Irish cyclist Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) won the sixth stage of the Tour de France on Thursday, held between Bayeux and Vire Normandie over 201.5 kilometers, and his breakaway companion, the Dutch Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), regained the yellow leader’s jersey that Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) wore for 24 hours.
There is still no rest day in this Tour de France, which in six stages has seen three leaders but with an additional change of the wearer of the yellow jersey, as Van der Poel lost it to Pogacar in the time trial on Wednesday and regained it on Thursday by getting into the successful breakaway of the day.
What did Van der Poel do to regain the lead in the Tour?
After Wednesday’s time trial, in which Van der Poel lost almost a minute and a half (1:28) compared to Pogacar, to remain sixth in the general classification at the same time as the Slovenian, everything indicated that it would be difficult for the Dutchman to recover the yellow jersey.
But his daring, his boldness, and the initial “green light” from the UAE Team Emirates leader allowed that dream to come true in Vire Normandie. And it was by just one second. Why such a narrow margin? Because although the breakaway enjoyed a lead of more than 6 minutes, the demands of the time trial and entering the finish line alone took a toll on the giant Dutchman. Furthermore, the pace in the group of favorites behind was very fast on the last two climbs.
But UAE’s plan to “give up” the yellow jersey and all that it entails, like more work for the team of the leader to control stages and breakaways, ended up working out well.
And Van der Poel, if he manages to recover from two demanding days, will be able to try to win this Friday’s stage that ends in Mur de Bretagne wearing the yellow jersey. But he will need to rest a lot and well for that.
How was Ben Healy’s victory?
The stage was won by Ben Healy, who decided to try his luck solo in a select breakaway where, in addition to Mathieu van der Poel, were also Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling Team), Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla), and Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), among others, arriving solo, drop by drop, at the finish line on the final wall of Vire Normandie.
Van der Poel, exhausted, crossed the finish line in eighth place, 3:58 behind his adventure companion, taking 1:29 minutes (one second more than he needed) from Tadej Pogacar, who was the best among those who didn’t escape and led the group of favorites that finished 5:27 behind the Irishman, with the Dane Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) on his wheel and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) close by.
After this thrilling stage full of suspense that required taking out the calculators, Van der Poel is once again the leader with a 1-second margin over Pogacar, 43 seconds ahead of Evenepoel, 1:00 ahead of the Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), and 1:14 ahead of Vingegaard, who is in fifth place. Meanwhile, Ben Healy gained 25 positions and is now eighth in the new overall standings, 2:01 behind the Dutchman.