Italy will celebrate the 107th edition of the Giro from May 4-26, and SBS & SBS On Demand will once again deliver all the action to Australian audiences live and on demand.
O’Connor followed the wheel of Pogacar during the ascent of the Oropa, but soon lost his legs with four kilometres remaining until the summit.
From there, Pogacar kicked on for an emphatic victory; leaving his general classification rival to finish in 13th position – 60 seconds after the UAE Team Emirates star dispossessed Jhonatan Narvaez of the leader’s jersey.
Speaking outside his team bus, O’Connor admitted: “I wanted to try to follow Pogi.
“It was kind of a goal because I felt so good, so it was worth a try. But perhaps it was a touch too long, and I suffered the consequences for it later in the race.”
Challenging Pogacar had long been a goal of the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale rider and, for a while, he looked to be in great condition.
Pogacar’s telling attack came with only 4.4 kilometres remaining in the stage to the Sanctuary of Oropa, and O’Connor was immediately on his wheel.
However, within a few hundred metres, the match had met its end, with the 28-year-old sliding back to Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) in third and in danger of falling further adrift.
A group of chasers would soon catch the pair, but as Thomas preserved his third-placed finish, O’Connor’s exertions continued to take their toll.
It’s a bitter blow in the battle for the overall podium, with O’Connor now 39 seconds behind Thomas and Felipe Daniel Martinez (Bora-Hansgrohe), but far from fatal with 19 stages still to come.
Nevertheless, O’Connor could not hide his disappointment, before vowing to try and avoid any similar scenarios for the remainder of the Italian Grand Tour.
“You should never lose time like that, it’s just not good enough,” he said.
“You have to set yourself to higher standards than losing time for nothing because you’re just not that intelligent.
“I made a bit of a mistake today. I’ve learned, hopefully, and I’ll try not to make that mistake again.”
