"It's an aspect of cycling that I cannot lose, I can't lose that aggressivity to chase wins or to put myself out there in a risky situation," O'Connor told Cyclingnews as he reflected on a superb 2024 season. "In the Vuelta I had everything to lose. We went there as a team for a top five overall for me, and I put myself out there. If it went wrong, all the boys are going to be like, 'What did you do?'"
"You put yourself on the line. If I did get caught, and then who knows, it gets really difficult again and I drop, or in two days time I drop in Granada, it would always come back to me and that effort," accepted O'Connor.
"I didn't want to ruin my time with the team by screwing it up. You had to take a huge leap of confidence in yourself at that moment and say, 'Nah, I'm good. I'm good. It's gonna work out. It will work!'"
"It did work of course, with the Australian taking the stage and the red leader's jersey, plus the 4:51 gap he carved out on the overall to Primož Roglič."
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