From the Santos Tour Down Under to the Top of Le Tour

Australian cyclist Ben O’Connor has won the Queen stage of the Tour de France overnight with a daring attack to the top of the Col de la Loze after a brutal 5000m of climbing.

O’Connor – who launched his professional cycling career in Adelaide at the Santos Tour Down Under (TDU) back in 2017 – has now won two stages of the Tour de France after his first triumph in 2021.

But this was his first while riding for Australian WorldTour team Jayco-AlUla and came after he recovered from a nasty crash on the opening stage.

“I’m normally at my best on these bigger stages of the race. It was so nice to find my legs again and find my true self and it is my second Tour de France win, so to do it now with Jayco AlUla, an Aussie team, it’s a proud moment,” O’Connor said after winning Stage 18.

“The pressure was on to get a result. We needed it as a team. I think it’s pretty rare for the team to go to the Tour without a stage win, so we had to do that and to do it on the Queen stage is a big thing.

“I was on a good one but really to be honest this goes out to everyone who supports myself, the team and it is for all the loyal Australian supporters in general.”

The 29-year-old from Western Australia made his professional cycling debut at the TDU in January, 2017, when riding for Team Dimension Data.

He has raced the TDU four times in total with his most recent appearance in 2023 when he finished sixth overall after placing third on the final stage at Mount Lofty.

This year’s Tour de France finishes on the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday.