Ben Healy has said his attack at the Tour de France today, during his first ever stage on the race, was about making it hard for some of the big name riders rather than a clearer effort to try and get across to the breakaway.
Healy and his EF Education-EasyPost team were notable at the front for long periods today, including in the final, when the Irish rider was on the front even though he had spent 20km solo trying to get to the front of the race.
He became stuck around one minute behind Romain Bardet and his Team dsm-firmenich PostNL team mate Frank van den Broek. That duo made it all the way to the finish for a spectacular team 1-2; Bardet winning the stage and taking yellow.
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However, Healy has now said his attack was strategic and aimed at trying to make things hard for those still left in the bunch who could pack a strong sprint at the finish. It appeared the team was riding for Alberto Bettiol, though the way the stage panned out did not suit the new Italian champion.
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"Honestly, my attack wasn’t really to try to bridge to the break," said Healy at the finish of the 206km stage into Rimini. "It was more to try to make the race harder for Pedersen and Wout van Aert, but we needed to think about the breakaway more to be honest.
"That was our mistake. Chapeau to those guys because they were so strong. There were six or seven of us pulling. We might not be the biggest engines but we were for sure some of the best riders in the world and we pulled full gas and just couldn’t bring them back.
"Personally, I am pretty happy. Something that I have struggled with a lot in the past is the heat and I seemed to manage it pretty well today. It took its toll on a lot of guys, I think."
Healy finished in 50th place, just off the back of what remained of the main field and some 18 seconds down on stage winner Bardet, who was only five seconds up, with van den Broek, on the line.
