The mixed ambitions of Ben Healy's Tour de France were in evidence in the Col du Tourmalet yesterday, when the EF Education-EasyPost rider tried to go clear in the breakaway, to try for another stage win, only to think twice and decided to try and climb for the day in the general classification group.
At the end of the stage, on the misty upper slopes of Superbagnères, Healy put in another fantastic ride. Others were turning the screw in the select group, as they still chased the last survivor from the early breakaway, Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers).
With the group down to just eight, Healy slipped off the back with 5km to go. However, he fought back and got on again. On the line he 7th on the stage; 2:46 behind winner Arensman. He lost 1:35 to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) as the Slovenian and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) split the GC group as they attacked in the last few kilometres. Healy is now up two places to 9th at 18:41.
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"Now that I am top ten on GC, I am not just going to lose time on purpose. Days like this and the ones coming up are the kind of days that always suit me," Healy said at stage end, knowing the effort required in coming days, over stages that would suit him in a breakaway, will require a differnt effort in the GC group.
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"I think I've always sort of known that, but I've approached them from a breakaway standpoint rather than for the GC. I want to be up with the big boys. I went for the break today and spent a lot of energy doing that.
"But I realized pretty quickly on that I didn't have the legs for the stage, especially with UAE pulling behind, so I decided to pull the plug and see what I could do in the finale. I think it was the right decision in the end.
"Thymen and then Lenny (Martinez) were pulling so hard on the Tourmalet. I had to make the decision on the road. They went so hard on that climb, and in the valleys. It really hurt the legs."
Healy is still far enough down on the others ahead of him in the top 10 to be given leeway to attack and go for a stage win. However, as the race continues, other riders in the top 10, and their teams, will ride to protect those places, meaning as the next few days pass, the freedom Healy has will gradually be closed down.
There are four more summit finishes to come and some of them are among the hardest climbs in the folklore of the Tour de France; Mont Ventoux on stage 16, Col de la Loze on stage 18 and La Plagne on stage 19. Healy and his team have sounded in recent days like they would prefer another stage win, but now the desire to take a coveted place in the top 10 at the Tour appears to be taking over.
