"To be honest, I wouldn't mind focusing on other things" - Ben O'Connor keen to steer clear of Tour de France

For the first time in four years, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team's Ben O'Connor will head to the Giro d'Italia later this year. According to the man himself, this marks a concerted effort to steer clear of the Tour de France.

"It was me and the team choosing together. Obviously, the Tour is a huge thing for this team, but I've enjoyed taking that chance to try something new," said O'Connor in conversation with Cycling News ahead of the start of the UAE Tour on Monday. "I'm glad the team was keen on the idea as I think it was about time to change my Grand Tour plans. Sometimes the same-same doesn't always work out and It's a Giro that suits me, so I can only just be excited."

Being the big general classification of a French team, the Tour de France has understandably been a heavy focus of O'Connor in recent seasons. After a 4th placed finish in 2021 however, the last two editions have fell a bit flat for the Australian for varying reasons.

"It's not really on my list of wanted options. To be honest, I wouldn't mind focusing on other things. But if I had to do the tour, it's not a bad thing," he explains. "It's still the biggest, most spectacular race in general and the most well-known - it's always a pretty crazy experience. I just feel like the last two years have been pretty average. Well, last year was both good and bad. I think I wouldn't mind just separating myself from that and doing something else."

A former Giro d'Italia stage winner as well, O'Connor has positive memories of his past experiences at the Italian Grand Tour. "For that win, it was about relief after a pretty average two years," O'Connor explains. "2019 was terrible and in 2020 I did actually win at the start of the year and showed that I was good, but the rest of the year was super average and I really struggled to find myself. So that was super emotional for me."