Five days remain in this year's Tour de France, and four of them look promising for Irish rider Ben Healy.
The 23-year-old has been one of the most aggressive riders in this year’s event, riding above even his own expectations in what is his debut Tour.
Healy has been repeatedly on the attack, starting in that fashion on the opening stage and then again as part of a much longer breakaway move on a dramatic stage nine to Troyes.
Bridging across to the day’s breakaway after a long chase, he was clear for a total of 148 kilometres of the gravel stage, eventually finishing fifth.
He was aggressive again on the mountainous stages 11, 14 and 15, racking up a total of 366 kilometres off the front.
Healy went solo from the breakaway group on the first two of those stages, dropping the rest, and would normally have been set for victory.
However a huge battle between teams of the race leader Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) this year has meant that breakaways haven’t been able to build the usual stage-winning advantage.
As a result, his moves were hauled back before the finish line.
EF Education EasyPost team sporting director Tom Southam explained the frustration to RTÉ Sport this week, as well as praising Healy.
"Ben has obviously done a great race so far," he said. "He has been racing in the way we had planned for him in coming to the Tour, which was to go for stage wins.
"Honestly, he has put in two performances in particular where he has got into the break and been the strongest climber.
"Unfortunately on both those days the GC [general classification] battle raged behind and meant the stage win wasn’t on the cards.
"That was unfortunate because I think he has put in the performances to have won a stage of the Tour. It is fantastic that he is riding at a super, super level. I think everybody has seen that."
Stage 14 to the summit finish at Saint-Lary-Soulon Pla d’Adet was the closest call, with Healy dropping all the other riders in the break but being caught slightly over four kilometres from the finish line.
Tour race organisers recognised his performance, naming him as the day’s most combative rider.
The podium visit was fitting recognition for the scrappy, determined competitor, but doesn’t satisfy his ambition in the race.
"We took our best shot," Healy said afterwards. "That’s what we have to do, take the opportunities when we get them.
"I had good legs today. We tried to make it stick to the line but UAE had other plans.
"I think as a team, we’re racing really, really well together and unfortunately it hasn’t quite gone our way yet, but I’m sure if we keep racing like this, then eventually it will roll our way."
A strong climber and time trialist, the multiple national champion is one of the most promising young riders in the peloton.
In 2019 he became the youngest rider to ever win a stage of the Tour de l’Avenir; a race unofficially regarded as the under-23 version of the Tour de France.
He turned professional with EF Education EasyPost in 2023 and made waves with a number of big performances, including a stage victory in the Giro d’Italia, his first three-week tour.
His display in his first Tour de France is further confirmation of his ability, and his dogged attacking has been one of the highlights of the race.
Breakaway performances aside, his talent is reflected in his 13th place in the overall standings, a superb ride in his debut Tour.
However, while a top ten overall finish is an important goal for many riders in the race, he told RTÉ that chasing the general classification this year is not his target.
"I really want to prioritise that stage win goal," he said.
Southam echoes this.
"His general classification position is a byproduct of the race that we have been doing with him," he said.
"That’s not ultimately our goal here. That has been clear and is clear with Ben. We are going to continue racing in the same fashion with him with the focus on winning a stage. And then whatever comes, comes."
For those seeking to be part of the Tour’s breakaways, a high general classification position can be counterproductive.
A top ten finish in the race is prestigious, and those riders with that goal already in mind will be fiercely protective of their positions in the overall standings.
If Healy is deemed a threat, their teams will chase breakaway groups he is in.
At this point in time, Southam said that the current time gaps give Healy sufficient buffer for him to not trigger that pursuit.
"To be honest if you get stuck too close, then you get the interest of the other guys in the lower part of the top ten," he explained.
"Where Ben sits now, almost 15 minutes off the top ten, is actually ideal because if he was three minutes behind then maybe one of those teams in the lower top ten would start chasing on a day where the break might make it to the line."
Fortunately the previous pattern of race leader Pogacar’s team riding hard and chasing down breakaways may change in these final stages.
The Slovenian is more than three minutes clear of Vingegaard, enabling him and his team to be more defensive and not to have to chase time bonuses at the finish line.
The Portuguese rider Joao Almeida is one of the strongest on the UAE Team Emirates squad, and he suggested that the team may change its approach.
"For sure on some stages we are going to let the breakaway go," he said on Sunday. "We can be a bit more conservative."
That’s good news for Healy, who has proven he has the form and ability to land a victory between now and Saturday.
A win in Sunday’s concluding time trial in Nice is a longshot, but it is in the remaining four road race stages beforehand that he has a chance of a victory.
Southam has faith in him that this can be achieved. Much will depend on how the other teams behave, if the breakaways are again chased down or not, but a little more leeway is often given towards the end of the Tour.
If Healy is again in the same position as before, he believes that he can achieve his big goal.
"We came to win a stage. It is Ben’s first Tour and to have already performed the way he did is exceptional," said Southam.
"A lot of riders come with very good legs to their first Tour but get overawed with it, which he hasn’t. So far, so good.
"There are some remaining mountain stages, we will see. Obviously Ben has gone very deep, even on the gravel stage. So we want to get him through and give him another opportunity.
"I would say if he has the same legs, then he can be competitive on any of stages 17,18, 19 and 20."
Healy will be on a mission between Wednesday and Saturday. He’s building momentum, both for this race and for his future participations in the Tour.
"It’s nice to come here and just show that I'm able to race and able to play my cards," he said.
"To throw my hat in the ring and be in the run for a stage win. That gives me confidence."
Achieving that goal would give him even more.
