Ben O’Connor coughed continuously at the finish of stage 20 in Bassano del Grappa but his pain was eased by knowing he had finished fourth overall in the Giro d’Italia even after fighting illness in the final week.
His Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale squad also won the team classification ahead of Ineos Grenadiers and UAE Team Emirates and they enjoyed two stage victories with Valentin Paret-Peintre and Andrea Vendrame.
“To win the teams classification, take fourth overall in GC and two stage wins means that we can be happy with our results,” O’Connor said post-stage after recovering from the huge final effort in the mountains.
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On Sunday's final stage he can ride into Rome and share a special moment on the final podium with his teammates.
O’Connor finished fourth in the 2021 Tour de France and won a stage. As the 28-year-old ponders his future, perhaps even away from Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale given his contract is up at the end of this year, he has returned to his best and confirmed he can be a Grand Tour rider.
“I’d be happy with [fourth], but I’d prefer third. Or second,” O’Connor said before stage 20.
“I feel like I’m sitting where I deserve to be to be honest. Fourth is fair because Dani [Martínez] has been better and Geraint [Thomas] has been more consistent.”
O’Connor has dug deep due to his breathing problems but knew the Monte Grappa stage was his last big effort. He suffered but survived, thanks to help from teammate Valentin Paret-Peintre, finishing eighth on the stage and importantly on the same time as Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) to fend off the challenge of the rider in fifth overall.
“We started in a storm, with some terrible rain and then pretty much had two one-hour time trials up the Monte Grappa,” he said, summing up his day of pain. “The second time was really hard for me and Valentin really, really helped me a lot.
“We managed to come back to the guys in the top five in the GC at the end. I even made a little attack and he even made a good sprint and got second on the stage as well. It’s a great way to wrap up the Giro and now we can celebrate in Rome.”
