"The atmosphere promises to be beautiful" - Ben O'Connor excited to be racing in front of a home crowd at Tour Down Under

AG2R Citroen Team's 27-year-old climber Ben O'Connor has spoken of his excitement at getting his 2023 season underway in front of his fellow Australians at the Santos Tour Down Under.

The two-time Grand Tour stage winner's thoughts were revealed by AG2R Citroen's official Twitter account. "The preparation for this new season has been excellent," says O'Connor. "I feel very good and I'm in a good state of mind. I am enthusiastic and motivated at the idea of returning to competition with the AG2R Citroen team."

Having finished 7th at the Australian National Championship road race last week, O'Connor is delighted to be able to continue performing in front of the thousands of natives that flock to the road side. "Racing in Australia (at home) is a nice feeling. The Santos Tour Down Under is always lively and there is a real excitement around us," the Australian continues. "The atmosphere promises to be beautiful for a week."

Not having raced the Tour Down Under since his days as a Dimension Data rider back in 2019 when O'Connor finished 20th in the general classification, he returns a much-improved rider. Now a stage winner at both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia and having narrowly missed out on the podium in Paris in 2021, don't rule out O'Connor for overall victory at the Tour Down Under.