Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) may have “overcooked” in the heat of France on the Hautacam summit finish yesterday – slipping from the yellow jersey to 11th overall – but he may still centre his focus on the general classification.
The 24-year-old went into this race on a mission to win a stage, which he did on the sixth day of action. And when he crashed in the final of the stage the following day, the speed he looked for his bike to get going again suggested the general classification had moved to the forefront of his mind.
He lost 13:38 yesterday to stage winner, and new yellow jersey, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and is now 11th overall at 13:19. However, Healy is just 1:07 off the top 10 and he and his team are now actively considering targeting the general classification, though they also believe there are three more stage-win chances for him.
“I just got cooked out there a little bit. So, that is all she wrote,” said Healy of first losing contact with the group on the penultimate climb before the final big mountain began yesterday. However, that is something he could recover from, with Superbagnères the next big test on Saturday.
“The guys did a really big job. The whole team honored this jersey. I am super grateful to everyone for today. We did the perfect race. We wanted a big break and to show ourselves at the front and that is what we did. Harry was up there as well, and he really saved me a lot of time today.
“The fans were absolutely incredible. Coming up the last climb, I was 13 minutes behind, and I reckon I got the biggest cheer out of anyone. I want to say thank you to anyone who’s written my name or shouted for me or cheered me on. It was just amazing.”
Team boss Jonathan Vuaghters said the temperatures had played a big part in undermining Healy’s performance yesterday. He believed the Irishman would perform much better if the temperatures dropped, as expected.
“Two days in yellow is never enough, but I think we had a lot of fun for those two days. It was a real honor,” Vaughters said of Healy taking the yellow jersey after stage 10, just before the rest day.
“There aren’t going to be very many teams who get to wear the yellow jersey in this year’s Tour de France. We’ll be one of the few. It’s been a real pleasure to watch how this organisation reacted and adapted to having what is the most coveted thing in the world of professional cycling.
“We’ll decide regarding Ben and whether he continues with the top 10 GC ambition on Superbagneres. I still believe he can be in the top 10 if it cools down, Ben’s just not a super rider in in heat, and it is supposed to cool down and we are supposed to get a little bit of rain. And if that happens, I think we could revive his chances of getting a top 10. If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.
“There are three more stages left in this race that I think are suited for breakaways that our team could win from. So, we’ll chase those three remaining breakaway stages, and we’ll chase the top 10. Who knows? Maybe we will come away with both.”
