Ben Healy started the Tour de France already a top pro rider but has ended it a star; the three weeks proving transformative in his career (Photo: Bastien Seon)

Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) was already looking forward to the UCI World Road Championships in Rwanda after finishing the Tour de France yesterday, but insisted he needed a break before focussing too much on the races to come.

Already a top rider before the race began in Lille three weeks ago, the 24-year-old generated a blizzard a media coverage for his exploits – including a stage win and two days in the yellow jersey. He said it felt like a very big period in his career, even though he had tried to just focus on the racing.

“This Tour de France was a dream come true. Winning a stage, wearing the yellow jersey – you can’t ask for too much more than that,” he said.

“I guess what I have learned at this Tour is just to stick to what I know and keep doing what I know works. This Tour de France has been a big confirmation for me that sometimes it’s a slow process, but I will always get there in the end.

“It was pretty special to have the guys riding for me. The Tour is the biggest race in the world and to have them behind me was pretty incredible. Huge thanks to them because, for sure, what I did in this Tour wasn’t possible without this team.”

Ben Healy’s stint in the yellow jersey was the first time an Irishman had led the Tour de France since Stephen Roche in 1987 (Photo: Charly Lopez)

He addd he was delighted to be awarded the super combative award – coming with a trip to the podium in Paris – saying “super combative is exactly the sort of rider I hoped to be when I was younger, I am very proud.”

And while he tried as best he could not to focus on the attention he was generating outside the race bubble, it was hard to do.

“I must say, I’ve been trying to keep my eyes closed to it a bit because it is just so overwhelming when you start looking at all this stuff,” he said of coverage in the Irish media, including front page news for the first time in his career.

“But it’s hard to block it all out, there’s been that much. I’ve seen a lot of nice things and it’s pretty special; you race a bike and it means something to people. It’s been absolutely mental to be honest. It’s been a whirlwind three weeks and I’m pretty fried now, I’m looking forward to some rest.”

He finished 9th overall at the Tour, and clearly rode to defend that position during most of the third week. However, Healy said he did not have any plans to change the way he raced; marked by aggression and the strength to finish the job when he got a gap.

“I enjoy racing, and GC is a bit boring,” he laughed. “If I can sneak into a GC like I did on this Tour, I think that’s the perfect way for me to do it. i just love getting my hands in the air and I think the best way for me to do that is (to aim) for stages.”

Asked what he would do next, he said: “A bit of a break, I think that’s what I need. I’ll reassess after that. I think the Worlds is a nice course for me but I’m not looking too far into the future right now.”

Healy won stage 6, with a solo ride of over 40km from the breakaway, and took the yellow jersey for two days on stage 10. He was awarded the combative award on three stages, and overall, and also finished 9th overall and 4th in the young rider classification.

Healy was the first Irish rider to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour since Stephen Roche in 1987, when the Dubliner won the race outright. He is only the fourth Irish rider in history to take Tour de France yellow, after Shay Elliott, Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche.