Ben O’Connor has been left in dreamland, capping his wonderful season with a silver medal in the men’s road race that has thrust Australian cycling to the top of the world championship medal table in Zurich.
The 28-year-old from Subiaco, who could hardly credit finishing runner-up at the recent Vuelta a Espana after one of the finest grand tours ever ridden by an Australian, this time came second behind the matchless Tadej Pogacar in the season’s biggest one-day race on Sunday.
It came four days after he had joined Jay Vine, Michael Matthews, Grace Brown, Brodie Chapman and Ruby Roseman-Gannon to strike gold in the time trial mixed relay.
With Grace Brown winning the women’s time trial last Sunday and Neve Bradbury taking the Under-23 silver in the women’s road race on Saturday, Australia, with two golds and two silvers, ended top of the medal table above all the usual European cycling super powers.
“To come out with second is a huge, huge result for me and for the Aussie team,” beamed O’Connor.
After joining Pogacar and 2023 winner, bronze medallist Mathieu van der Poel, on the road race podium, O’Connor couldn’t help smiling: “It’s some good company.”
So is the company he’s keeping among Australia’s greatest men’s cyclists, as O’Connor follows Robbie McEwen, Allan Davis, Matthew Goss, Simon Gerrans, Michael Matthews and Cadel Evans as men’s road race medallists.
“I’ve done well in races as well this year, so, I guess it’s a fitting podium and I’m just really, really proud, to be honest. I didn’t really expect that today,” said O’Connor, whose Perth colleague, former Giro d’Italia champ Jai Hindley was the next Aussie finisher in 18th.
Weary after a long season in which he finished fourth at the Giro d’Italia and led the Vuelta for 13 days – a Grand Tour record for an Aussie – O’Connor said his teammates had “knocked my head that I was good even though I didn’t really feel like that at the start.
“I’m a very, very happy man. I didn’t win, Pogacar’s got the rainbow jersey, but for me it’s a really, really top, world-class race result.
“I haven’t really done a ton in one-day races, so to get a second here in the World Champs, the biggest of them all, it’s a pretty sweet feeling.”
It was a tale of two races, with Pogacar in a league of his own up front, attacking from 100km out in the 273.9km slog and going it alone for 50km for one of the most epic victories in cycling annals.
But in the seven-strong group nearly a minute behind all jostling for the minor medals, O’Connor picked the perfect moment to scoot away from his challengers, who dithered as he attacked near the finish.
“I wanted to be at the back,” said O’Connor, who eventually finished 34 seconds behind the slowing, celebrating Pogacar,.
“I wanted to slip through in the middle because as soon as you come from the side, everyone can see you.
“Tactics, being smart … I don’t really know what you can put it down to, I found a great moment. As soon as you get a jump like that, you have to commit to chase it down.”
The race will be O’Connor’s last of the season, before he leaves his Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale team to join Team Jayco AlUla next season in another boost for Australian cycling.
