The Ben Healy legend grows and grows, and then grows some more. At the end of 267.5km of savage racing today at the UCI World Road Championships in Rwanda, Healy stood on the podium in Kigali in the bronze medal position. He was beaten by two generational athletes who will, in time, go down in history among greatest competitors - maybe the very best - pro cycling has ever seen.
But Healy too is now one of the greats. He had arrived before today. But now there is absolutely no denying his status. This year alone, his accolades include a bronze at the Worlds - Ireland's first since Sean Kelly in 1989 - a Tour de France stage win and Tour yellow jersey, the first by an Irishman since Stephen Roche in 1987.
Advertisement
He also 4th in Strade Bianche, 3rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, 5th La Flèche Wallonne and took a stage at Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT). But it is often the way he wins, or secures other top results, that impresses the most. His aggressive style, and that of the others on the podium today, is a throwback to the days before boring 'team trains' came to dominate the sport, especially during the Team Sky era.
"I've been progressing year-by-year, just a few percent here and there, and refining the way I race as well," Healy said. "Definitely, a Tour de France like I had this summer gave me the extra little boost. I knew what I needed to do today. It worked out great."
Today's result is Healy's best - by a very big margin - in a one-day race. That he did it in an Irish jersey makes it one of the stand-out achievements by an Irish cyclist. Ever. And when the media automatically goes to Kelly and Roche as the obvious riders to compare him to, you know things have gotten very serious for Ben Healy (25).
“This season is just getting crazier and crazier to be honest. From a stage win and the yellow jersey at the Tour to now podium at worlds, it is hard to compare," said Healy, now confirmed as one of the best signings ever made by his EF Education-EasyPost team boss, Jonathan Vaughters.
Today Healy took 3rd behind winner, Tour de France victor and defending world champion, Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia), and Olympic road race and TT champion, as well as world TT champion, Remco Evenepoel (Belgium).
Pogačar is probably the best endurance athlete in the world. He is also probably the biggest talent ever to race a bike. Today he became the only rider to ever win the Tour and Worlds in the same season in consecutive years. For his part, aged just 25-years, Evenepoel last week won the Worlds TT title for the third time, adding that title to the two Olympic titles he holds. He is also a Grand Tour winner.
Related News
And yet Healy was the best behind them. And he emerged 3rd on a day when the course and the speed simply sorted the riders in the order of strongest to weakest. There were little or no tactics, just who had the most on the day. The cream simply rose to the top.
“It's pretty special, I've done a lot of hard work this season and to stand on a podium with Remco and Tadej is pretty incredible," Healy said. "Tadej is one of the greatest the sport has ever seen, Remco isn’t far behind him, so to be on the podium with them was just insane.
"It was an insane race. I think the results show that quite well. I managed to pace my effort well and still have something to give at the end.
"To be honest, we're all on our hands and knees; it was just to recover any legs left. In my mind, it was all about conserving. You have to focus on yourself. If you dig too deep too early, you pay for it."
Healy added he was very thankful to his team mates today - Darren Rafferty, Eddie Dunbar, Ryan Mullen and Irish road race champion Rory Townsend. He also paid tribute to the efforts of the Cycling Ireland staff and the Irish fans who made their way to Rwanda saying their encouragement "kept me going until the end".
He said the national team speed suit he was wearing today was perfect for the conditions, with significant progress having been made on the national team racing kit in recent years.
“Spin11 have put a lot of work into this suit. It’s a pretty specific course with some slow speed climbs and pretty hot weather as well, so it’s perfect for today,” he explained.
The elite men’s race was run over 267.5km – with 5,400m of climbing – in Kigali on a course between 1,400m and 1,765m above sea level.
The fact Ireland qualified six places in the race, via its placing in the UCI 'nations world rankings', meant Cycling Ireland was able to select all six men who made the longlist for these Worlds, though Archie Ryan sadly had to withdraw through injury.
