Ben Healy is back in the peloton and raring to go.
After a couple of early-season races in France, our Irish breakaway artist got his season going in a big way at Strade Bianche , where he gritted his way to fourth across the Tuscan gravel. At Tirreno-Adriatico, he took the fight to the pack over and over again, attacking up the final climb on stage three and then again on stage four, where he launched with four kilometers to go and only got caught in the finishing chute. On the mountaintop finish of stage six, he crossed the line in eighth place.
Ben will now race the Gran Premio Miguel Indurain and Itzulia Basque Country, where he will go for stage wins and try to ride a good GC, as he builds his form for the races he loves most, the Ardennes classics: Amstel Gold Race, followed by Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Ben has gone for a slower start this year, so he can be just that little bit faster up climbs like the Cauberg, Mur de Huy, and La Redoute. He wants to turn his great results from past years – second at Amstel, fourth at Liège – into wins. To do that, he will have to be fresh.
“I am going for a more targeted approach towards the Ardennes this year,” Ben says. “ I’ve gone for less racing early in the season, because last year it felt like I was just losing a battle against fatigue by the time […]
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