"It's nice to see improvement" - Ben O'Connor rides career best ITT to boost hopes of Giro d'Italia podium
Cycling
Ben O'Connor started the stage 14 individual time-trial of the 2024 Giro d'Italia in 4th place overall and after absolutely burying himself on the course, the Australian leader of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale has retained his spot in the GC.
Finishing 7th on the day, 1:25 down on stage winner Filippo Ganna, O'Connor secured himself his first ever top-10 in a Grand Tour ITT. "I don't think it actually felt amazing but I must have gone quickly because I saw the time was good so happy days!" reflected O'Connor in his post-stage interview with Eurosport.
Despite not being renowned for his abilities against the clock, it is a discipline O'Connor has been working hard to improve upon. "I think all year I've been good. I didn't really get the chance to prove it in the rain at Tirreno-Adriatico so yeah it's nice to see improvement," he assesses of his performance happily. "This is where you can gain so much time or rather not lose so much time to the other GC guys. Except obviously the likes of Jonas (Vingegaard ed.) Pogi (Tadej Pogacar ed.) and that so yeah, must be happy with today."
After he'd finished his efforts, there were quite worrying images of a completely broken O'Connor sprawled out on the floor having totally emptied the tank. Of course, it's understandable to go so hard in a vital ITT, but with the Queen Stage of the Giro d'Italia coming on Sunday's stage 15, will the Australian now be able to recover in time to benefit from his solid time-trial effort?
"That will be in the front of my mind tonight, but right now I just want to have a shower, relax and just chill out," O'Connor smiles when asked about the upcoming challenge. We will find out tomorrow if the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team leader has able to recover strongly.
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