Ireland’s Ben Healy won stage six of the Tour de France in Normandy on Thursday, July 10, with a long solo break, as Mathieu van der Poel reclaimed the overall leader’s yellow jersey by one second. Sixth at the start of the day, Van der Poel climbed above overnight leader Tadej Pogacar.
Van der Poel was billed at the start of the Tour as a potential winner of stage seven to Mur de Bretagne, where he first took the yellow in 2021. “It would be a great finale to a great week,” said an exhausted Van der Poel on Thursday. “If I get the win or not it’ll be great anyway just to wear the yellow jersey again.” Belgian Evenepoel is third at 49 seconds with Frenchman Kevin Vauquelin fourth at 1 minute. Jonas Vingegaard is fifth at 1 minute 14 seconds.
The 24-year-old Healy became the first Irish stage winner since sprinter Sam Bennett won on the Champs Elysees in 2020. “That was so enjoyable, and once we had all got away I discussed it with the team car and we chose that unlikely place to attack,” said Healy. “I’m very proud to be representing Ireland, I’m from an Irish family and though I wasn’t born there it was an option I chose as a youngster,” he said.
Stage six was intense from the off over a series of hills between Bayeux and Vire as temperatures rose above 26.5 Celsius (80 Fahrenheit) with the peloton putting the hammer down at 47 kilometers per hour (29mph) average over the first three hours. Healy and Van der Poel were part of a nine-man mid-race escape who set a relentless pace. The Irishman broke solo on a flat section, 32km out.
For Pogacar, allowing the Dutch powerhouse to sneak into the escape meant he got rid of the overall lead and relieved himself of media duties and the draining hullabaloo that comes with wearing the yellow jersey. After an all-day effort, American champion Quinn Simmons came second, and Michael Storer put Team Tudor on the Tour podium for the first time in third.
After six days of racing in the North of France, the Tour heads west on Friday with a 197km run from Saint Malo over rolling hills in Britany, finishing atop the steep climb called the Mur-de-Bretagne.
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