Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) has gone close to taking his third win of the season with a very aggressive ride at Région Pays de la Loire Tour (2.1) in France today.
The 22-year-old was among the first escapees to go up the road and though they were joined by reinforcements much later in the stage, Healy proved the strongest and most determined of them after spending 120km on the attack.
He was only caught by the peloton with 2.5km remaining on the 197.1km stage from Baugé-en-Anjou to Mayenne. And though Healy had to be content with finishing in the main pack, he gained a one-second time bonus along the way which moved him up into the top 20 overall.
Healy went clear today, after 50km of racing, with just one other rider for company; Benjamin Thomas (Cofidis). They worked away for the next 40km until they were caught by a chasing group featuring four men - Léo Danès (CIC U Nantes Atlantique), Cyrus Monk (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Valentin Tabellion (Go Sport-Roubaix Lille Métropole) and Unai Cuadrado (Euskaltel-Euskadi).
Advertisement
Related News
Approximately 100km in the stage the six leaders had a gap of just over three minutes. However, by the time they reached the 14.9km finishing circuit, for three laps, their lead was down to two minutes. With about 35km to go, Healy attacked the front group and was joined by Monk and Thomas.
The pace up front saw Monk dropped before Thomas was also distanced by Healy with 7km remaining. While Healy pressed on solo, the bunch was in full flight and bearing down on the Irish rider, who was finally caught with 2.5km to go, paving the way for a bunch sprint.
The stage victory went to Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), who had also won stage 1. Healy's team mate, Marijn van den Berg. was 2nd with Alexander Kamp (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) 3rd.
Coquard leads overall with just one stage remaining, topping a general classification where most of the riders are only separated by time bonuses as the three stages so far have finished in bunch sprints. Tomorrow's stage 4, which concludes the race, may see bigger splits as the finishing circuit in Le Mans features a steep 400m climb to be negotiated six times.
It is a stage that could suit Healy, if he has fully recovered from his breakaway heroics of today. He is now 18th overall, just 24 seconds down on race leader Coquard. There are also 53 riders all equal time just one second behind Healy, meaning the general classification is wide open.
