Ben Healy judged his effort to perfection today to win
stage 5 at the Tour de l’Avenir, though he told stickybottle he had to dig very
deep at the end to hang on.
Healy, who rides for Le Col Wiggins and is competing in
France this week for the UCI’s World Cycling Centre composite team, took is
chance brilliantly today.
Though just 18 years old he assumed responsibility in the
four-man breakaway when the gap between it and the peloton tumbled from four
minutes to one.
The extra effort by the Irish teenager put one of the escapees out the back, though helped ensure the breakaway stayed clear.
And with 5km to go as he sensed the others he was with
may have a better finish than him, Healy again stepped up.
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He attacked and got a gap and from that moment he emptied
the tank all the way to the line, never easing up until he knew the victory was
his.
The stage took the riders 158.9km from Espalion to Saint-Julien-Chapteuil
and began with the Cote de Condon d’Aubrac; some 7.7km at 6.7 per cent.
Once he hit those early slopes Healy said he knew he was on a good day and he was determined to make the most of his legs.
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“I knew I was feeling good at the start of the day so gave it
everything to get in the break after the first climb,” he said.
“We worked well all day until the last
20k to go and the gap came down to a minute so I upped the pace and we dropped
the Swiss rider,” he said of Robin Froideveaux
(20).
With the breakaway down to three,
it left Healy up front with Morten Hulgaard (20) from Denmark and
American Matteo Jorgenson (20).
“From there the three of us pushed on
until the Dane was pulling soft turns so the American started looking at him,”
Healy explained of the period just after the Swiss rider was dropped.
“That’s when I jumped them with 5k to
go. I knew I needed to do that because I’m not the strongest finisher.
“From then on I just dug as deep as I could and managed to hold them off to the line; though they did come close.”
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