VIRE NORMANDIE, France :Ireland’s Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) went out alone to win stage six of the Tour de France on Thursday, with Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) wrestling back the leader’s yellow jersey from reigning champion Tadej Pogacar.
Healy attacked from an eight-man breakaway, which included Van der Poel, with 42km remaining on the 201.5km ride from Bayeux to Vire Normandie, and pulled away to reach the finish line well ahead of American Quinn Simmons, with Australian Michael Storer third.
Van der Poel, who lost the overall lead to Pogacar after Wednesday’s individual time trial, was unable to keep pace with the breakaway but moved back to the top of the general classification with a gap of one second over the Slovenian champion.
Healy’s move came after the group had been out ahead for more than 100 kilometres and while Simmons and Storer later decided to give chase, the Irishman increased his lead only as he climbed to the finish.
“I spent a bit too much time trying to get into the break but I think that’s just the way I do it,” Healy said.
“Once I was in there we really had to work for that gap and it was just on the pedals all day and I knew I needed to get away from the group and picked my moment and I think I timed it well.”
Van der Poel, who first took the yellow jersey after winning stage two, began the day one minute 28 seconds behind Pogacar but at one stage looked like opening up an even bigger lead than that himself.
The breakaway group had managed to put more than four minutes between themselves and the peloton, with Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates appearing unconcerned about losing the yellow jersey at this early stage of the race.
After Healy broke free and the others gave chase, Van der Poel lost his momentum and, on a day with six categorised climbs and an uphill finish, the Dutchman looked a tired figure as he dragged himself to the line in eighth place.
Pogacar ended up crossing the finish next and the three-times champion, while losing all three jerseys, will be more than happy to sit just one second behind Van der Poel.
Others lost a lot more time on a stage which brought the first breakaway win of the Tour, after a large group of riders had been dropped early on.
Italian Jonathan Milan earned himself the green points jersey by winning an intermediate sprint but, along with fellow sprint specialists Biniam Girmay, Tim Merlier and Kaden Groves, he came in almost half an hour after Healy.
Friday’s stage seven is a 197km trek from Saint-Malo to Guerledan.
(Writing by Trevor StynesEditing by Christian Radnedge and Clare Fallon)
