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Ben O’Connor makes his debut with Jayco AlUla on the Volta a los angeles Comunitat Valenciana in Spain on Wednesday, taking up João Almeida and Brandon McNulty (UAE Crew Emirates-XRG), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) and fellow Australian Jai Hindley (Reb Invoice-Bora-Hansgrohe).
The five-day Volta a los angeles Comunitat Valenciana starts with a 34.3km workforce time trial on Wednesday and ends on Sunday with a degree for the sprinters in Valencia. The total classification might be made up our minds on degree 2 to Benifato and degree 3 to Alpuente. Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) are anticipated to contest any dash finishes.
O’Connor mentioned he used to be searching for the ‘first large results of the season’, with Jayco AlUla additionally deciding on Jasha Sütterlin, Bob Donaldson, Jelte Krijnsen and the skilled Michael Hepburn and Chris Juul-Jensen.
“It will be my first time at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana but above all, it’s my first race with my new team,” O’Connor mentioned.
“Since I started my professional career, I always knew that, sooner or later, I would be part of the GreenEdge family. For us Australian riders, Team Jayco AlUla remains the reference team and I am very proud to be here.
“My function is to provide my easiest and get the primary large results of the season. Now we have an overly aggressive workforce, which is able to do neatly on the TTT after which it is going to be as much as me to be robust at the many climbs of the Spanish race.”
Jayco AlUla missed out at the Tour Down Under but Mauro Schmid made amends by winning Sunday’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.
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O’Connor was one of the best stage race riders of 2024, finishing second at the UAE Tour, fourth at the Giro d’Italia and then second at the Vuelta a España after spending two weeks in the leader’s jersey. He ended the year with second behind Tadej Pogačar at the UCI Road World Championships.
O’Connor, fourth in the 2021 Tour de France, will lead Jayco AlUla in the Grand Tour in July.
“To be an Aussie GC man, going to the Excursion with an Aussie workforce; I have no idea if they have actually had that sooner than,” mentioned O’Connor.
“I believe that is an exhilarating factor for Aussie biking, to be fair.”
O’Connor spent the winter at his European base in Andorra, enjoying time with his baby daughter Josephine, who was born in the summer and training with his new teammates.
“It is early season after all however we nonetheless have ambitions right here. It is the first race for Ben O’Connor with the workforce and his preparation has to this point long past all to devise,” directeur sportif David McPartland said.
“We will be able to purpose to do a just right race with him within the GC. First, we have now the tremendous vital TTT on degree one. This may increasingly set the scene for the next phases and the way the race unfolds.
“The week overall is a solid one with three of the five stages comprising more than 3,000m of climbing. There is also the last stage and potentially one of the lighter mountain stages where we may see a reduced bunch sprint and for that, we have another new member in Jelte Krijnsen for a result.”
