Ben O'Connor: «We can all be very proud of this achievement.»
«At one point, I thought I could catch up with the leaders. My legs were still strong. I didn't burn out. It was just that I couldn't keep up with the first acceleration. Jonas Vingegaard was second in last year's Tour de France. Primoz Roglic has won the Vuelta three times and quite a few other great races. All this means that I battled with some of the best riders in the world. I can be proud of what I've done. The Critérium du Dauphiné is a race where you have to give it your all. You have to ride with your heart. If you hold something back, you'll never find the resources to achieve the best possible result. We achieved all this as a team. All the work we put in during preparation and all the confidence shown in me by the staff and my teammates has paid off. We're not far off being able to compete with the best teams in the world, and we can all be very proud of that.»[/su_quote]
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With his third place in the overall classification of the Critérium du Dauphiné, Ben O'Connor has made it onto the podium of a UCI WorldTour race for the first time. It should be noted that this season, with the exception of Paris-Nice, which he abandoned due to illness, Ben O'Connor has never finished lower than seventh place. He won the Tour du Jura and finished fifth in the Tour de Romandie, sixth in the Besançon Classic and the Tour of Catalonia, and seventh in the Ruta del Sol. «It's a great satisfaction. We knew Ben was doing well. We saw it in the tests in Sierra Nevada. But to actually see it happen on the ground... We are very proud. Last year, he surprised everyone. Today, he has shown that he is truly a great rider, keeping up with the very best. This confirms that he is a rider who can compete for victory in the biggest races,» said Vincent Lavenu, general manager of the AG2R CITROËN team.
The information
Clément Berthet finishes 17th in the first stage of the Tour de Suisse
Clément Berthet finished 17th in the first stage of the Tour de Suisse. He is currently sixth in the young rider classification.
