“Tadej will probably ride a little bit more defensive" - Ben O'Connor sees 3rd week opportunities to put pressure on Martinez & Thomas in fight for Giro podium

Continuing Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team's impressive season in 2024, the podium is still very much in sight for Ben O'Connor as the Giro d'Italia reaches its second rest day.

With 15 stages in the legs, the 28-year-old Australian is sitting 4th in the general classification, 7:43 down on the Maglia Rosa Tadej Pogacar but well within reach of 2nd placed Geraint Thomas and 3rd placed Daniel Martinez. “I'm not afraid at all. The mountains are where I perform my best, so I have to be ready, prepared, and see if I can get some time back to end up on the podium. If not, then so be it. But I'll try my best to do so,” O'Connor previews of the third week, in a rest day video call with Cycling News. 

A previous stage winner at both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, O'Connor has the opportunity to better his best ever Grand Tour GC result, of 4th at the 2021 Tour de France. “It's only a minute between me and Dani, so it's very open, and you have quite a few very, very hard stages. So I don’t think anything is out of the question," he says optimistically. “The final week is the crunch time of the Giro, as always. You have to be at your best. Hopefully, I give it my all, and then you'll see where you end up when you get to Rome.”

A highlight of O'Connor's second week and the clearest proof of his good legs, was the Australian's career best Grand Tour individual time-trial performance on stage 14. Perhaps paying for his efforts against the clock on the following day however, O'Connor wasn't quite at his best on the queen stage as Tadej Pogacar emphatically destroyed any remaining Maglia Rosa hope in his rivals.

“I didn't feel 100%, but that was probably due to Saturday's time trial. I managed to limit the damage and in the end, I’m happy with the outcome. It was one of my toughest days on the bike, so to still perform well is a good signal," O'Connor reflects of stage 15.

"I think probably the Brocon stage is probably the day that suits me the best. It's continuous, up and down in the mountains. I think that that's enough to really create some pretty big gaps. This is the day I'm probably looking forward to most," he concludes. “I think Tadej will probably ride a little bit more defensive because he’s got such a big lead. So it's up to us, Bora and Ineos to fight for those two final podium places in Rome.”