Team Jayco AlUla lead by Ben O'Connor stun with second fastest time in Paris-Nice TTT: "I don’t think we could have gone faster"

Team Jayco AlUla were probably the pleasant surprise of the Paris-Nice team time trial. Despite being a man down (Luke Durbridge abandoned with broken collarbone in stage two), the men in purple flew through the course in a second fastest time of the day. Great news for GC ambitions of Ben O'Connor who moved up to 4th.

"On the circuit, you had to be careful not to overdo it and then horsepower in the middle was the key thing," says O'Connor in press release. "I don’t think we could have gone faster. It sucked to lose Luke yesterday, he’s a huge engine and there were parts there where I think one extra guy would have helped. I still think it was a great ride."

"I think overall we can still be proud, we did a really good ride," Mauro Schmid joins the wave of optimism. "Obviously, we missed Durbo quite a bit and I think with him we would have had a good chance, but I still think we can be proud."

Ultimately, only the biggest favorites Team Visma | Lease a Bike were able to dethrone Jayco after a long wait in the hot seat. However losing 15 seconds to a lineup both past and present European ITT champions is nothing to be ashamed of.