Ben O’Connor is just one of the many in the current generation of professional cyclists who knows how it feels to finish as the best of the rest. The Australian’s proudest moment on a bike comes not from raising his arms in triumph on the road, but while finishing second behind Tadej Pogacar at the world championships in 2024. “That was a huge race, an amazing experience, and one where I was very proud to carry myself on to the podium and to hold up the Aussie flag,” he says.

It was that Pogacar victory in Zurich which made him just the third rider to claim the “triple crown” of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and world road title in the same year – the toughest prize in men’s cycling. The 27-year-old added a fourth Tour de France overall title in 2025, to now be one short of equalling the record haul, as he continues to stake his claim as road cycling’s GOAT. But O’Connor is putting together his own palmarès that stands up against the next tier of riders who are largely unable to compete with the Slovenian superstar.

Ben O’Connor in red and his team lead the peloton in the 2024 La Vuelta. Photograph: Tim de Waele/Getty Images

O’Connor has won stages at each of the three grand tours, including on the queen stage of last year’s Tour de France. The 30-year-old was runner-up on general classification (GC) at the Vuelta a España after a 13-day stint in the red jersey in 2024, and finished fourth overall at the Giro earlier that season. But even his lofty goals to improve on those results in 2026 come with a dose of realism.

“I can’t do what Tadej can do, so there’s no point in aspiring to be like that,” O’Connor says. “It’s just impossible. You just know that Tadej and UAE are going to race a certain way and then you have to be able to manage that.

“Are you going to limit yourself knowing that there’s going to be a bomb drop, so don’t overdo it? Or are you going to get carried along as far as you can, and then just try and hold on? Often you’re just dropped anyway, it’s just too hard, and you time trial to the finish. It can be a tricky one to get right.”

Expectations around O’Connor – especially those he places on himself – soared along with the heights he hit during the 2024 season. The Perth-born climber then joining Australia’s only UCI WorldTour team, Jayco AlUla, only added to the hopes that he might build on those results and fulfil all of his promise when among more familiar surroundings.

Ben O’Connor celebrates winning Stage 18 in the 2025 Tour de France. Photograph: Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters

An illness early last year knocked around O’Connor’s season schedule. A crash on the opening stage of the Tour de France derailed his plans to impress as Jayco AlUla’s first Australian GC rider with genuine podium hopes. He carried a knee injury sustained in that fall through the rest of the Tour until recovering to claim a win on the brutal stage 18. That victory helped O’Connor finish the Tour in 11th overall, and was the highpoint in a rollercoaster first campaign with his new team.

“There is a lingering frustration from the injuries and illness last year,” he says. “It’s such an annoying sport. There are things that are completely out of your control, and that’s probably the one thing that can kill you mentally. But it’s a constant motivator too, to always rock up to races ready to go, because you never know what’s around the corner.”

Ben O’Connor will use the Tour Down Under to lay the foundation for his season. Photograph: Zac Williams/SWpix.com/Shutterstock

O’Connor’s grand tour successes have come in the toughest of conditions, including on the mountain stage to Col de la Loze at the Tour last year and a similarly cold and wet Alpine stage in 2021. Clever tactics on the road – while making the most of being underrated earlier in his career – also helped elevate O’Connor in overall standings.

But with the positive results mounting, like holding on for second overall behind Primoz Roglic in Spain two years ago, O’Connor is unlikely to keep flying under the radar. He says he wouldn’t have it any other way, as he hopes to finally find out what he is capable of on the biggest stage with the holy trinity of form, fitness and a strong team behind him.

The foundation for the season will be laid at the Tour Down Under this week. O’Connor concedes the parcours around Adelaide does not really suit his preference for long and grinding climbs. But he sees riding for the highest finish possible as the ideal preparation for attacking his GC ambitions.

“If I’m doing two grand tours, one absolutely has to be all in on GC,” he says. “Then the other one, I’m there to win stages. And that’s how I’m going to play it for the rest of my career.

“I loved finishing second in the Vuelta and having the red jersey for two weeks. If you wear the leader’s jersey, and you know you have that capacity, then that’s a pretty big motivator. I’ve shown that I’m a GC rider through and through. I’ve done a fourth overall at the Tour as well, and I reckon I can do another top five for sure.”