Already at the hotel, after breaking the Vuelta because in a monumental stage, one of those that take your breath away and that served to put on the jersey Red with almost five minutes ahead of the favourites, Ben O’Connor raised the small glass of champagne. “To you!” he celebrated as the team and the staff The crowd burst into cheers. “But it was a modest celebration because the race is far from over,” reveals Cyril Dessel, a former professional cyclist from 2000 to 2011 and a flag bearer for many of those years for AG2R, where he is now the sporting director, also aware that the time on Roglic, second, is now 3m 53s. A race, in any case, that they had not contemplated from that angle. “We came to the Vuelta with the objective of finishing in the top five in the general classification and winning a stage,” reveals Dessel; “but to have the jersey “Red has altered our strategy because, in this context, our priority now is to keep him as long as possible, even if that means sacrificing the possibility of winning the second stage.”
It turns out that nobody expected O’Connor. At least not on that day and with that result. “It was a stage for specialists in breakaways and we didn’t expect Ben to be on the offensive that day,” says Dessel; “rather we wanted it to be Berthet or Lafay.” But a group of 30 riders formed and the strongest made the breakaway from the breakaway. Berthet was there, everything was in order. But then, in a new wave, O’Connor joined those who were asking for a breakaway. “We didn’t think that the other teams would let him get away, but when we saw that the difference was over a minute, we decided to leave Ben in front with Berthet because there were 12 strong riders and the course was very technical and hard.” Not much for the Australian, who was on fire. “He was incredibly strong that day and I was the first to be surprised that the other teams allowed the difference to grow beyond 3m 30s without reacting from behind,” says Dessel. Unreachable for everyone afterwards, he broke the time and the Vuelta. But AG2R do not believe it is a coincidence but that they found the recipe to find the best version of a cyclist who, however, will go to Jayco next year.
Although it didn’t work out too well last year – he always had fourth place in the 2021 Tour in his sights – and he shared the leadership of the team with Felix Gall, which irritated him a bit, O’Connor decided to change his route this year to race the Giro – where he finished fourth overall – and the Vuelta. And he found the support of AG2R, the pampering he needed. It turns out that after the Giro, Ben travelled to Barcelona to see the birth of his daughter and, instead of joining the team’s training camp in Tignes (France), they allowed him to go home to Andorra to prepare for the Vuelta and be with his family. “He trained alone, with the guidance of his coach, Stephen Barrett. Ben is a very dedicated and disciplined cyclist, and we knew that this approach could work for him,” Dessel says happily. The plan was to rejoin the team for the Vuelta a Burgos to establish some automatisms around him, but he was selected at the last minute to compete in the Games with Australia. “We gave him the green light, which probably also contributed to giving him peace of mind for the Vuelta,” says the sports director. And they were right, because they have found the best O’Connor.
“The latest results have reinforced his confidence and helped him grow in his role as a leader,” said Dessel, adding: “He is a true leader who is able to withstand pressure. He is impulsive and can sometimes get frustrated during the race or at the finish when things don’t go his way. However, he quickly regains his composure and puts the situation in perspective.” O’Connor, everyone’s rival for the rest of the Vuelta, is the first AG2R rider to take this position in its history. jersey“It’s been a long time since anyone wore the leader’s jersey in a Grand Tour, has it? Since you were racing…”, the Australian joked to his director, who wore the yellow jersey in the 2006 Tour. “No, it was Rinaldo Nocentini during the 2009 Tour de France,” Dessel corrected him, moved in any case by his rider’s feat. There is still a long way to go, but AG2R and O’Connor are clear that they are betting all on red.
You can follow EL PAÍS Sports on Facebook and Xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
