Ben Healy gets it rough but battles for 80km on Tour to hold on | Video

Ben Healy on the road during today's brutal stage 18 to the summit finish of Col de la Loze, having to fight today but keeping his general classification hopes alive (Photo: Billy Ceusters)

So many times the hammer up the road on Tour de France 2025, today Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) was the nail. He slipped off the back of the favourites' group on the Col de la Madeleine, with just under 80km to go, and then well and truly disappeared from the front of the race.

Even when the small yellow jersey eased back in the valley between the Madeleine and the big final climb of Col de la Loze, Healy was not among a group of about a dozen riders who got back to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) and the handful of men they were with.

Healy's absence at that point of the race, with 20-25 men ahead of him and with so far to go, was a real worry. However, out of sight and out of mind, he kept working at it, into the finale on the big mountain, where the sun gave way to rain and hail.

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In the end, Healy finished in 17th place on the 171.5km stage, on a day when his famed ability not to fade in the fifth hour of a race meant the rescued things. Though in damage limitation mode today, for the first time on this race, he kept his 9th place overall. On the line he was 9:28 down on stage winner Ben O'Connor (Team Jayco AlUla).

The Australian attacked the favourites' group in the valley before the final climb and then pressed on, from Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) to solo up to the finish line and win. And though much was expected of the Pogačar Vs Vingegaard battle, it disappointed today.

Vingegaard attacked just once, with about 2km to go, with Pogačar and revelation of the race, Scotland's Oscar Onley (Team Picnic PostNL) were able to match him. Deep inside the final 1km, Pogačar attacked and blew that three-man group apart.

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Pogačar swept past Rubio and took 2nd place, some 1:45 down on O'Connor, with Vingegaard 3rd at 1:54 and Onley in 4th at 1:58, followed by Rubio, in 5th at 2:00. There is no change at the top of the overall, with Pogačar still leading, now by 4:26 over Vingegaard.

Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) was 3rd at 11:01, but now Onley has closed to within 22 seconds of him in the battle for the final step on the podium and the white jersey of best young rider classification.

Though O'Connor, after a brave performance today, has moved up in the general classification, to 10th place, he is still 3:38 down on Healy, whose place in the top 10 on this Tour looks assured, bar a major implosion tomorrow on the road to La Plagne.

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