Ben O'Connor hit by the Giro d'Italia virus too, but looks ready for the GC showdown

Few people seriously considered Ben O'Connor a GC contender for the Giro d'Italia after a very difficult 2025. Yet heading into the final week, the Australian from Jayco AlUla sits in a strong fifth place, firmly in the mix for the podium. He too, however, was hit by the Giro virus that swept through the peloton in the second week.

On Blockhaus, O'Connor was a fine fifth, but two days later he lost significant time. He made up for it with a strong time trial, which leaves him around three-quarters of a minute off the podium and just over two minutes behind Jonas Vingegaard. As for the pink jersey battle, that is not something that occupies his mind. "I say it every time, but I don't really care about it," O'Connor told Domestique. "I just do my own race, I do what I want. I look at my own chances, how I want to ride, and I execute that."

The climber — winner of two Tour de France stages, one Giro stage and one Vuelta stage — tries as much as possible to tune out what his rivals are doing. "I'm not really focusing on what is happening in front of me or behind me. Obviously you need to know what is happening around you in the mountains, but you need to ride with your eyes open, race on instinct and not focus too much on your competitors."

O'Connor had a sensational final season at Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, finishing fourth at the Giro, second at the Vuelta a España and winning silver at the Road World Championships. The move to Australian team Jayco AlUla felt like something of a homecoming, but in his first year with the team the GC leader made little impression. Now he looks to finally be fulfilling his promise.

Many riders in the Giro peloton have been struggling lately. Giulio Pellizzari and Jai Hindley, co-leaders at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, were floored by it, and it reached Visma | Lease a Bike too, where Jonas Vingegaard picked up a cough. But it appears no one in the peloton has been able to escape it — O'Connor included.

"I was not feeling super fit, feeling a little bit sick," he confirmed. "But I think a lot of guys have been in that same boat and have been a bit sick. I don't think it's possible to race the Giro and not get sick. That's just how this race works. So it's not really a new story. I was able to bounce back well after a pretty poor stage on Sunday, so I'm happy about that."

The focus now turns to Saturday's monster mountain stage to Pila — and the Australian is genuinely looking forward to it. "I haven't raced much around Aosta [the start location, ed.], but it's kind of the Italian side of Savoie, so it should suit me. It's a stage I like — long climbs in a big mountain valley."

It will be a pivotal day for the GC men, and if O'Connor can hold his own, he could move further up towards the podium. But he is not getting ahead of himself — he stays calm and measured. "I think ultimately you end up where you deserve to be. And I hope that's the case with me by the time we roll into Rome."