Australian cycling star Ben O’Connor wins second ever stage of Tour de France after years of crashes

Ben O’Connor has crashed a lot in the Tour de France, but after making a move to an Australian team, the Aussie star has finally saluted.

Australian cycling star Ben O’Connor was adamant winning a stage of the Tour de France mattered more than a top-10 finish in the race after enjoying the satisfaction of raising his arms after taking out stage 18.

Having found himself “on the deck” too often for his own liking through the race over the years, the 29-year-old finally buried memories of other crashes to cross the line at the Col de la Loze after a brutal climb.

Making the win more enjoyable was doing it as an “Aussie rider on an Aussie team” after saluting for Jayco AlUla having only joined this season.

“It’s a pretty cruel race,” O’Connor said.

“I’ve just found myself on the deck in the first two days a few times, but not really for my own fault. Stage 1, it wasn’t my fault – I was just taken out.”

Stage winner Ben O'Connor climbs the Col de la Loze. Picture; Tim de Waele/Getty Images

“In Copenhagen (in 2022), same thing, sprint finish, crash in front of me, nowhere to go. And then you had the crash in 2021 (when a fan holding a cardboard sign caused a massive pile up), so the first couple days really haven’t treated me well at all in this race before.”

It was O’Connor’s second stage win, four years after his previous victory in 2021 when he finished fourth overall, the winning plan hatched with his team’s sports director Matthew Hayman.

“He told me you’ve got nothing to lose,” O’Connor said.

“If you’re going to win, you have to go from the bottom of the valley … and that’s what happened. On the Col de la Loze, it was pretty straightforward – you either had it or you didn’t.”

O’Connor said the high of crossing the line first at any stage during the race made for a much better feeling than finishing near the top of the pack when the race concludes in Paris.

“Yes, definitely. Getting your hands up in the air is the most enjoyable thing,” he said.

“It’s only when you complete a GC and you’ve done a perfect race yourself and you’re proud of every single day that you’ve tapped it out and you’ve ticked the boxes, then that gives you a different kind of satisfaction.”

Originally published as Australian cycling star Ben O’Connor wins second ever stage of Tour de France after years of crashes