"I didn’t achieve what I wanted to. From a GC point of view, I wasn’t even close" - Ben O'Connor reflects on disappointing 2023 Tour de France

After finishing 4th overall at the 2021 Tour de France, before an injury-hampered attempt at the race in 2022 ended after just nine stages, Ben O'Connor had a point to prove this summer. Sadly though, the Aussie was unable to fully complete his goals.

“2022 was very different because I was injured, so I kind of had to write that off. I should have just abandoned earlier," O'Connor reflects on his recent experiences of the Tour de France in conversation with Cycling News. "2023 was just disappointing because I didn’t achieve what I wanted to. From a GC point of view, I wasn’t even close. I felt off at the race. I was a bit sick, and it took a long time for that to clear after the Tour de France. Something just wasn’t right.”

Despite his trials and tribulations at the last two editions of the race, the 28-year-old actually enjoyed this year's in particular, more than when he finished fourth overall. “I won the stage at Tignes and that was incredible, something I’ll never forget, but it wasn’t the Tour like I had imagined it,” he says, referencing the covid-era of racing, where support from the roadside was at a minimum. 

“I enjoyed the actual Tour de France itself more than 2021, just not from the results perspective,” O’Connor explains. “The atmosphere was ridiculous the whole way through. I don’t know if that was because of this Netflix series or whether this was just a normal Tour de France and I just hadn’t experienced it before, but it was an eye-opener. That’s something I won’t take for granted, that feeling of being in the biggest race in the world.”

Leader of a French-based team, there is slightly extra pressure on O'Connor to impress. Thankfully for him though, whilst he faltered in the GC battle, his teammate Felix Gall thrived. “I’m so glad he was there,” O’Connor admits.

“Look, we’re a French team, and if you don’t perform on the Tour, it doesn’t look very good at all. It definitely doesn’t feel very good either, so I was glad he was there moving super well, because if not we would have been in a bit of trouble," he explains. “Working for him was really easy. I had my chance, and I fluffed it with the Bilbao stage. If I was good enough, I would for sure be looking to ride for myself, but I wasn’t. You have to be honest. This is what cycling is about, it’s about sacrifice at times.”

With the coming year marking his fourth with the newly named Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team, O'Connor is still feeling good about the future as a Grand Tour leader. “I really enjoy it, and the only time I haven’t performed is when I’ve been sick,” he says. “If you were just underperforming in general, then I think the leadership role would really take a hit, because you would feel like you’re not good enough and you don’t deserve the boys sacrificing themselves for you.

“When you come down ill, it feels more like it’s completely out of your hands, but you still feel a lot of guilt. You know you’ve put a lot of effort in, and the boys are trying to help you, but you just can’t get it done. But that’s more frustrating than anything," he concludes. "You bear the responsibility for it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love it. I think I’m physically capable of doing it. If you didn’t have that self-belief, you wouldn’t really be a good leader.”