‘I’ve always been at my best at a Grand Tour’: O'Connor confident at TdF

Could one calculated, bold move be key to Ben O’Connor’s success at the Tour de France?

Ben O’Connor is focused on getting through the first 10 consecutive days of racing at the Tour de France unscathed before he turns his attention to a top five finish on general classification.

O’Connor even back in February had sweaty palms thinking about the combination of a hilly parcours, gusty conditions typical to northern France, where the 112th edition has started, and a nervous peloton.

Speaking to Spokes on the eve of the Tour last week his apprehension hadn’t abated.

“Getting through this first nine days all in one piece, not having too much go wrong, not missing echelon splits, that will give me just as much pleasure as performing on a mountain stage because that in itself is an achievement,” O’Connor said.

The 29-year-old has reason to be cautious, with the Tour taking causalities as early as stage one. He lost some skin but not time in a crash during the Grand Depart in Lille, which compatriot Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) narrowly avoided.

Aside from the circumstantial wariness, O’Connor otherwise appears very at ease in what his first Tour with the Australian-registered Jayco Alula team that he joined this year after four seasons with French squad Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale.

The Perth climber is one of only four Australians, including Phil Anderson, Cadel Evans, and Richie Porte, to have finished inside the top five at the Tour, and that fact together with a hiatus from the event last year to focus on the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana – where he finished fourth and second, respectively – has contributed to increased confidence.

“I’ve kind of come into this Tour feeling more comfortable in myself,” he said.

“I can back myself more because of what I’ve done now. You’re no longer trying to prove yourself; you’re no longer trying to prove that you’re a consistent bike rider, or that you finished once fourth in the [first] Tour you did and then nothing else after that.

“I’m now happy with how I am as an athlete. I know how to get to where I need to be as an athlete,” O’Connor continued.

“I’ve had a couple of little curveballs at the start of the year. I got real sick in February and it was one of those ones that just drags itself out … takes ages to get better.

“But in reality, I think it’s the last four Grand Tours I’ve done I’ve been in the top seven. The [2023] Tour where I, I’ll call it bombed out, I was still 17^th, and I ran third twice in sprint finishes in breakaway stages. So, it’s where I’ve always been at my best, at a Grand Tour. It's one now that I don’t have to doubt myself going in.”

Ben O’Connor, pictured second from left, with teammates at the 2025 Tour de France. Photo: Jayco Alula

O’Connor in his career fourth Tour start is familiar with the demands and the rhythm of the attritional race, but this edition also stands to be different for him.

For the first time he won’t have to translate French instructions issued over race radio into English amid intense competition broadcast globally.

“There’s definitely a lot more clarity going through the radio. And straight, strong instructions, which I’ve missed,” O’Connor says when asked how colloquial the language now is on a scale of ‘Mate’ to stronger words Aussies are also synonymous with. “In Liege there was definitely one very strong radio message that came out.”