Can Jayco AlUla challenge for the Giro podium? Ben O'Connor and Steve Cummings are keeping their cards close

Jayco AlUla were among the first teams to announce their Giro d'Italia squad, with Ben O'Connor at the top of the list. The 30-year-old Australian has established himself as a Grand Tour rider — but he wants to go one better at this Giro. How realistic is the podium? IDL Pro Cycling spoke with O'Connor and sporting director Steve Cummings.

Jayco AlUla's official press release was careful not to spell out a specific target, but earlier this year O'Connor made no secret of where he stands: the podium in Rome is the goal. And on paper, that is not an unreasonable ambition. He finished fourth at the Giro in 2024, fourth at the Tour de France in 2021 (with a stage win), and second at the 2024 Vuelta a España.

Last year, O'Connor narrowly missed the Tour de France top ten, but won stage 18 to the top of the Col de la Loze. He has at least one stage win in all three Grand Tours and has finished in the top four of all three. The podium wish is, in principle, no impossible dream.

"I've improved every year and I keep raising the bar, trying to get even better. I want to do better than the last time I raced," O'Connor told the Giro organisation. "I want a strong third week and to race the way I like to race. I don't want to be in damage-limitation mode again."

In recent years, O'Connor's Grand Tour form has consistently been telegraphed by strong performances in the build-up races. Ahead of the 2021 Tour he was already comfortably inside the top ten in Romandie and the Dauphiné. Before the 2024 Giro he finished second at the Tour of the Alps. Going into that year's Vuelta, he had already shown well at the Clásica de San Sebastián.

Those confirmation results have been slower to come in 2026. A tenth place at the Tour Down Under was positive, but he could not make his mark in the UAE Tour or the Tour of Catalonia. Eighth at the Tour of the Alps looked more like it. And before that race, he had already indicated he was on an upward trajectory after altitude camps in Andorra and the Sierra Nevada.

The team is not concerned. "Ben is doing well," sporting director Cummings insisted at the Tour of the Alps. "He started his season earlier than usual at the Tour Down Under, and he was good there. The UAE Tour maybe didn't go as hoped, but Ben is in good form now and feeling good."

"We're just missing the results, and those can provide a certain level of reassurance for any rider," the 45-year-old Briton acknowledged. But he was quick to add a caveat: "Sometimes you have to separate performance from results — you can't read too much into it. When your form is good, the results will come."

As for putting a precise target on the Giro, Cummings was not prepared to be drawn. "We're going to the Giro for the best possible result. I don't know right now exactly what that could be. Ben is just a real racer — that's his strength, and it's how he takes time. We've seen that often enough in the past."

O'Connor himself underlined during the Tour of the Alps that he is exactly where he wants to be. "Though it's always nice to have a result going into the Giro. We'll only really know where I stand once we're racing. As long as I keep growing and doing better than my previous race, it's good." And that was already the case — eighth in South Tyrol was his best result of the season to that point.

It speaks to the steady build towards top form that O'Connor now knows well. "It's not like I'm constantly breaking records — I just do my thing. The main difference is how I manage fatigue these days. That's always been a big factor for me. I've been through all of this before, so I don't need to worry."

Mentally, this is a mature O'Connor — ready to do what a slight physical issue just kept out of his reach in the 2024 Giro: stand on the podium. "I've exceeded expectations before and I know what I'm capable of," he said. "I trust the process, and if it doesn't come together for whatever reason, so be it. I'm doing everything I can and I'm well prepared."

If the podium turns out to be beyond him, O'Connor will not call it a failed race. "I always believe it's possible, but maybe I'm being too optimistic. Ultimately it's an ambitious goal, but I've done it in the Vuelta. I'd love to do it again — but that doesn't mean it will happen or that it's realistic."

It is simply past achievement that tells him it can be done, even if 2026 has not yet shown all its cards. "If you've finished fourth in the Giro, fourth in the Tour, and second in the Vuelta, it can't be impossible."