“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

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”.