even if I didn't get the result in the end, those days were actually a success because you braved it out and actually learned a new skill really," he said. His stage-racing abilities were a priority, early in the season he rode to 7th at the Vuelta a Andalucia, 7th at Volta a Catalunya and 5th at the Tour de Romandie, besides taking a win at the Tour du Jura.
After finishing third at the Critérium du Dauphiné behind only Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard, he was touted as an outsider favourite for the Tour. He crashed on the 5th stage in the cobbles however, suffering a torn muscle which saw him abandon at the arrival of the Alps. He refocused however and led the French team into the Vuelta a Espana.
"Although at the Vuelta I was expecting more. I really wanted to be in the top five. I just wasn't good enough at the time. I tried the GC way and I just couldn't reach that peak like I had done earlier in the year at the Dauphiné and heading into the Tour," he said. The Australian nevertheless rode into a strong 8th place of a highly contested race.
"I'm happy with it. I can only say that I wish I was more aggressive at one or two races like at the Tour of Romandie. Otherwise, I think I took my chances pretty well. Got two wins in the year, which is good," he commented. "There were some days I was good. Arensman was so strong on the Sierra Nevada stage and that was a day I really looked to try and do well in. He took the win, and I was a bit sad that I couldn't give it a go. On the last day, I was really keen and motivated, but I didn't have the legs. That was the essence of it."
"You have to remember that last year it was only Romandie, Dauphiné and the Tour that I was in the top 10," he said. "Romandie [2021] was my first top 10 in a WorldTour stage race and now I can do it in every WorldTour stage race. So, I think that shows that I've kind of made it." Now, O'Connor looks to continue his run of consistency into 2023, a season where it is not yet known which races he will be prioritizing.
"I went all-in for it and I wanted to see with the preparation that I had how I could maximise it," he said. "It wasn't my objective at the start of the year and then it turned out to be quite a big objective.
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