Cycling - La Vuelta 2024 - Ben O'Connor : "I don't feel that much pressure to be honest, I'm just enjoying this Red jersey"
L'Australien Ben O'Connor de l'équipe Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, porteur du maillot Rouge de leader du Tour d'Espagne après une semaine de course, en conférence de presse ce lundi lors de la première journée de repos de cette Vuelta.
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00:00Hi Ben, how difficult is it for you to handle the pressure in red jersey?
00:08I don't actually think, well I don't really feel that much pressure in red jersey to be honest because it's kind of, I mean it is unexpected.
00:19I never thought about the red jersey year at La Vuelta a España and some people never have the chance to wear a ladies jersey in a grand tour.
00:29Many GC guys, many guys don't have the chance, many GC guys also never have the chance.
00:34So I'm just enjoying it and actually just loving racing from the front, knowing I'm leading the race and it's up to other people to make the moves rather than myself.
00:49Another question for Ben from Bart, HAL Belgium. How exhausted are you after nine hard days of racing or are you still full of energy?
01:00I was a bit exhausted of the heat but I'm good, keen for the second week. It's an aggressive race and it's the kind of racing that I actually enjoy.
01:10So yeah, for sure I'm going to take this rest day but I love grand tours, I like the three weeks and I'll be excited for when it's done as well.
01:26Okay, I see there is Maite Lumanga from Auschwitz writing in the chat. It's a question for Ben. How happy are you to have Félix by your side?
01:40I mean he's a good bloke, he's also super strong so it comes hand in hand. I think yesterday we were really, really good together and I think with a guy like him you can control mountain top finishes really, really well.
01:58I think he can also be an aggressive person if he needs to be too in the race. I really like racing with Félix, we've always been good together and I really enjoyed the tour last year when he won the stage and I did a loss.
02:15It's kind of cool that we can find success together and race well.
02:22Another question for you Ben, from Yuri again from the website in the latest tour, I don't know how to pronounce it, I'm sorry. How surprised were you by the fact that also Adam Yates and Richard Carapace were given so much time to come back? How do you look at that from your position?
02:42Well with Yates, we decided that he could go on a breakaway and he did a great ride and I'm actually really happy that he won. But Carapace, I was surprised, was a really aggressive method to race and it was super impressive to hold on like that. So yeah, it's kind of simple answer to be honest, I should have raced him.
03:10Yes, that's me, this is for Ben. Ben, do you think the other favourites regret with you having stayed so strong over the weekend in the red jersey? Do you think they regret to have given you so many minutes in the stage where you grabbed the red jersey?
03:31Probably in hindsight yes, but you're not going to know the full answer of that until we get to Madrid, but I'm sure at the moment there will be a couple of teams that will probably regret it, yeah.
03:45For Ben, from Peter Cycling News, what gave you more confidence for the overall win, taking the lead on stage 6 or managing to extend your lead over Roglic on stage 9?
04:01For sure yesterday, because when I won the stage, I took the jersey but I never had any pressure for holding the jersey by that point. That was the win and I won it and I deserved it and I really enjoyed it.
04:17But then yesterday was a completely different story, I was managing the race, controlling it with the boys and doing a really good job. So yeah, they're not really relatable, but both days were great days of cycling for me and racing and yeah, I enjoyed them.
04:39A question for Ben, from Bart again, we saw you sprint with 4.0 seconds on Sunday, so it seems like every second counts. With that in mind, why didn't Félix stay with you in the last kilometre on Saturday? That might have saved you a few seconds.
04:58He's a terrible person, believe me. He stayed with me, he already waited for me on this climb and then the final of 600m for a 10% and it wouldn't have changed anything. I was already going backwards and yeah, I was pretty average that day. So no, that doesn't change anything.
05:15I got the seconds yesterday, I had a great race and we're going to tomorrow. First and best and if there's further seconds to take, then I'll try and take them if they're there.
05:32A question for Ben, what effect does your performance have on the home front? Do you get a lot of reactions from Australia?
05:40Yeah, I mean obviously you're going to get support from everyone that you know and you always have the support from your friends I think. Yeah, you have support. I don't really know what else to say. You're going to be well received if you're leading a big race no matter what.
06:05A question for Ben from Danny Miranda from the newspaper Diario AS. A question, dressed in the red jersey, would it be a disappointment not to finish on the podium in Madrid?
06:20I'd like to, but you can't be disappointed if you don't deserve it. The people who finish on podiums, no matter where you finish on GC, is where you deserve it. So if it ends up being there, then I'll be proud. But already at the moment, having this red jersey is one form of a dream come true.
06:45So I'm already a happy man and whatever comes in the next 11 days, we'll find out.
06:56Another question from Bart. Are you going, Ben, to win this World Cup?
07:01It's such a stupid question to answer. I hope I can, but the strongest guy wins this race. And if it's me, if it's Mass, if it's Primoz, if it's Carlos, you can name a ton of different guys. I'm just going to do my best every day.