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Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
Young Scot Onley surprises with top finishes in Tour de France
TOULOUSE, France, July 15 (Reuters) - Scotland's Oscar Onley has impressed during the first week of the Tour de France, sitting seventh overall after 10 stages at just 22 years old. The Kelso-born rider delivered standout performances as he claimed third and fourth, in stage seven and four respectively, on the wheels of defending champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). "Mur-de-Bretagne (on stage seven) was really circled as a stage that could suit me but you also have to be realistic that Pogacar, in these kinds of finishes, is in a different league," Onley told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday. "I'm just enjoying what I'm doing and to be able to be up there with Pogacar and Vingegaard is an honour." The Picnic PostNL rider also secured sixth place in stage two, adding to an already impressive tally of three top-10 finishes in his second appearance at cycling's most prestigious race. "I was hoping to get a good result, but a good result was maybe a top 10, top five from the bunch. But now I've kind of shown that I'm a little bit higher up and I can set my goals a little bit higher," he said. Onley, who won a stage at last month's Tour de Suisse and claimed third overall, has shown consistency in World Tour one-week races this year. However, his main aim remains a stage win on the Tour de France. "I think it's still the main goal. There are going to be a lot more opportunities coming up in the next couple of weeks. I just have to take those opportunities when they come," he said. "I didn't come here with any ambitions for the GC (general classification). If there's an opportunity to slide in the breakaway one day, then I'll try and take it." The British rider is one minute and 18 seconds behind Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) who currently sits fifth. "I think a top five would be something really special, but I don't know if that's really possible," he said, adding that the experience is bolstering his confidence as a potential Grand Tour contender. "I think that's the goal in the next couple of years. And now I'm starting to realize that maybe it's a little bit more possible than I thought." The first high mountain stage in the Pyrenees on Thursday should give some insight into Onley's strength in longer climbs.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
Who is Ben Healy? The master tactician with an explosive kick leading the Tour de France
The first week of the Tour de France has seen plenty of expected winners: defending champion Tadej Pogacar has already won two stages to add to his haul of 19 career wins at the race, while Mathieu van der Poel won his first stage since 2021 and a rivalry is developing between the two fastest sprinters, Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier, as they battle for supremacy on the flat. But by the end of the opening week – actually 10 days, with the first rest day falling after stage 10 – there was an altogether unexpected rider pulling on the leader's yellow jersey, displacing Pogacar himself. Ben Healy won stage six from Bayeux to Vire Normandie and his brilliant Tour continued with a third place on stage 10, from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy in the Massif Central, enough to secure the race lead at the expense of the world's best rider and three-time champion. The 24-year-old made history as only the fourth Irishman to wear yellow, and the first since Stephen Roche in 1987. But who is Healy, and what has his career looked like so far? Irishman Healy was born and raised near Birmingham but chose to represent the country of his Waterford- and Cork-born paternal grandparents, and races with Irish stripes on his sleeves courtesy of being a former national road race champion. The 24-year-old was cycling and mountain biking from an early age and spent several years as a teenager with various British club teams, including Team Wiggins le Col, which also counted Tom Pidcock among its ranks. At the age of 18 he became the youngest stage winner at the Tour de l'Avenir, renowned as a breakout race for future stars. Riding for Trinity Racing, he took back-to-back victories in the under-23 time trial and elite men's road race at Irish national championships in 2020, before three podium places at the Baby Giro, a Giro d'Italia-style race for under-23s, including a win on the final stage. In 2022 he moved up to WorldTour level, the highest level of elite cycling, joining American squad EF Education-EasyPost. Another victory in the time-trial in the Irish national championships followed that year, as well as a bronze in the road race. 2023 was to prove his breakout year. The Ardennes Classics proved a happy hunting ground for the then-22-year-old, as he secured a second place at Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold before just missing out on a podium finish at Liege-Bastogne-Liege. He won the Irish elite men's road race at nationals the same year, but really burst onto the scene with a 50km solo stage win at the Giro d'Italia. Healy spent 196km in total in the breakaway on stage eight, from Terni to Fossombrone, a punchy, hilly stage with three categorised climbs, before dropping his companions to finish with a near-two minute advantage. It was his maiden grand tour stage victory, on his debut at a three-week race. Last year he recorded a top-10 at the Olympic road race in Paris as well as a seventh place in the World Championships in Zurich, while further top-10s followed in the Classics this year: third in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, fourth in Strade Bianche, fifth in Fleche-Wallonne, and 10th in Amstel Gold. His win at the Giro both indicated his pedigree but also his preferred way of racing: at full pace all day, riding weaker riders off his wheel, before surging away on long-range solo attacks. He also took a second place on stage 15 of the Giro that same year, in the same manner. And that was exactly how he took his maiden Tour de France win last week: escaping into an eight-man breakaway before dropping his companions on the climb with 42km to go on stage six. Despite the calibre of climbers in the chasing group he continued to build his advantage, finishing with 2'44' on his closest pursuer, Quinn Simmons. 'It's just unbelievable really,' the EF Education-EasyPost rider said. 'It's what I've worked for not just this year but the whole time really, it's really incredible, hours and hours of hard work from so many people and to pay them back today is really amazing. 'This was a stage I had circled in the book from the start and to do it in the first one is amazing.' His aerodynamic form and explosive kick on tough climbs make him an obvious pick to get into a breakway, as well as handily placed for success when the gradient slopes uphill. Now he leads the Tour de France by 29' seconds over Tadej Pogacar, as well as leading the best young rider classification by 1'29' over Belgian superstar Remco Evenepoel, who was third overall at the Tour de France last year. 'It's really beyond belief, if someone had told me I'd be in yellow and have won a stage of the Tour, by the first rest day as well, I wouldn't have believed you,' the Irishman said afterwards. 'I kind of gambled a bit. I had the stage win in the bank, and how often do you get the opportunity to put yourself into yellow, so I felt I had to take that and really go for it.'
The Independent
5 hours ago
- The Independent
The opening week of the Tour de France showed one chink in Tadej Pogacar's armour
The Tour de France was upended on a fascinating stage 10, with the first rest day giving riders - and observers - a chance to take stock after a fascinating opening week. Bastille Day was billed as the first real test, 4,450m of climbing in the Massif Central. There was to be no French joy but instead delight for Ireland as Ben Healy rode himself into the race lead, half a minute ahead of previous leader Tadej Pogacar. While Healy is unlikely to represent a long-term threat, where does this unexpected turn of events leave defending champion Pogacar and his key rivals for the title? Once again, the two strongest riders in the race are Pogacar and two-time champion Jonas Vingegaard. The pair have won the last five Tours de France and while they now sit second and fourth respectively (Vingegaard 1'46' down on Healy but more significantly 1'17' down on Pogacar) they remain the overwhelming favourites. A large amount of Vingegaard's deficit is down to his abysmal time-trial on stage five, coupled with Pogacar's brilliant ride on the same stage. Other than that this Tour has followed a familiar pattern: Pogacar has attacked to gain time and win stages – picking up two so far – and Vingegaard has largely responded, without making any serious attempts of his own to steal back any time. In terms of team strength, the balance of power has now shifted further in Vingegaard's favour. Visma-Lease a Bike still have a full-strength squad and have hardly had to use it, with former Vuelta a Espana winner Sepp Kuss in particular keeping out of sight but definitely not out of mind. Simon Yates and Matteo Jorgenson look in stellar form, with the Brit winning stage 10 and the American playing his role to perfection in testing the resolve of Pogacar and UAE Team-Emirates XRG in the hilly stages. Vingegaard and Jorgenson both had poor time trials considering their strength in the discipline, but other than that, it has been a successful week for the Dutch team. For Pogacar, however, there are worrying signs. The most significant of course is the departure of Joao Almeida, the Slovene's key mountain lieutenant. A crash on stage seven put paid to Almeida's own GC hopes and ultimately his entire Tour. He fought on despite a broken rib but eventually abandoned on stage nine. Interviewed at the start of stage eight, the Portuguese rider told TNT Sports that 'being useless' for the team as a result of his injury would make him feel just as bad as the injury itself. The 26-year-old, who recently won the Tour de Suisse, is not just a formidable climber but also an excellent and selfless domestique. UAE have plenty of the latter left, but none on quite the same level as Almeida. That comparative lack of team strength was made evident on stage 10, and things went from not-ideal to even worse when Pavel Sivakov was spotted visibly ailing on the first categorised climb of the day's eight, leaving Pogacar two domestiques down. Despite UAE controlling proceedings for nearly all of the opening week, Nils Politt and Tim Wellens could not keep a nearly 30-strong breakaway on a leash. The gap swung out to nearly six minutes and Ben Healy moved into the virtual race lead, while UAE burned through their remaining domestiques trying to keep things in some vague semblance of order. Inside the final 20km Visma made their numerical advantage felt, with wave after wave of attacks by Jorgenson and Kuss, forcing UAE to chase and burn through Marc Soler too. That strategy worked for Visma in 2022 and 2023, using the combined might of a team of super-domestiques including Primoz Roglic to wear down UAE and isolate Pogacar. 'Death by a thousand cuts' didn't quite work on Monday, with Pogacar ultimately going down the route of attack being the best form of defence. His late acceleration distanced everyone but Vingegaard, as we have become accustomed to seeing over the last five years, and once again this Tour feels like a two-horse race. But while Visma failed to drop Pogacar, they did distance his remaining teammates. Adam Yates and Jhonatan Narvaez were the last men standing for UAE and although they initially managed to haul themselves back into contention, they were dropped for good inside the final 10km. This felt like a test run for the much more gruelling terrain in the Alps and Pyrenees later on, and Visma can be satisfied with the results. It may not matter, of course; Pogacar is the best rider in the world, and even breaking down his team may not be enough to dislodge him. But it would certainly unsettle him. As for the rest? Remco Evenepoel, currently third, looks well-placed to defend his podium place from last year. The young Scot Oscar Onley has impressed, sticking with the elite GC riders on all terrain, while Primoz Roglic, Carlos Rodriguez, Felix Gall and Enric Mas have all suffered but still loiter in and around the top 10. The going only gets tougher from here, with a mountainous time trial and the Pyrenees lurking in the early stages of the second week. This is the real race of truth. On the basis of the opening week, Pogacar may be winning the battle, but Visma – as they always do – have their sights set on winning the war.
