"Pretty nice to have that feeling that you can maybe one day win a Grand Tour" - Ben O'Connor reflects on heroic Vuelta a Espana

Ben O'Connor was arguably the star of the 2024 Vuelta a Espana. He may not have won the race, but a stage win, 13 days in the Red Jersey and finishing 2nd overall guarantee it was three weeks he won't soon forget.

“It was pretty nice to have that feeling that you can maybe one day win a Grand Tour,” the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team leader reflects afterwards in quotes collected by Velo. “It is something that I found probably unrealistic, especially after the Giro d'Italia, so to be close here is pretty special.”

When you put O'Connor's 2nd place at La Vuelta alongside his 4th from the 2024 Giro d'Italia, it's been a very strong Grand Tour year for the Australian. Reflecting on the past season, O'Connor also took time to assess what he had learnt about himself over the year.

“Perhaps to trust the process,” he says honestly. “Sometimes you have got to trust your gut. Other times you could probably be a little bit smarter and not trust your gut as well. I think it is about picking your moments in grand tours. That’s probably the thing I have taken away.”

With the Aussie ace now set to move to the Australian based Team Jayco AlUla for 2025, O'Connor is also sending a message to Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team about his worth as a Grand Tour leader. “It’s a bit of a dream,” he said in Madrid after the final stage time-trial. “I’ve been close before but to get it now is such an amazing thing. I know it was perhaps unconventional, but I guess it is in the spirit of grit [laughs] to get through that today. To finish it off today with this TT, I am pretty proud of how it went dow