Ben O’Connor’s rapid rise to professional cycling could be put down to his dogged self-belief.

The 23-year-old Leeming product competed in his first local bike race in late 2013 and was racing internationally two years later.

The Aquinas College graduate took to the sport relatively late, but has made up for lost time.

“I was still playing cricket until the end of 2014,” O’Connor said.

“My best mate and his Dad had bikes and I kept asking them if I could go riding (in 2012) — eventually I did a hills ride with them and it was so much fun, that’s my first memory of truly riding in the hills.

“When you are young you know if you are going to be good at something and with riding I knew.”

O’Connor started winning races as soon as he hit the sport and cycling took over in 2014 when he joined national road series outfit Satalyst.

He went on to race with continental team Avanti IsoWhey Sports, where his strong results overseas saw professional teams take notice.

In 2016, O’Connor won the New Zealand Cycle Classic, finished third in the Tour de Taiwan — which he led until the final stage — and placed third in the French stage race Tour de Savoie Mont-Blanc.

O’Connor considered his performance in France, where he lost to Spanish Quick Step rider Enric Mas and Team Sky’s Tao Geoghegan Hart, his ticket to the pro tour.

Dimension Data performance manager Rolf Aldag contacted O’Connor in late 2016 and the youngster started training with the pro team on the eve of his 21st birthday.

“It was massive to get interest from them — I think Rolf saw that GC (general classification) climbing ability,” he said.

“I was only new to the sport and hadn’t had much exposure to European racing but was able to do well in a mountain race, so I think that’s what captured his interest.”

He proved himself as a GC rider last year when he rode into the top 10 in the Giro d’Italia, but crashed out in the race’s dying stages.

O’Connor said he had a score to settle in the Giro after he broke a collarbone on stage 19 while in 12th place overall.

“The Giro is my race. I was so close last year and it really hurt,” he said.

Dimension Data plan to support O’Connor as their lead rider at the Giro next month and June and the rider is placing all his focus on the event.

“My year is up to June 2 when the Giro finishes — it all leads up to there,” he said.

“I need to throw all my eggs into the pot and try and do it again and do better.”