Ben O’Connor reflects - 'Being GC leader for two weeks with Pogacar and Vingegaard is almost impossible'
Ben O’Connor has become one of the most intriguing contenders in Grand Tours. The Australian rider for Jayco AlUla spoke with Marca on Monday at the Vuelta, reflecting on the moment that changed his career and looking ahead to what he hopes to achieve in the coming weeks.
He still remembers Yunquera, last years Vuelta stage that propelled him into red and changed his life. “I had already won stages in Grand Tours, but Yunquera was special.” O’Connor said to Marca. "To wear the red jersey, so iconic, for two weeks is something very few achieve today with Jonas and Tadej dominating. To hold that lead for so long was, as they said, life-changing. I don’t know if I’ll ever wear a leader’s jersey for two straight weeks again, but it’s an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my career.”
It also reinforced his belief that nothing is certain over three weeks, no matter how strong the favourites look. “You never know. We’re all human, nobody is perfect, even if some come close,” he said. “In cycling there is a lot of variation. Last year it seemed like Roglic had my race under control and suddenly someone like me ended up five minutes down in the general classification. With a smarter reading I might have been even closer to winning it. Anything can happen.”
O’Connor started the 2025 Vuelta steadily and sits 13th in the GC, just 16 seconds behind leader Jonas Vingegaard. From that position he is already looking ahead, marking out a few stages that carry personal weight. He lives in Andorra and is eager to perform on its climbs, while La Farrapona also stands out as a motivation. But he knows there is no room for selectivity. "If you’re going for the GC you have to perform every day, sometimes you feel better, sometimes worse, but you can’t just choose two stages."
For that challenge ahead, he leans on the strength of the team around him. “We have an excellent block here,” said O'Connor. “Chris Harper and Eddie Dunbar are a great help in the mountains, Eddie won last year on Picón Blanco, and around them we have many teammates well placed to control things. It’s a fun group, after every stage at the table we can talk for hours. That atmosphere creates both team spirit and results.”
O’Connor insists his attacking nature remains intact, even as he weighs risk more carefully. “Going for the general classification doesn’t mean stopping attacking, it means choosing calculated risks. Last year I took a big risk by going in the breakaway and exposing myself to win the stage and recover time after some bad days. It worked out. Back in the 2021 Tour I did something similar in the mountains, I won the stage, took all the time possible and finished fourth. Being aggressive has given me my best results… but always with a clear head.”
Finally, O’Connor shared his ambitions for the future. “I would be happy if I could keep performing as I did last year,” he said. “I want to keep winning, and winning big. The experience of the La Vuelta podium was proof that a group can set a goal and achieve it. After fifth in the Giro I knew I had let a podium chance slip. Now it’s about repeating the best results and, sometimes, improving them: going back to the Tour for another victory and being back on the podium in Madrid.”
Today that ambition meets reality as the Vuelta continues with stage 4 from Susa to Voiron, another step in a long three-week journey for O’Connor and the rest of the GC field.
