Ben O'Connor: «I'm taking it to the next level»
«On Friday, I felt very emotional thinking about the Tour de France and what I was achieving.
Today, I am extremely pleased. I'm reaching a new milestone with a team that has put its trust in an Australian rider. When I think back to what we went through on the first day, when I thought I had a broken shoulder, had stitches and was in pain everywhere, and almost the whole team had fallen, I can only savour what we are experiencing right now.»
Aurélien Paret-Peintre: «I'm satisfied.»
«It was a difficult time trial in a beautiful landscape... which I thought looked great on TV before the start. I'm happy to have finished my first Tour de France. The results are pretty good, even though the last week was difficult. I managed to make two great breakaways, which put me in a respectable position in the overall rankings. I'm satisfied.‘
The figure
7
With Ben O'Connor finishing in fourth place, this will be the seventh time since 2014 that a rider from the AG2R CITROËN team has finished in the top 10 of the Tour de France.
Jean-Christophe Péraud finished second in 2014, Romain Bardet finished second in 2016, third in 2017, sixth in 2014 and 2018, ninth in 2015, and Ben O'Connor finished fourth in 2021.
The information
Ben O'Connor to resume at the Deutschland Tour
After a few days of rest, Ben O'Connor will return to competition at the Deutschland Tour (26-29 August).
He is then expected to compete in the Tour du Jura (4 September), the Tour du Doubs (5 September) and the Tour du Luxembourg (14-18 September).
Aurélien Paret Peintre, Nans Peters and Dorian Godon will compete in the Tour de l'Ain (29 July – 1 August).
Oliver Naesen will be at the start of the Arctic Race (5–8 August).
Greg Van Avermaet, Benoît Cosnefroy and Michaël Schär will compete in the Olympic road race (24 July).
These programmes are subject to change.
