Ben Healy has signed for US –registered World Tour team EF Education Nippo. The 21-year-old, who won the Irish elite road race title last year, will join the team for January 1st next.
The move, which was anticipated, was confirmed by the team today and he has signed a two-year contract, stepping up to the top flight as compatriots Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin retire from racing.
Healy has been a proven winner at the biggest races during his U23 career despite the pandemic adversely impacting many of the major events for that age category.
He joins EF Education Nippo from UCI Continental outfit Trinity Racing. He also rode for Trinity, when it was an elite squad, in 2020 after spending the 2019 season with Le Col Wiggins.
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In 2019, his first year as an U23, he became the youngest
ever winner of a stage of Tour de l’Avenir. Last year he took a stage victory
in Ronde de l’Isard and also won the elite and U23 road race titles in Ireland
as well as the U23 TT title.
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This year he claimed a stage win, on the final day, of
the Baby Giro by attacking the breakaway. He also ended that race 12th overall
despite losing time on the opening day when the heat undermined his
performance.
Healy also went on to ride very strongly the Tour of Britain, where he was active off the front of the race and in the breakaway on the final day.
While he went into the World Road Championships in Belgium tipped for a result, he fell ill just before his TT ride, with the impact of that illness lingering into the road race.
More to come.
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