"The biggest race in the world, but for sure the cruelest" - Ben O'Connor turns nightmare Tour de France into a dream at Col de la Loze

Ben O'Connor came into the Tour de France with the goal of fighting for the overall classification but the first week did not go to plan. Crashes, ocasional lack of legs and difficulties in the mountains saw the Team Jayco AlUla rider's GC goals come to an end. However today on stage 18, the Australian managed to not only jump back into the Top10 but also win the queen stage at the Col de la Loze.

O'Connor had one of his best days ever on the bike, similar to what he's shown in 2021 in Tignes, and also in last year's Vuelta a España where he joined a breakaway on the first stage which almost led to his overall win. A man that seizes his great days quite well, he joined today's breakaway on the first day in the Alps in hopes of achieving a stage result. Only at the top of the Col de la Madeleine did he start to believe a stage win was possible.

"The point where you realize you could have a shot was the top of Madeleine when Jonas and Pogi came across, and we were still on the top of the summit," he admitted in a post-race interview. After the climb the race became very tactical and O'Connor was the one to instigate the winning attack, together with Einer Rubio and Matteo Jorgenson between the Madeleine and the Col de la Loze. It was enough to gain 3 minutes on the GC group.

"It was a perfect opportunity to go in the valley. This was a climb I actually have some good memories on, I rode for my teammate at the time Felix Gall to the win here on the Col de la Loze so it was pretty sweet to do it again but this time it was me". O'Connor was the strongest out of the front group and dropped his two rivals, moving solo throughout most of the ascent to take what is potentially the most memorable win of his career.

"Once again the valley was the perfect opportunity to gain time. You're going to get smoked by Tadej and Jonas if you stayed there, it was worth a shot... On the final climb it was just waiting for the steepest part, until we got in Courchevel center, and then yeah it was just all about pacing and keeping the pace," he describes.

With the lack of attacks until the very last kilometers of Loze behind, all the pieces came together for the 29-year old. "That was the main gap I was looking for, once Rubio was gone, that was all I cared about. I just didn't want to be rolled by the yellow jersey in those final 5K's. When I heard it stayed at 3 minutes with 3K's to go you were safe".

This is a very big win for O'Connor and the Australian team, one that saves the team's until-now difficult race that didn't feature many results: "It's a rough race, the biggest race in the world, but for sure the cruelest. I wanted to have another victory for so many years now, I've been fighting with thirds and fourth, so close... I couldn't be more proud of myself, and the boys that duck me [from the wind] throughout this whole race, a really rough time. Thanks to everyone at Jayco AlUla, it's what the team needed and what I needed".