"Is that fairplay? I’m not so sure" - Ben O'Connor continues tirade against UCI after yellow card drama and aims shot at Cristian Rodriguez at La Vuelta 2024
Cycling
Stage 11 was not a good day for the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team. After Ben O'Connor suffered some more time loss in the fight for the Red Jersey, cutting his advantage in the general classification, the team were struck with a number of yellow cards from the UCI.
It all comes back to when the breakaway had formed and Decathlon put themselves across the road to attempt to block any counters, as teams do in almost every race ed. Sadly however, on this occasion, Richard Carapaz was pushed into a ditch, resulting in fury from EF Education Easy-Post boss Jonathan Vaughters on X afterwards.
Speaking of X, Ben O'Connor was forced to delete his social media account on Wednesday night after the immense response to his questioning of the UCI's punishment for his teammates, with a post. Despite his X blackout, O'Connor did talk to Eurosport about the incident ahead of stage 12.
"I really think we did absolutely nothing wrong," the Australian insisted again. "We’ve spoken to EF together and everything is clear – there was zero animosity. Geoffrey Bouchard really did absolutely nothing. I don’t really understand the sanctioning with the other boys in the team either because we really didn’t do anything wrong."
"I was also on the front but didn’t receive a yellow card, neither did Wout van Aert, who was also right next to me, so what does it mean? I really don’t get it," O'Connor continues. "He [Carapaz] may have hit the pedal or the wheel, but my team-mate [Lafay] did not move at all. He was there on the left – he didn’t swing left, he was just riding. It’s not very fair, to be honest."
Another flashpoint came immediately afterwards when Decathlon riders were seen visibly frustrated at Arkea - B&B Hotels' Cristian Rodriguez. "We told him that he was not going to get in the break. But he then attacked after Carapaz’s crash. He was on his wheel. He saw him crash, then he attacked," O'Connor recalls with a critical tone. "Is that fairplay? I’m not so sure."
At the end of the day Ben needs to worry about Friday and Sunday. He can be hot headed, he's young, it has happened to us all at some point. Let's see if he can win this Vuelta.
That's what Aussies do, we tell it like it is, no beating around the bush to cater to the whims of some riders who think they are better than others. Good on ya Ben!!!!!
Sure, that's what Aussies do: bully and pretend they are special...
Correct, we do have bullies in Australia, it's just that Ben O'Connor is not one of them.
I think that Ben has a lot to learn, and one of those things is how to be more diplomatic. Saying things like that will only work to serve against him in the long run.
He is 28, pretty sure the learning phase is over. More drama for Netflix
he doubled and tripled and quadrupled down on stupidity
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- if there is an actual weakness in wout even when completely healthy, it’s that he’s in his head too often. this has been pointed out many times by much more acute observers of cycling than ME, certainly. it may be that he’s been like this since he was a little kid. we are who we are. or that he was shaped by having faced van der poel SOOO many times. mvdp has zero second thoughts. he wastes no time at all on doubt. that has, in the past, led him to do some pretty insane things and make mistakes that wout would never have committed. but it also makes him a killer. you can see wout’s split seconds of doubt and hesitation everywhere in their head to head battles. those hesitations spill over into other races at times like dwars, when doubt creeps in. i believe that currently he is still coming back from physical problems due to injuries, but even when he’s full strength the mental game is an area of potential concern, AND potential improvement.OCexile03-04-2025
- Not only the public, just about every analyst and commentator had been piling it on. Under the circumstances I’d even say he’s showing real character. Not sure likeable Tadej would manage as well during a longer rough patch.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Took a while but we finally have a more nuanced analysis.Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- If I remember right, it was those same hungry journalists selling us a different story less than a year ago about the bleak future of Dutch (men’s) cycling with no possible successor for MVDP ;-)Mistermaumau03-04-2025
- Good, hopefully Jonas goes also so we get a nice duelvappaxbipmv03-04-2025
- right? i think it’s hungry journalists that fuel this, and i understand the jam they can be in trying to create stories, but you’d hate to think ANYONE is failing to appreciate how RARE someone like van der poel is (or how LUCKY we are to have both mvdp and pog racing at the same time). a little perspective is a good thing…OCexile03-04-2025
- Anyone know how long that 213km ride took? Coz without that the segment speeds don’t reveal anything surprising. If it took him Less than 5h ok but otherwise it was just some interval training for him.Jumpyjohn03-04-2025
- Hinault was even lighter than Pog at 62 kg when he won PR in 1981, beating Roger van Vlaeminck no less (albeit at the fag end of the latter's career), so it can be done.Cooldude03-04-2025
- Having to shoulder too much pressure from the Belgain public too much that he made a tactical mistake. That's what public pressure does to you. Poor Wout! Hopefully, lady luck befalls him soon.
KerisVroom03-04-2025 - If he's very lucky maybe he can podium a Tour one season, I certainly don't believe he can win it, evervappaxbipmv03-04-2025