"It’s been a long time since I’ve had a GC leader to work for in a Grand Tour" - Larry Warbasse excited about having Ben O'Connor at Giro d'Italia

Ben O'Connor received a tough reality check when trying to follow Tadej Pogacar on stage 2, but since then some time passed, and another series of important days are coming next two stages - a chance for the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider to re-claim some spots in the general classification. His teammate Larry Warbasse has no doubts that O'Connor will be able to bounce back.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve had a GC leader to work for in a Grand Tour with podium potential, so that’s exciting," Warbasse told Cyclingnews. While in the Friday's time trial O’Connor will have to rely on himself alone, a support from his teammates will come in handy at the weekend when riders take on the Prati di Tivo.

"When it comes to Saturday’s summit finish at Prati di Tivo, just like at Oropa last Sunday, we’ll bring him to the foot of the climb as well as we can, and then he can do his magic."

"You saw the other day Ben tried to follow and give it a go. It probably wasn’t the best idea, but it happens," Warbasse admitted. "And I think from hereon out we’ll focus on ourselves and maybe other guys at the same level. In any case we’ll try to do our own race without looking too much at the others."