The decision must have been painful, but it seemed inevitable as Ben O’Connor seems to have been struggling since the start of this Tour de France 2022. He first suffered a fall, during the 2nd stage, after which he “suffered from a muscle lesion of the right gluteus medius” AG2R said in a statement. Then a mechanical problem on the 5th stage, that of the mythical cobblestones of the North. Expected by several teammates, the Australian struggled without ever being able to return to the main peloton, losing more than three minutes on the leader. “The vibrations during the cobblestone stage did not facilitate his recovery”explains the doctor again Serge NiamkeAG2R-Citroën team doctor.
Then, during the 8th stage between Dole and Lausanne, the leader of the Savoyard team fell and conceded more than nine minutes, in the general classification. Finally, the day before, Sunday, he stalled at the start of the first alpine stage of this Tour. Ben O’Connor was simply unable to put himself in a dancer in the ascents announced this Monday his sports director, Julien Jurdie. O’Connor was in 86th place overall, nearly 50 minutes behind the yellow jersey wearer, Slovenian Tadej Pogacar.
“Given Ben’s physical condition, it was obvious that he should not start the next stage – Vincent Lavenu, general manager of AGR2
“Given the physical condition of Ben, it was obvious that he should not start the next stage in order to preserve his physical integrity. We felt that he has continued to race in recent days for the team, driven by the desire not to disappoint us. The fact that we felt that he had to stop and rebuild himself physically and morally relieved him.”said Vincent Lavenugeneral manager of the AG2R-Citroën team.
The Australian will therefore undergo in-depth examinations and be treated. His next goal: to prepare for the Vuelta, the Tour of Spain says Julien Jurdie. It’s a huge disappointment for the AG2R-Citorën team, which was betting a lot on the Australian rider, winner of an incredible stage in Tignes, in the rain, and ranked fourth in the Tour de France last year and 3rd in the Criterium from the Dauphiné this year.