Aussie Ben O’Connor is second in the Tour de France after he won stage nine of the famous race by more than five minutes.
The 25-year-old moved two minutes behind race leader Tadej Pogacar with an exceptional ride on a cold and rainy climb to the ski resort of Tignes.
Kayo is your ticket to the best local and international sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now >
UAE Emirates kept a watchful eye on the main contenders before their leader Tadej Pogacar once again hurt his rivals, strengthening his hold on the Tour lead, while Citroen AG2R’s O’Connor hauled himself into second in the overall standings.
O’Connor showed no signs of vertigo as he skipped up the final climb near the Italian border, leaving other members of his breakaway group, including Colombian pair Nairo Quintana and Sergio Higuita, trailing in his wake.
“It’s mind-blowing, it can make your heart stop and it definitely did that to mine,” a visibly thrilled O’Connor said.
It’s been quite a ride for O’Connor, who was reportedly ready to give up on the sport a year ago.
A crash at the 2018 Giro d’Italia led to a broken collarbone but it also left O’Connor somewhat adrift according to The Times, before French outfit AG2R Citroen offered him a place in October 2020.
The son of Liverpudlian’s who settled in Perth and faced a culture clash when arriving in Australia, O’Connor was desperate to make the most of his opportunity despite no one at the team speaking English.
The win now has O’Connor the only person within five minutes of Pogacar, although he said the yellow jersey might be a step too far.
“It’s life-changing for me,” he said. “It’s a dream and it’s a tribute to the people who’ve kept faith in me over the last three years. My fiancee, my parents, best friends, the team, it’s been incredible how things have changed.”
Speaking on 6PR this morning, O’Connor’s brother Andrew revealed that Ben had told his parents to go sightseeing as he didn’t think he had a chance of winning.
“He had told them the night before: oh don’t worry about watching it, go out and see the sights,” Andrew said.
“We were frantically texting mum and dad, with I think about 60 kilometres to go like: you have to tune in, Ben’s in the big break. And they got there in the end.
“It’s just testament to Ben’s commitment and drive, and all the things that he has done to get himself to that level.
“It’s just surreal watching my baby brother just smash it out on the world’s biggest cycling platform, in a really tough day, and horrible, horrible conditions, so we are just super proud of him.”
O’Connor himself said “conditions were atrocious”, with riders looking frozen to the bone at the finish line, many trembling with cold.
Many riders missed the time delay cut and were subsequently disqualified from continuing.
One who didn’t was sprint specialist Mark Cavendish, left weeping with gratitude for his teammates who helped him make the cut.
“I’m so humbled and physically broken,” Cavendish said, who kept the green jersey for best sprinter. “This is the one stage I was afraid of.”
The last man home was Nic Dlamini, the first black South African to race the Tour, who dug deep on his debut to complete the stage, eventually coming in alone 1hr 25min off O’Connor’s pace and 32min adrift of the man before him.
Tour de France leader all praise for Aussie
Pogacar once again showed he is currently the strongest of the overall contenders as he dropped Ineos pair Geraint Thomas and Richie Carapaz with 4km to go, gaining another 30 seconds in his title defence.
“Ben O’Connor is potentially a good GC (general classification) rider, he’s super strong and super young. For sure he’s in contention now,” the Slovenian leader said.
O’Connor said earlier on Sunday it would take some kind of miracle for him to be in the top five in Paris in two weeks’ time.
“I’ll try my best but I’m not on the same level as Tadej (Pogacar), but I’m just enjoying the fact that I can now stand here with these guys and do what I can.”
— with AFP