"Probably the biggest day of the year!" - Guarantee for GC shakeup at Giro d'Italia according to Ben O'Connor
Cycling
After his first ever top-10 in a Grand Tour time-trial on stage 14, Ben O'Connor is still firmly in the mix for a first Grand Tour podium at the 2024 Giro d'Italia. With stage 15 seeing five categorised climbs, can the Australian put pressure on his podium rivals?
"It was probably the best time-trial I've put together," O'Connor reflected of his efforts against the clock in a pre-stage 15 interview with Cycling Pro Net. Finishing 7th, 1:25 down on the stage winner, Filippo Ganna, O'Connor limited his losses to the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Geraint Thomas and Antonio Tiberi and actually gained a few seconds on his podium rival, Daniel Martinez. "Probably wasn't a parcour that suits me but I had a really good day and I really enjoyed it."
The queen stage of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, the is plenty of possibility for another general classification shakeup. "Probably the biggest day of the year!" O'Connor laughs, full of excitement and anticipation for the day ahead. "I hope everyone feels tired after yesterday and after the last couple of days. I'm just ready to give today a go to be honest, it's an early start so it might take a little bit to get into it but when it's really crunch time in Livigno, that's when you need to be ready and good."
"I think just by the nature of the distance and elevation, I think it's going to shake things up without you even actually doing anything," the 28-year-concludes. "So yeah, you'll see gaps today that is for sure!"
Although O'Connor is now 4:35 down on Tadej Pogacar and the Maglia Rosa, the gap between the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team leader, 2nd placed Geraint Thomas and 3rd placed Daniel Martinez is a lot tighter with O'Connor starting the queen stage just 39 seconds off the podium.
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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