It's hard to believe just four seasons have passed since Ben Healy first pulled on the World Tour team jersey of EF Education-EasyPost. He had already proven himself a top quality U23 rider; a risk-taker with the legs to convert those swashbuckling attacks into bug wins.
However, nobody could have foreseen how he'd develop, in just a couple of years, into one of the very best riders in the world. And though his ascent has been a joy to watch, and has been fantastic for his EF Education-EasyPost team, it doesn't come for free.
Many teams are interested in enticing Healy away from EF team boss Jonathan Vaughters, who only has the Irishman for one more year. The price of getting Healy's signature on a contract is perhaps 10 times the salary he commanded turning pro in 2022. He’s in such demand he'll be one of those riders whose next big contract will be wrapped up, and likely announced, very early next year.
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So stickybottle asked Healy what will it be? Will he stay at EF Education-EasyPost where he is a clear leader and is allowed to race as he sees fit? Or maybe it's time to move onto an even bigger team, perhaps with more money and more support?
Everything he told us suggests he's staying put. Even his coach since his youth racing days, Jacob Tipper, has recently been hired by EF Education-EasyPost. He's now working with Healy, and some of his team mates, inside the team's structure for the first time.
"I think, at the moment, EF is a great team for me, there's certainly a lot of trust there and they're putting a lot of investment into me," Healy told stickybottle. "I really get the best out of EF and I don't see a reason to break something that's working well.
"There's always a risk moving team. And I'm still motivated, and I've got the support of everyone around me... there's some really, really great people around me. So at the moment everything is working."
Tipper's move into the team seems like a move to put everything in place to keep Healy on the roster and keep him there long-term.
"He was at the most recent training camp," Healy confirmed of Tipper. "He's coaching some other guys and he's really integrated into the staff now and it's all working smoothly."
Contract extension 2023 after first big results
In June, 2023, when he was 18 months in his first two-year contract with EF Education-EasyPost, a contract extension was agreed, securing Healy's services to the end of 2026, the deal that is now moving into its final phase.
It came as no surprise team boss Vaughters didn't hesitate to hold to on Healy at a time, when his performances meant strong interest from other teams. When that contract extension was announced, Healy had just taken his first Grand Tour stage win, with a long-range solo move on stage 8 of the Giro.
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Though aged just 22-years-old at the time, it was clear Healy's career had taken off. Aside from that Giro win, in the first half of the 2023 he'd also won a stage at Coppi e Bartali and won GP Industria and Artigianato. He had rocked up to Amstel Gold Race and Brabantse Pijl and finished 2nd in both and also placed 4th in Liège-Bastogne-Liège Classic.
This year he has become even hotter property. He was 3rd in Liège took a stage of Itzulia Basque Country (2.UWT) and then went to the Tour. He won stage 6 with a long range attack, claimed the yellow jersey two days later and finished 2nd on stage 16 to Mont Ventoux, before a final GC finish in Paris of 9th. He then took bronze in an epic Worlds road race in Rwanda.
So will his results from this year, especially breaking into the top 10 at the Tour, change the way he rides, perhaps with a greater focus on general classification going forward?
"I think, for me, stage wins is what I want to go for," he told stickybottle of the Tour. "Targeting the GC is a different ball game. Maybe if I believed I could podium I'd be up for that.
"But I think that's a bit of a long shot right now, and a lot to sacrifice to not podium... that would be pretty difficult. I just love putting my hands in the air so targeting stage wins, I think I'll go for that."
Handling the pressure after Tour 2025
What was it like handling the sheer intensity of taking a stage and yellow at the Tour, the sport's biggest race? And what about becoming a lot more famous this year and the attention and responsibilities that come with that?
"It's definitely something that I struggled with a little bit," he said. "The Tour was an absolute whirlwind, it's pretty stressful, and there's so much attention and all the rest of it. But I'm dealing with it the best I can. And I just love racing my bike, and that (added media and public attention) comes along with it so it's just something I've got to do.
"I don't mind it... it's great to try and inspire the next generation. And all these little things are a part of that... just trying to show cycling to the real world."
Healy said he "only found out after" taking Tour yellow that he was the first Irish rider to wear the jersey since Stephen Roche in 1987.
"Stephen actually messaged me congratulations and that was a really nice touch. I was just super proud to bring back to Ireland."
And how did his parents cope, especially at the Tour, when suddenly even Healy's dog was famous and many social media users were analysing and commenting on his fashion sense off the bike?
"It's pretty overwhelming," he said. "I flew mum and dad out to the start (of stage 11) in Toulouse, to see the yellow jersey and everything. It's just bonkers. Everyone wants a piece of your left right and centre. I think they were just super proud. They've supported me through thick and thin and for them to come and enjoy the moment with me was just amazing."
