Ben Healy may not have figured in the final shake-up at the final monument of the season today, Il Lombardia, but the Irish champion riding for EF Education-EasyPost was on the attack as the finale of the 238km race got serious.
Healy eventually finished in 30th place after his 50km breakaway ride was foiled by a combination of Tadej Pogačar's UAE Team Emirates, Remco Evenepoel's Soudal QuickStep and Primož Roglič's Jumbo Visma riding on the front to keep the Irishman and those he was with on a tight leash.
Today, after an incredible season, Healy went into the race very much a rider to watch and featured as such in many of the previews in the international media. However, he was also part of a team with a very strong contender in the shape of Olympic champion Richard Carapaz, meaning the team had several cards to play.
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And with just over 80km to go - on the 11km Passo della Crocetta climb - Healy made his move. The early breakaway was still up the road, but starting to fracture, when Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich) jumped and Healy went after him.
The Irish-British duo made light work of getting across the gap to the leaders and once the junction was made, Healy took on a lot of the work. The Irish rider dropped those he was with - apart from Martin Marcellusi (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) on the descent of the Zambla Alta, with about 60km to go.
However, though Healy and Onley had a gap of about 50 seconds when they initially caught the remains of the breakaway, Healy's gap - even as he dropped those he was with - was never allowed to get much bigger than that.
When he was eventually clear with Marcellusi, the chase behind ensured their advantage was kept under one minute. Healy then dropped his breakaway companion on the penultimate climb of the day. However, the select group was forming behind and the attacks off the front of it soon swept up the Irish rider, after a very good effort of over 50km.
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That select group, which formed on the Passo di Ganda, contained most of the pre-race favourites, and soon distanced Healy once he was caught. Evenepoel had taken a tumble early in the race and was dropped on the climb; team mate Julian Alaphilippe doing his best to keep the young Belgian in touch with the leaders.
On the descent of the climb, Pogačar managed to distance those he was with in the front group, including: Roglič, Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla), Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Andrea Bagioli (Soudal-QuickStep), Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers) and, eventually, Carapaz.
And though Pogačar had a long way to go on his own - some 31km - and looked like he was suffering from cramp in his right thigh, he powered away out front and eventually opened a gap of about one minute. He then rode the final short climb of Colle Aperto before sweeping into the finish for his third consecutive win in the race.
Bagioli, enjoying a sensational late season, won the sprint for 2nd place some 52 seconds down on the winner; from Roglič, Vlasov, Simon and Adam Yates and Rodríguez in that order. A slightly distanced Carapaz took 8th. The next group to finish, at 1:26, was brought home by Evenepoel for 9th, from Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) in 10th.
In the end, after being caught and dropped by the select group, Healy placed 30th at 5:35 while compatriot, Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) was 106th at 19:54.
