"It's not just about Tadej Pogacar" - After Vuelta heroics and mixed relay TTT gold, can Ben O'Connor take Rainbow Jersey?
Cycling
Australia's Ben O'Connor has been one of the stars of the second half of the 2024 season. After putting in a heroic performance at the Vuelta a Espana to take home a stage victory and a career best 2nd overall, the 28-year-old helped his nation secure mixed relay TTT gold in Zürich on Wednesday afternoon.
O'Connor's main goal at the 2024 World Championships however, remains the men's elite road race. "It's a tough course. It's more technical than it might look on paper, so I'm curious to see how that's going to be in the peloton," he previews from the mixed relay. "At times it's quite narrow. If things are going to be on the elastic, I'd like to see how that goes. In Quebec, for example, you can be in the last wheel until two laps from the end, but it's different at every circuit."
Alongside O'Connor in the mixed relay were the likes of Michael Matthews and Jay Vine. That trio, combined with Chris Hamilton, Jai Hindley, Harry Sweeny, Michael Storer and Nick Schultz complete a strong Australian team for the men's road race. "We are not only focusing on Michael, but have several men who can go far," O'Connor says confidently. "Jai Hindley is there, myself and Jay Vine also cut us off in the Mixed Relay. So we can participate with several guys, in different ways."
The competition is set to be incredible fierce however, most notably coming in the form of Giro d'Italia and Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar. In O'Connor's opinion though, it could be a foolish move to concentrate too hard on the Slovenian. "It's not just about Pogacar. Remco Evenepoel has an equally big record in one-day races, so I think we have to look at more men. We have to play to our strengths and maybe do something that doesn't seem normal. We just have to fly into it and make a nice race," he concludes. "The first week after the Vuelta was really bad, I've never felt so bad physically after a Grand Tour. In the second week I felt like something had run over me, I was so tired all the time. But here (mixed relay ed.) it went well, so I'm ready for the one race I still have this year."
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- 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
- 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
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🌈 @zurich2024 @UCI_cycling 🏆 MAGNIFIQUE ! 😍 Ben O'Connor est sacré champion du monde du contre-la-montre en relais mixte 🥇 🏆 Ben O'Connor is crowned mixed relay TTT world champion 🥇 What a performance! 😍 #DECATHLONAG2RLAMONDIALETEAM - © Getty
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