Ben O'Connor's slow burn toward the 2023 Tour de France

Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroën)
Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroën) (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

When Ben O’Connor stepped into the 2022 Tour de France, he was doing it with red-hot form, high expectations and the pressure – be it self-imposed or otherwise – that seems nigh-impossible to avoid when you are lining up the year after having all of a sudden given a French team a high finish at their home Grand Tour. 

It was a far cry from the no-expectations entry to the Tour in 2021 that ultimately ended with him handing his new AG2R-Citroën squad fourth place overall. The outcome was also just as much of a contrast. 

Simone Giuliani
Australia Editor

Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.