O'Connor upbeat after finishing in the podium "with actually the very best in the world" at Dauphiné, eyes Tour de France

Ben O'Connor has surged as a breakthrough overall classification contender last year at the Tour de France where he went on to finish the race in fourth place, and has since taken further leaps to improve his consistency.

This past weekend he finished on the podium of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a big achievement for the Australian who has taken a lot of motivation towards the Tour. “I can be super proud of this. Jonas [Vingegaard] was second in the Tour last year, Primož [Roglic] has won the Vuelta three times and pretty much every other stage race. It just means you’re there fighting with the best guys, so I can be really proud today."

The leader of AG2R Citroën Team had a very consistent week without putting a foot wrong, and with very strong performance in the summit finishes to Vaujany and Plateau de Solaison where his strong ascents boosted him up to third place in the overall classification. “It’s kind of clear, I’m moving really well,” he said.

“All the work we’ve done as a team has paid off. We’re really not far away from fighting with actually the very best in the world, and that’s something we can be proud of. I just need to get to the Tour now, not get too tired beforehand, and hopefully not having too many problems in the Tour," O'Connor pointed out.

The 26-year old won't go into the race with expectations or support anywhere near Jumbo-Visma, however with the lack of responsibility and his strong climbing abilities he managed to ride into the podium, which he may try to repeat at the Tour de France next month.