Ben Healy wins Stage 6 of Tour de France with solo breakaway in Normandy

Ben Healy claimed his first Tour de France stage win with a commanding solo breakaway in Stage 6. The Irish rider outpaced the chase group in Normandy, while Mathieu van der Poel regained the yellow jersey by a narrow one-second margin.

Hyderabad: Ireland’s Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) soloed to a sensational maiden victory at the Tour de France by winning Stage 6 from a strong eight-man break in Vire Normandie. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was part of the move – and although he blew up towards the end of the lumpy 201.5km stage, the Dutchman did just enough to take back the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) by one slender second.

Pogacar led home arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and the other GC favourites for ninth place on the stage, five and a half minutes down on the in-form Healy, who moved up to eighth place in the standings after a near flawless day in the saddle.

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American national champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) beat Australia’s Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) in the battle for second place – but the chasing duo crossed the line the best part of three minutes down after Healy made his decisive move 42km from the finish of a leg-sapping ride over the hills of Normandy.

Healy and Simmons had shown their intent from the outset, the pair going clear straight after the early intermediate sprint, which was won by the Italian Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) to move back to the top of the green jersey standings.

“Today’s stage suited me down to the ground. It was a stage I circled in the book from the start so to do it at the first attempt is really amazing,” said the 24-year-old Healy, whose previous best was fifth place in his Tour debut last year.

“Last year was a real eye-opener and made me believe I could do it. It made me knuckle down and refine my racing style – and I think it paid off today.”

A stage winner in his debut Giro in 2023, Healy certainly looked motivated to leave his mark on this one. No sooner had Milan got the better of Van der Poel and Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) in the intermediate sprint than Healy and Simmons combined to open up a gap at the front.

Belgium’s Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) tried his luck off the front with Spain’s Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) but they were swept up before the second climb, where Tim Wellens (UAE) took the points to move clear of team-mate Pogacar at the top of the polka dot jersey standings.