INTERVIEW | "I'm all for GC" - Despite difficult spring, Ben O'Connor dreams of returning to the top of Tour de France

Ben O'Connor is leading Team Jayco AlUla at the Tour de France and this year will mark his return after an incredibly successful 2024. Now with an Australian team, he reports an environment that is quite enjoyable, and despite not having the hoped results throughout the spring, his aim is fully on finishing high in the Tour's overall classification as discussed with CyclingUpToDate.

In 2024, the Australian won the Vuelta a Murcia; finished second at the UAE Tour and Tour of the Alps; fifth at Tirreno-Adriatico and fourth at the Giro d'Italia by the time he got to June. The 29-year old did not have the same results this time around, but that is explained by an illness during the winter that then did not allow him to reach the desired level.

"Yeah, I just got sick in February. And then at the end of every race, it just kind of all rolled on together. I was sick for the prep[aration], and then I just couldn't click," he said in words to CyclingUpToDate and Cyclingnews at the team's hotel in Lille. "I've gone into races having some illness in the past. I won a stage in Catalunya (2022 edition, ed.) I had the leader's jersey there. I remember at the first stage, someone came up to me and said 'you sound terrible'. I said, I'm fine. I just got this filthy cough. I still won the stage, then like fifth overall".

"Sometimes it hits you in a much different way than what you think. It's hard to gauge how much effect it's going to have. That's probably the reason why it didn't go as well as I hoped but I'm here ready now". In anticipation to the Tour, O'Connor trained at altitude and then raced the Tour de Suisse. He came out of it with a seventh place, a modest result for the list of competitors that was at the start.

"Probably not my best. I reckon I just probably suffered a touch from just being a bit overdone coming from altitude". But he shrugs off that result, and has kept his focus in the bigger picture the whole time.

"The aim is here. I would have loved to have ended up being top three in Suisse, because I had a great gap on stage one from that kind of mood I got away in. But that's just what happened. We're preparing for the Tour and in the end, the most important thing is to be flying here".

The Australian team will be supporting Dylan Groenewegen in the sprint stages - and potentially a yellow jersey on the first stage - whilst the focus on O'Connor will come later in the race. Still, for the first nine stages, there is the need to stay in touch of the first positions.

"I think being extremely attentive. I think we're going to get quite a lot of wind in general. It looks like there's going to be a fair bit. So I think there's going to be some opportunities there where someone won't be ready, someone will miss it, hopefully it's not me, and then that can be a huge gain that you can have. But yeah, I think the first week in general is about not losing time.

When questioned regarding the possibility of perhaps chasing stage wins, taking into consideration the incredibly high level at this Tour, he puts it aside. The overall classification is the only thing in the Australian's mind. "Yeah, I mean, I'm all for GC, and if it ends up that I have to target stages, then so be it. I want to race again in the Tour de France doing GC and be within that top ten realm of guys".

In 2021 O'Connor was already fourth at the Grand Boucle and won a stage at the time in Tignes. Matching such a performance in 2025 would be perhaps more impressive taking into consideration how much the climbing level in the peloton has increased in such a short period of time. However a relaxed O'Connor, in a good mood, has put aside the need to replicate what he's done in the past.

"You always want to put a number on it, but I definitely just want to be in that top ten at the very least, fighting with the best guys. If I end up being fifth, that would be ideal, but sixth, seventh, eighth, you've done the absolute best and executed, then I'm still more than happy with it because you can't just fight reality. But not screwing up is the main thing, and making sure I'm there with the best boys is the key. That's what will give me pleasure".

With the Col de la Loze, Mont Ventoux, Hautacam and a few other mythical mountain passes at this year's route, it comes as a surprise to learn that his dream stage win in this race would actually come in a different location: "I recon the Superbagnères would be cool, actually. It's an amazing climb, the top of it is epic. That would be a cool one. I don't really like Mont Ventoux, so I'd say Superbagnères".