O’Connor secured third place at the Dauphiné with a composed ride on the final stage to finish behind Jumbo-Visma superstar Primoz Roglič and his Danish teammate Jonas Vingegaard.
The result was mission accomplished for the Australian AG2R Citroen rider who said in the lead-up to the race that his goal was to secure a podium finish in a WorldTour stage race.
While he was unable to match it with Roglič and Vingegaard on the climb to Plateau de Solaison during Sunday’s eighth and final stage of the 2022 Dauphine, O’Connor showed that the future is bright for the West Australian.
I can be super proud of this,” O’Connor said.
“Jonas was second in the Tour last year, Primož has won the Vuelta three times and pretty much every other stage race.
“It just means you’re there fighting with the best guys, so I can be really proud today.”
A fourth-place overall finish at the 2021 Tour de France was O’Connor’s breakout performance and he is determined to make it a podium finish this time around.
His third place at the Dauphine caps off what has been a strong season so far for O’Connor including 7th at Rita del Sol, 6th at Volta a Catalunya and 5th at Tour de Romandie.
“It’s kind of clear, I’m moving really well,” O’Connor said.
“All the work we’ve done as a team has paid off. We’re really not far away from fighting with actually the very best in the world, and that’s something we can be proud of.
“I just need to get to the Tour now, not get too tired beforehand, and hopefully not have too many problems in the Tour.”
