Ben O'Connor started off his 2024 season in great form, winning the Vuelta a Murcia and then the Jebel Jais summit finish at the UAE Tour. The Australian was close to winning the entire race in what would've been a very important GC triumph, but only two seconds stood in the way of that win.
“It's just a bit shit. We all knew how hard it was going to be in the winds and you never freewheel. You always make sure you are on the pedals and that's why I think for Van Eetvelt to get away there so strongly, was super impressive because we were all pretty fucked, if you're going to put it frankly," O'Connor shared with GCN. “He managed to stay away and none of us could really keep riding, because we were all so on the limit, you couldn't really keep it up.”
O'Connor's AG2R began to pace up the climb to Jebel Hafeet and surprisingly dropped quickly and easily both Brandon McNulty and Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates; first and third in the standings. Sitting second overall, O'Connor hence had a golden opportunity to capitalize on it. However the toughest climb of the week was yet to be climbed and the gaps were small to a few riders behind him in the GC.
“We were trying to control on the climb so that I could get up as far as I could without too much reactivity. In the end, it just didn't work out," he explains. Plenty attacks from Pello Bilbao, Max Poole and ultimately Van Eetvelt proved too much for the rest of the competition. The Belgian specifically flew up the mountain to win in impressive fashion, also taking the GC win.
O'Connor still defended himself, riding into third on the day, but this was not enough to win the overall classification in the end. "The missing puzzle was me, I wasn't as good as I was hoping today and I'm just a bit sad about that. I'm proud of all the boys today and it was just me who let the whole thing down in the end," he concluded.
Nevertheless O'Connor put on another strong display and looks very good towards the Giro d'Italia which will be a big goal this season. Next on the schedule is Tirreno-Adriatico where among others, he will go face to face with Jonas Vingegaard.
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- 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
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
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🇦🇪 #UAETour Ben prend la 3ème place de cette dernière étape et termine 2ème au général, à 2 petites secondes de Lennert Van Eetvelt, vainqueur de cet @uae_tour . @ben_oconnor95 finishes 3rd of this last stage and 2nd in GC, 2 little seconds behind Lennert Van Eetvelt, winner of
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