Australia's Ben O'Connor may be out of the GC fight already at the Tour de France but, in his fifth appearance at cycling's biggest race, the 30-year-old is at peace with the Grand Tour.
O'Connor has enjoyed mixed fortunes in July's gone by, being undone by crashes and bad luck in the past, but also thriving to win two special mountain stages to Tignes and Courchevel and finishing fourth overall.
Upon reflection, he's even able to say, " I love being here" and, with plenty more chances to chase the breakaway in the 113th edition's second and third weeks, why shouldn't he?
"Initially, I called it love-hate, but I think I can walk back on that now. I think in the end it's treated me really well," O'Connor told Cyclingnews before stage 9 in Malemort.
"I've won two stages here. I've finished fourth in the past. I've also crashed quite a few times here – not really on my own, always from some sort of Tour situation – but basically it's just treated me really well. My best results, just in general for stages, have always come from the Tour as well, from chasing breaks, and I've won multiple times.
"Actually, it's a race that's treated me really well. So, I love being here. It's exciting. It's the biggest kind of platform and race on the calendar, and I've kind of started to enjoy it more and more as the last couple of years have gone on."
A relaxed looking Ben O'Connor (Jayco-AlUla) before the start of Stage 3 from Granollers to Les Angles (Photo by Tim de Waele/Getty Images) (Image credit: Getty Images)
O'Connor has already been on the move throughout the 2026 race, most notably on his own during stage 6 to Gavarnie-Gèdre before the Col d'Aspin and Col du Tourmalet, but he, like everyone else on that day, was chased down and spat out the back by a charging UAE Team Emirates-XRG as they set up the stage for Tadej Pogačar.
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"It was a funny day. It took a long time to go and there wasn't much time between when I left and then Aspin. But it was probably more the way [they] went about it," he said.
"Normally, guys would just sit up, and then Pog's team would say, 'You know what, it doesn't really matter. We don't need to ride in the valley. We'll just rip it from the first climb,' but they decided they want to ride 50k an hour in the valley as well and that was probably the difference.
"Even in the sprint days you don't just sit up and hang out for a little while, [they kind of keep everyone on a short leash. That's why old mate [Liam Slock] almost won on stage 8. So, yes, the sport's definitely a bit more full-on now. "
O'Connor is no stranger to winning Tour breakaway stages, also having a selection of other top-five finishes at the race across his five participations. Even with a Giro d'Italia already in his legs from this season, he's adamant that chances will come his way.
Interestingly, away from the pressure of GC – with the Australian sitting 50th overall and more than an hour down on race leader Tadej Pogačar – O'Connor was able to give some honest insight into the difficulty, or lack thereof, of doing the Giro and Tour in the same season
"Actually, completely fine. I don't know. You could probably speak to me after stage 20 but it's maybe a bit overhyped that the Giro-Tour situation is too much," said O'Connor.
"I honestly think it's not an issue and, if anything, that month between the Giro and the Tour is probably one of the best months you can have, just riding around. You've already done a lot of work. You've already done a lot of altitude camps. There's a ton of load there from the Giro. So, if you look after yourself, I don't see why there's any reason why it's not more popular."
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James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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