Ben Healy gets the head down as he rockets around the Innsbruck Worlds course. A rider who can really shift against the watch; his placing at the championships is now 13th after a small upgrade (Photo: Sean Rowe)
Ben Healy upgraded in World Champs results
Irish national TT champion Ben Healy had been upgraded one place to 13th in the junior test at the World Road Championships.
The Irish rider just one place after one of the riders who finished ahead of him was penalised with a time penalty.
Healy rode a very consistent test; going through the intermediate split in 14th and being in the same position at the finish.
He was 2:49 down on winner Remco Evenepoel; the Belgian who now goes from the junior category straight into the WorldTour with QuickStep on a two-year contract.
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It was a very good result by Ben Healy in the 27.7km race; just 17 seconds off a top ten.
And compatriot Aaron Doherty was also very solid. Road racing is his forte, yet he was good in a quality field in Innsbruck.
Doherty came home 46th in the 71-rider field; both riders doing very well even being selected to represent Ireland given the strength of the current crop.
Aaron Doherty looked great on course. He did well but said he felt immediately he wasn't on a great day; a hazard in bike racing at any level. But he's had a strong year capped by his selection for Innsbruck.
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“It was pretty good, really,” said Ben Healy after his ride. “I wanted to break into the top ten so I’m a bit disappointed with the result. But I left it all out on the course.
“It started out fairly flat and the second half was more rolling. It’s a pretty technical course; fast and with a headwind.
“I really liked the course. It was one that suited me today. I’ve been focused on this for a pretty long time.
“And the form was pretty good coming into it. I’ve been training hard for the past six weeks. I’ve really been knuckling down and getting everything perfect up to this.
“The form was actually really good. Being hillier in the second half I thought ‘I’ve got to get aero for the first half, pace my effort, control my effort not take it easy but just not full gas and then give it everything on the hills’.
“Obviously being on junior gears, it was a case of rest up as much as you can on the downhill and maintain momentum.”
Mayo man Aaron Doherty, who has had a very good time in the junior ranks, felt he got as much out of himself as he could.
He wasn’t on his best form, but he made the best of the condition he had, he said.
“I had hoped to do a little better but it’s my first world championships so I was happy just get the experience,” said Doherty.
“I just sort of knew after the first few minutes that I didn’t really have the best legs.
“But I also knew I had to make the most of it then and try to get out as much from myself even if I wasn’t going great.
“Today it was a headwind and I found getting over the top of the hills was the hardest part.
“You were trying to keep the speed up over the top. And then you’re spun out on the descent on the junior gears.”
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