Ben Healy had already lit up Giro d'Italia 2023 with his attacks, and his victory on stage 8, but today the Irishman went up the road again. And by the time the EF Education-EasyPost rider reached the finish line atop Monte Bondone he was in the climbers' classification jersey.
His hopes of contending for the stage win today were lost quite early when the peloton - on a major general classification day - kept the 26-rider breakaway at a maximum of three minutes for much of the stage. And while some of the breakaway riders attacked in a small group and gained over a minute extra for a time, Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo Visma were leading the charge in the peloton behind.
However, despite Healy and the other escapees being overhauled long before the finish, he was happy with taking a jersey and said he planned to defend it, once he'd had a rest on tomorrow's stage, which features no categorised climbs. "Like I said before the stage, I really wanted to prioritise stage wins," he said of what was initially his main priority.
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"But when we got in that breakaway and there was a few GC guys there, they (the peloton) never really let the leash go on us, to give us the opportunity for that stage win. So that's when I kind of switched my focus and tried to race to the for these points."
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Asked if he he was surprised his debut Grand Tour was going so well, especially as it is now in its third week, he said he was hurting like everyone else.
"The legs hurt now I can tell you that much. I think I'm gonna take the opportunity to rest (tomorrow) to be honest. We've got a couple big days after that as well and I've got a jersey to defend now so we'll take the rest day I think," he added of a stage where can keep a low profile with no need to compete at the front.
The 22-year-old began the 203km stage 16 today placed 4th in the mountains classification, on 108 points, with stage 7 winner Davide Bais (EOLO-Kometa) leading on 144 points. Healy had made his move in the classification on Sunday, hoovering up 84 points, on his way to 2nd place on the stage.
And when he made the breakaway today - giving his classification rivals the slip - he won the cat 1 Passo di Santa Barbara at 76.8 km for 40 points and was 2nd on the cat 3 Passo Bordala at 84.2km for four points. He then placed 4th on the cat 1 Matassone at 116.4km, taking four points. On the cat 2 Serrada at 153.5km he was 2nd, taking eight points.
He now leads the classification on 164 points, from Bais on 144. Einer Rubio (Movistar Team) is 3rd on 117 points with Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) 4th on 114 points. GC contender, and today's stage winner, João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) is now in 5th place in the classification on 55 points.
