Ben Healy’s Tour gravel stage | “Everyone was knackered. It wasn’t just me”

Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) rode across to to the breakaway with former Trinity Racing team mate Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) at the Tour de France today before the duo played a big part in how the rest of the gravel stage played out.

Healy attacked several times in a bid to take a solo win, including making several moves just before the finish, while Pidcock waited for the sprint. Ultimately, the victory went to Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), though Healy rode a brilliant stage.

Over the gravel sectors, during the 199km race starting and finishing in Troyes, Healy once again showed his class and versatility, spending 148km on the attack. And though he was forced to settle for 5th place, he said he was very happy with the account he gave of himself and the fact his team was involved in the finale.

“It was a full gas fight from the start for the breakaway. I kept my cards close to my chest until the first sector because we knew it was pretty hard after that and if the gap wasn’t too big we could maybe bridge,” he said.

“That’s what I managed to do with Pidcock. It was a tough old battle to get across and I think we spent a lot of pennies there. As soon as we caught them, we hit the next gravel sector on the steep part.

“We were in for a hard day then! And from there, it was just a war of attrition with nowhere really for me to make a big difference in the final.

“Everyone was so knackered. It wasn’t just me. When it’s flat, it’s hard to make a difference. It was always going to be tough, but we gave it a good go and I’m just happy we were there and represented in the finish. We’ve just got to keep playing our cards and eventually it’ll roll our way.”