“It’s great when the form disperses over the whole team” - Ben O’Connor reflects on a strong start to the season for Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale ahead of the Giro d’Italia
Cycling
After they revamped the team at the start of the year with a new title sponsor, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale have gone from strength to strength so far in 2024. They currently have the fifth most victories of the WorldTour teams this season with twelve wins.
The rider that kicked off their winning run was Ben O’Connor, who won the Vuelta a Murcia in his first race of the season before going on to take another victory on stage 3 of the UAE Tour on Jebel Jais. He is now set to lead the team at the Giro d’Italia, where he will be aiming to finish on the podium in Rome.
Speaking to Cyclingnews ahead of the first Grand Tour of the season, O’Connor explained the reason for the team’s strong form this year, as he said “I think the guys have got their mojo back and maybe got a bit of a whipping last year”.
With only nine victories to their name last season, the team has seen a massive improvement in terms of their win tally, as the Australian rider went on to say “it helps when your leaders are good. I’ve been decent. Benoît Cosnefroy has been good and I think that really also helps because you have the guys who are meant to perform, performing. Because as soon as that doesn’t happen, teams always look a bit average”.
It has not just been one or two riders performing though, as there have been wins all across the team this season, with O’Connor stating that “it’s great when the form disperses over the whole team, it just takes a touch off that heavy cloud over you, where it almost falls on you to perform”.
There now seems to be a newly restored faith that O’Connor can continue to deliver results for the team this season after going winless in 2023, as he said “if the boys believe that I can perform and I am actually good, then it goes a long way. If you say you’re going to help out a friend, you’re going to help out a mate, but when you know that your mate’s actually on top form, it goes a step further”.
As he prepares to face Tadej Pogačar at the Corsa Rosa in May, the former Giro d’Italia stage winner spoke about how he will approach this year’s edition of the race with the Slovenian in attendance, as he stated that “you can perhaps surprise and attack some aggressive stages, that can always be interesting, but you don't really do a lot more. You just go to the race and try to hold on. If you're good, you stay with him, and then you try to play your cards right”.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment