History is currently repeating itself in the best of ways for Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën) at the 2023 Critérium du Dauphiné. The Australian once again finds himself the closest pursuer of Jonas Vingegaard overall on GC, just like he did in the 2022 race.
One key difference is that whereas last year the Jumbo-Visma racer finally ran second overall, this time Vingegaard is leading, with O’Connor also moving up a spot, from third to second.
The second key difference is that the toughest three climbing stages are all yet to come, so O’Connor’s podium place is, for now, in no way definitive.
But after taking a very promising fifth in Wednesday’s time trial, which he later called 'one of my best' and then sticking in the main GC group behind Vingegaard on Thursday’s tough finale, the AG2R Citroën leader is looking very much on track for now. That’s clearly true for the Dauphiné, and very possibly for the upcoming Tour de France as well.
