Giro d’Italia: Ben O’Connor spearheads Aussie results with 4th overall

Western Australian cyclist Ben O’Connor says he is “happy” after placing fourth at the Giro d’Italia, which saw two Australians finish in the top 10 overall.

The Perth climber came into the race with podium ambitions. He ultimately finished 1 minute 33 seconds behind third place, and 12 minutes behind Slovenian phenom Tadej Pogačar, whose win never looked in doubt.

“I’d be happy with (fourth), but I’d prefer third. Or second,” O’Connor told Cyclingnews before the penultimate stage. “I feel like I’m sitting where I deserve, to be honest.”

O’Connor’s trade team, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, won the teams classification, while teammates Andrea Vendrame and Valentin Paret-Peintre won a stage each.

“To win the teams classification, take fourth overall in GC and two stage wins means that we can be happy with our results,” he said.

Despite battling illness in the final week, O’Connor impressed throughout the Giro. On Stage 2, which finished on the Oropa climb, he was the only rider who attempted to follow Pogačar’s decisive attack – although the tactic ultimately backfired, causing him to lose time to his rivals. O’Connor’s best stage result was third on the mountaintop finish at Prati di Tivo.

Where O’Connor showed most improvement, however, was in the individual time trials. He placed 11th and 7th respectively in the two chrono stages, gaining time on many of the other favourites and confirming his GC abilities.

O’Connor matches his best grand tour result after he finished fourth at the 2021 Tour de France. Cadel Evans and Jai Hindley – who won the Giro in 2022 – remain the only Australians to have stood on the final podium.

Fellow West Australian Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) finished 10th overall after an attacking and consistent three weeks. Storer lost ground in the time trials but was strong on the long mountain stages, where he twice infiltrated the breakaways.

An excellent ninth place on Stage 20, which went over the Monte Grappa twice, moved Storer from 12th overall into the top 10.

Versatile Queensland sprinter Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) came closest to winning a stage, twice finishing second and third in the bunch sprints.

Although Groves was clearly the strongest sprinter on hilly stages, the pure speed of his rivals on flat finishes meant he was not able to repeat his stage victory from the 2023 Giro. He also finished second in the points classification.

Australian road race and time trial champion Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) showed his talent and tenacity in this year’s Giro. Despite falling out of the general classification with illness, the Victorian rode an attacking race, picking up third and fifth on two breakaway stages.

Plapp was most impressive on Stage 6, which featured the gravel roads made famous by Strade Bianche. Of the three breakaway riders who contested the finish, he appeared the strongest, but sacrificed his chance of victory by pacing for time on GC. Ultimately, Plapp took third behind Pelayo Sanchez and Julian Alaphilippe.

He also confirmed his time trial prowess with fifth and seventh in the two ITTs, which earned him a day in the white young rider’s jersey.

Caleb Ewan (Team Jayco AlUla) was unable to add to his tally of five Giro stage wins, but he did finish the race for the first time in his career.

Simon Clarke (Israel Premier-Tech), Chris Hamilton (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and Michael Hepburn (Team Jayco AlUla) also completed this year’s Giro d’Italia, while Nick Schultz (Israel- Premier- Tech) was forced to withdraw due to illness.

The next men’s WorldTour race will be the Critérium du Dauphiné, the traditional tune-up for the Tour de France previously won by Australians Richie Porte and Phil Anderson.

2024 Giro d’Italia – Results

General Classification

1. Tadej POGAČAR (UAE Team Emirates) 79:14:03
2. Daniel MARTÍNEZ (BORA-hansgrohe) +09:56
3. Geraint THOMAS (INEOS Grenadiers) +10:24
4. Ben O'CONNOR (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) +12:07
5. Antonio TIBERI (Bahrain Victorious) +12:49
6. Thymen ARENSMAN (INEOS Grenadiers) +14:31
7. Einer RUBIO (Movistar Team) +15:52
8. Jan HIRT (Soudal Quick-Step) +18:05
9. Romain BARDET (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) +20:32
10. Michael STORER (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +21:11

Points Classification

1. Jonathan MILAN (Lidl-Trek) 362 points
2. Kaden GROVES (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 225
3. Tim MERLIER (Soudal Quick-Step) 193