Australian road cyclist Ben O'Connor says he believes he can ride to a dream podium finish at the Tour de France and potentially become the third Aussie to achieve the feat.
The AG2R Citroën Team rider is in a rich vein of form off the back of a third-place finish at Critérium du Dauphiné, and will lead Australia's contingent of at least nine cyclists — though none are his teammates — on July 1 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
After a fourth-place finish at last year's Tour de France on debut, the 26-year-old from Perth says he has a burning desire to reach the podium if not this year, then in the future.
"I would love to finish on the podium of the Tour. That would be an absolute dream," O'Connor said.
But with Critérium du Dauphiné completed, converting a week-long UCI World Tour into another podium result at the Tour de France is much harder than it sounds.
O'Connor wants to be measured by riding with the best for a consistent and sustained period of time.
"To be at the front of the race with the best guys, that would just be the dream," he said.
"I think it would be possible to do another top five at the Tour again. I feel like that's the level I'm at and what I'm capable of. But if I don't do it, it's not going to kill me … I just want to know that I'm up there racing with the best boys in the world.
"It'd be really cool if on this outdoor stage you could be at the front with the maillot jaune, with all the flags and all the shouting and the cheering, and being there with them. That would be a really special moment.
"It's not specifically a figure per se … you just want to make the most of it."
O'Connor mixing it with the best in the world
Luck will play its part, as it always does, in the prestigious three-week event.
"With a one-week stage race like Critérium du Dauphiné, there's not so many things that kind of go wrong because it is eight days," he said.
"So it's more or less the physical part which gets you to the podium, whilst in the Tour de France or the Grand Tour, it's 21 days, it's super stressful, there's always big crashes and guys get sick because it's three weeks long."
"There's always guys that are just like, 'Out you go, and out you go,' … it might be me as well at some point.
Almost a year ago on Le Tour, O'Connor battled through for fourth place, just over 10 minutes behind general classification winner Tadej Pogačar.
The ride included a gruelling 144.9km-stage-nine win from Cluses to Tignes along the way.
Aside from Richie Porte's podium finish in 2020, it was the closest any Australian had got to the top of the world's largest annual sporting event since Cadel Evans's win in 2011.
"To say you can win the Tour, I don't really believe that until you get close enough to realistically be able to compete with those best guys," O'Connor said.
With top-10 finishes at Tour de Romandie, Volta a Catalunya, Vuelta a Andalucía and a win at Tour du Jura, O'Connor wants to remain an aggressive rider at the front of the pack as part of his tactical style.
"You have to realistically look at what you think can be possible," he said.
"That podium spot stands on the Champs-Élysées at the end of the race, and [if you] know that you've earned that reward — even though fourth or fifth or sixth or seventh is still enough — the physical, ceremonial kind of part of it would be a special part that would be really cool to achieve one day."
Australia's golden era a 'special period'
With road cycling compatriots including Richie Porte, Jai Hindley, Jack Haig, Michael Storer, Michael Matthews and Simon Clarke among the placegetters in multiple categories in recent seasons, it is clear Australian men's cycling is experiencing a golden era with success on the road.
"I think it's a great circle that we have," O'Connor said.
"For the GC, and even for the sprint team, you've got Kaden Groves who's really improving. He was really, really good earlier in the year.
"Jack was with the Australian team for a long time. I came through the Australian continental team, and Jai [Hindley] did racing with a small Italian team before becoming professional.
"It's cool seeing how everyone's gone from different pathways into Europe and then make it work. And then to have Jai winning the Giro and Jack won a podium on Vuelta a España.
"It's a pretty special little period for Aussie cycling."
