Ben Healy may be in better condition than this time last year, having had a forced rest from racing, says his team's head sports director Charly Wegelius (Photo: Anouk Flesch)
Ben Healy yesterday, Tuesday, helped his team mate Alex Baudin keep the yellow jersey for EF Education-EasyPost at Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (2.UWT). Healy and Georg Steinhauser pulled their team mates along into the closing stages of the 28.4km TTT until Baudin then went it alone and retained yellow, by 12 seconds.
And now the team's head sports director, Charly Wegelius, said despite having been out of racing for two months, due to a crash injury, Healy may be in better shape than this time last year, when he went on to win a stage at the Tour de France and hold the yellow jersey.
His view comes after Healy said he got back to training quite quickly after his lay-off following being diagnosed with a non-displaced sacral fracture after completing Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT) in early April, crashing on a recon rider before stage 1.
Advertisement
Healy said he had missed no preparation for this week's race and the Tour to come. And though he believed he'd need a few days to get back into the swing of racing after his lay-off, he expected to be able to go on the attack in the next few days.
Alex Baudin presses on solo to defend the yellow jersey after Ben Healy and
Georg Steinhauser went really deep in the TTT for EF Education-EasyPost (Photo: Gaëtan Flamme)“There’s a chance that he’s a little further along than initially planned compared to this time last year, and that’s certainly a good thing," former pro turned experienced DS, Wegelius, said of Healy.
"We know that Ben is feeling good, and I wouldn’t exclude an off-day somewhere in the race, but he’ll also have more good days than he had last year. With Ben, there are several stages that look great for him; there’s plenty for him to be going for."
The team endured a muted start to the season - not helped by injuries to Healy, Archie Ryan, Harry Sweeny, Kasper Asgreen, Mikkel Frølich Honoré and illness forcing Richard Carapaz out of the Giro.
But Wegelius said the Giro stage 17 win by Michael Valgren was a huge boost for the whole team. The Dane was an especially popular winner as it was his first victory since a potentially career-ending crash in La Route d'Occitanie in June, 2022.
Related News
Dillon Corkery's Picnic PostNL get ready to start their stage 3 TTT effort at Tour Auvergne Rhône Alpes (Photo: Gaëtan Flamme)
And having taken that Giro stage victory, followed by Baudin's stage 1 win on Sunday in France, and his continued stint in yellow, Wegelius said Healy and the others in the team would be tested this week as part of the build up to the Tour.
"We know we won’t have complete answers yet, but we’re aiming for progress and signs that the work that the riders put in during their altitude camp is on track," he said.
EF Education-EasyPost was 3rd in yesterday's TTT, a fantastic performance in Perreux. The US-registered team was 29 seconds down on stage winners, Visma-Lease a Bike, and 20 seconds down on runners-up Netcompany Ineos.
Healy and Steinhauser, who went deepest into the stage with Baudin - before he pressed on alone - finished 1:36 down on Baudin. They emptied themselves for the stage 1 winner in the TTT, where the time of the first rider across the line in each team was the team's time for the stage.
Netcompany Ineos on the way to 2nd on the stage and putting two of its riders within 12 seconds of the yellow jersey (Photo: Gaëtan Flamme)
Dillon Corkery's Picnic PostNL was 21st at 2:45 on a day when GC favourites Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) lost 45 seconds and 1:01 respectively; both riding their first TTT at this level.
The race continues with a 167km stage today, Wednesday, with an undulating route from Le Puy-en-Velay to Montrond-les-Bains. Though there are no major climbs, there are six small climbers - a cat 2, two cat 3s and three cat 4s - before flat terrain for the final 35km.
Baudin goes into his third day in yellow, leading overall by 12 seconds from the Netcompany Ineos duo Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley. After Visma-Lease a Bike's win in the TTT, its leader Matteo Jorgenson is 4th overall at 15 seconds.
