It was Ben Healy Day in the Giro d’Italia.
The EF Education Easypost rider celebrated by taking a solo victory on stage eight into Fossombrone. “I mean I had good legs today, and just gave it a good go,” said Healy. “On the first little dig, I could see that I went solo and just pushed onto the finish from there.”
Healy was part of an early break of four that eventually became a group of 12 riders. Then with 50 kilometers to the finish, he attacked uphill and gradually pulled away. Nobody behind had the wattage to bring him back.
“I knew I can time trial to the finish pretty well and I was confident in myself to do that and I just paced myself to the finish and it worked out alright.” It certainly did and you can expect this isn’t the only Giro stage he has marked for a potential victory.
It was his party and that’s the way he wanted it. “If you can solo, it’s always better. I know big groups like this, group dynamics can play a big role, and I didn’t want to take any chances,” said Healy. He continued to expand his gap to the chasers. He’d cross the finish line a whopping 1:49 ahead of Derek Gee(Israel-Premier Tech) in second and Filippo Zana (Jayco-AlUla) in third.
Healy clearly likes Italy a whole lot, picking up his first grand tour victory. “Italy has the sort of racing that I like and it suits me well,” he said.
It’s been a breakout season for the young Irishman, who notched a second place in Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race and then delivered a fourth place at Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Sports director Tejay van Garderen could see that that Healy was the real deal.
“We always knew he was a big talent, but this year he has shown his class, “said Van Garderen. Ben Healy is going to be a name you are going to be listening to for a long time. First grand tour and a stage victory in that fashion, that is the stuff of legend.”
Leave A Comment