Ben Healy defends lead at Tour de France to retain yellow jersey
As predicted, the lumpy, relatively short 156.8-kilometre course that started and finished in Toulouse led to a breakaway that stayed away for the duration, Jonas Abrahamsen taking a first grand tour win with a sprint finish on a chaotic day.
Back in the peloton, over three minutes back on Abrahamsen, Healy rolled over the line safely.
His lead remains 29 seconds despite an incident for race favourite Tadej Pogacar, the UAE Team Emirates rider taking a tumble with four kilometres to go.
Healy and the other leaders in the peloton sat up and waited for the defending champion to return to the bunch after his bike suffered no major damage.
Having produced a typically aggressive display last Thursday to claim his first Tour de France stage win, Healy again took the initiative on Monday to finish third on the Bastille Day stage and sensationally wrest the general classification lead from Pogacar.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The 42
9 hours ago
- The 42
Wellens wins stage as Pogacar keeps Tour de France lead
BEN HEALY REMAINS in the top 10 of the General Classification of the Tour de France after his 27th-place finish today. Tim Wellens of Team UAE won a baking and hilly stage 15 at Carcassonne after a 45km solo rampage towards the walled citadel. Overall leader Tadej Pogacar held on to his advantage with a 4min 13sec advantage on Jonas Vingegaard, who had to fight to catch up when caught behind an early mass fall. Advertisement Wellens had been part of an early break that was whittled down to five before the Belgian champion' sudden acceleration caught the others napping. This was a fifth win for Team UAE with Pogacar previously having won four on a thoroughly dominant Tour for the team. Wellens was so far ahead at the finish line he had time to high five dozens of Belgian fans on the run in on the eve of the Belgian national holiday. Wellens has also won stages on the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. The remaining 167 riders embarked towards Carcassonne Sunday on yet another nervy stage. After a mass fall early on with Florian Lipowitz and Vingegaard involved, the Pogacar group raced on, leaving two-time winner Vingegaard and a clique of 30 riders to exhaust themselves catching up. Pogacar entered the Pyrenees on Thursday tucked in at second to surprise yellow jersey Healy but emerged with two more stage wins and a four minutes advantage atop the overall standings in his bid for a fourth Tour de France title. Monday is a the final rest day before the 2025 edition soars into the Alps on Tuesday's stage 16 with the 15.8km ascent of Mont Ventoux at 7.9 percent gradient to its 1901m high summit. – © AFP 2025
Irish Examiner
10 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Healy stays in top 10 as Wellens wins Stage 15 in Carcassonne
Tim Wellens had time to high-five fans inside the final kilometre as he soloed to victory on stage 15 of the Tour de France into Carcassonne with his team-mate Tadej Pogacar retaining the yellow jersey. Ben Healy remains in the top 10, just a shade over 18 minutes behind Tadej Pogacar, the Irishman dropping just a single position in the general classification from ninth to tenth after finishing six minutes behind the stage winner. Wellens, 34, completed his set of Grand Tour stage victories, attacking from a breakaway with 44 kilometres of the 169km stage from Muret and quickly opening a sizeable gap before the long downhill run into the medieval city where his margin of victory over Victor Campenaerts was 88 seconds. In the confusion of another frantic day of racing, Julian Alaphilippe celebrated as though he had won the stage when he edged a three-way sprint for third, having apparently been without a working radio after hurting his shoulder in an earlier crash. Instead, it was a fifth stage victory of this Tour for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with Pogacar having taken the other four on his way to building an advantage of four minutes 13 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard going into Monday's rest day. There was no change at the top of the general classification, with the main favourites finishing some six minutes after Wellens took the win. Florian Lupowitz remains third, just shy of eight minutes off yellow and one minute 25 seconds ahead of 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley. Wellens, who triumphed in the Belgian champion's jersey a day before his home country's national day, savoured every moment on the ride into town. "It was a very special victory," Wellens said. "Everybody knows the Tour de France, everybody wants to ride the Tour de France but not many get to win at the Tour de France so it's very beautiful... "I knew it was going to be very beautiful to complete my trilogy of the Giro, Tour and Vuelta and I knew I had to enjoy the moment. I kept riding to the finish line because I wanted a big gap and to maybe put my bike in the air on the finish, but I was so happy I forgot to do it." In keeping with so much of this Tour to date, it was another chaotic stage as a hilly route across southern France offered little let-up after three days in the Pyrenees. A furious fight to get into the breakaway was interrupted by an early crash that split the peloton, with Vingegaard and Lupowitz among those held up. Pogacar tried to slow the pace to allow them to close a one-minute gap, but others were still attacking to get down the road and it took a full 20 kilometres for the main favourites to come back together. Around 35 riders did go clear of the main bunch, and Wellens used all his experience to sit in the wheels and not offer up turns until launching his decisive attack where the road continued to rise after the summit of the final categorised climb. It was Wellens' first Grand Tour stage win since he won two stages of the 2020 Vuelta a Espana to add to his two Giro d'Italia stage victories. PA
Irish Independent
10 hours ago
- Irish Independent
Ben Healy stays in top 10 as Tadej Pogacar retains yellow jersey
Wellens, 34, completed his set of Grand Tour stage victories, attacking from a breakaway with 44 kilometres of the 169km stage from Muret and quickly opening a sizeable gap before the long downhill run into the medieval city where his margin of victory over Victor Campenaerts was 88 seconds. Healy slips one position to 10th after crossing the line six minutes behind Wellens. In the confusion of another frantic day of racing, Julian Alaphilippe celebrated as though he had won the stage when he edged a three-way sprint for third, having apparently been without a working radio after hurting his shoulder in an earlier crash. Instead, it was a fifth stage victory of this Tour for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with Pogacar having taken the other four on his way to building an advantage of four minutes 13 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard going into Monday's rest day. There was no change at the top of the general classification, with the main favourites finishing some six minutes after Wellens took the win. Florian Lupowitz remains third, just shy of eight minutes off yellow and one minute 25 seconds ahead of 22-year-old Scot Oscar Onley. Wellens, who triumphed in the Belgian champion's jersey a day before his home country's national day, savoured every moment on the ride into town. 'It was a very special victory,' Wellens said. 'Everybody knows the Tour de France, everybody wants to ride the Tour de France but not many get to win at the Tour de France so it's very beautiful… 'I knew it was going to be very beautiful to complete my trilogy of the Giro, Tour and Vuelta and I knew I had to enjoy the moment. I kept riding to the finish line because I wanted a big gap and to maybe put my bike in the air on the finish, but I was so happy I forgot to do it.' In keeping with so much of this Tour to date, it was another chaotic stage as a hilly route across southern France offered little let-up after three days in the Pyrenees. A furious fight to get into the breakaway was interrupted by an early crash that split the peloton, with Vingegaard and Lupowitz among those held up. Pogacar tried to slow the pace to allow them to close a one-minute gap, but others were still attacking to get down the road and it took a full 20 kilometres for the main favourites to come back together. Around 35 riders did go clear of the main bunch, and Wellens used all his experience to sit in the wheels and not offer up turns until launching his decisive attack where the road continued to rise after the summit of the final categorised climb. It was Wellens' first Grand Tour stage win since he won two stages of the 2020 Vuelta a Espana to add to his two Giro d'Italia stage victories.
