Healy leads the Tour de France
The 24-year-old EF rider had already won stage six in Normandy, but here the smiley Healy confirmed his promise with a career-defining ride claiming the fabled yellow jersey.
He becomes just the fourth Irishman to wear it following Shay Elliott, back in 1963, Sean Kelly in 1983 and Roche who went on to win an epic race 38 years ago.
Healy's performance even overshadowed that of stage winner Simon Yates, who sat on his wheel all afternoon as they crossed the ancient volcanoes that mark the region.
Such was the Irishman's effort as the escapees rushed through the grey-black volcanic rock villages that he was also awarded the combativity award for the most attacking rider of the day.
"Hats off to him, he's the one that dropped everyone," Yates said of Healy as the escape group was gradually whittled down from 30 to five.
The 2025 Giro d'Italia winner Yates attacked on the last of the day's climbs, with Thymen Arensman of Ineos second and Healy coming third at the line 31sec adrift and having never relented on a punishing day.
Healy was born in Birmingham but chose to represent Ireland in his youth. He is also in the white jersey for the best young rider.
"The stage win I got and the yellow today both mean a lot to me," said Healy, who had a tense wait at the line for Pogacar to cross 4min 51sec adrift and ceding the overall lead, likely for several days.
"This yellow is more for the team who worked so hard to put me here but the stage win possibly means more as it came first," he said.
French mountain joy
Race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line together after eight climbs in the Massif Central where they were rarely a wheel's length from each other.
Healy leads the Tour itself by 29sec from defending champion Pogacar, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third at 1min 29sec.
Denmark's double Tour de France champion Vingegaard is fourth overall at 1min 46sec, and his Visma teammate Matteo Jorgenson sits fifth.
Third placed overnight, promising young French rider Kevin Vauquelin dropped a minute to finish the day in sixth place overall.
Recompense for the home nation on the national Bastille Day holiday came in the form of Lenny Martinez as he earned the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey with 27 points garnered on the day's stage.
His grandfather Mariano Martinez won the polka dot jersey outright on the 1978 Tour.
Successive escape bids ensued from the off Monday as the 164 remaining riders raced out of Ennezat with top guns Pogacar and Evenepoel finally allowing one to get away over the ever-rolling terrain
Once they did, a gap over five minutes was established by a motivated group that rode so hard over the cattle dotted hills the sprinters were dropped to over 30 minutes at the finish line.
While Tuesday is a rest day, Wednesday's stage 11 is another flat run with a sprinter expected to take the honours in Toulouse.
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Express Tribune
16 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Healy leads the Tour de France
Ben Healy became the first Irishman since Stephen Roche in 1987 to take the overall lead on the Tour de France on Monday with a relentless attack across eight gruelling hills in the Massif Central. The 24-year-old EF rider had already won stage six in Normandy, but here the smiley Healy confirmed his promise with a career-defining ride claiming the fabled yellow jersey. He becomes just the fourth Irishman to wear it following Shay Elliott, back in 1963, Sean Kelly in 1983 and Roche who went on to win an epic race 38 years ago. Healy's performance even overshadowed that of stage winner Simon Yates, who sat on his wheel all afternoon as they crossed the ancient volcanoes that mark the region. Such was the Irishman's effort as the escapees rushed through the grey-black volcanic rock villages that he was also awarded the combativity award for the most attacking rider of the day. "Hats off to him, he's the one that dropped everyone," Yates said of Healy as the escape group was gradually whittled down from 30 to five. The 2025 Giro d'Italia winner Yates attacked on the last of the day's climbs, with Thymen Arensman of Ineos second and Healy coming third at the line 31sec adrift and having never relented on a punishing day. Healy was born in Birmingham but chose to represent Ireland in his youth. He is also in the white jersey for the best young rider. "The stage win I got and the yellow today both mean a lot to me," said Healy, who had a tense wait at the line for Pogacar to cross 4min 51sec adrift and ceding the overall lead, likely for several days. "This yellow is more for the team who worked so hard to put me here but the stage win possibly means more as it came first," he said. French mountain joy Race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line together after eight climbs in the Massif Central where they were rarely a wheel's length from each other. Healy leads the Tour itself by 29sec from defending champion Pogacar, with Belgian Remco Evenepoel in third at 1min 29sec. Denmark's double Tour de France champion Vingegaard is fourth overall at 1min 46sec, and his Visma teammate Matteo Jorgenson sits fifth. Third placed overnight, promising young French rider Kevin Vauquelin dropped a minute to finish the day in sixth place overall. Recompense for the home nation on the national Bastille Day holiday came in the form of Lenny Martinez as he earned the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey with 27 points garnered on the day's stage. His grandfather Mariano Martinez won the polka dot jersey outright on the 1978 Tour. Successive escape bids ensued from the off Monday as the 164 remaining riders raced out of Ennezat with top guns Pogacar and Evenepoel finally allowing one to get away over the ever-rolling terrain Once they did, a gap over five minutes was established by a motivated group that rode so hard over the cattle dotted hills the sprinters were dropped to over 30 minutes at the finish line. While Tuesday is a rest day, Wednesday's stage 11 is another flat run with a sprinter expected to take the honours in Toulouse.
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Express Tribune
England, France reach Women's Euro quarter-finals
Holders England reached the quarter-finals of Women's Euro 2025 on Sunday after thrashing Wales 6-1 and taking second place in Group D behind France, who won 5-2 in a thrilling match with the Netherlands. Georgia Stanway started England on their way from the penalty spot in the 13th minute and further goals from Ella Toone, Lauren Hemp, Alessia Russo, Beth Mead and Aggie Beever-Jones made sure of passage to the last eight. England will face Sweden in Zurich on Thursday, a repeat of the semi-final at the last Euros three years ago which the Lionesses won 4-0. But the Swedes look a tough proposition after topping Group C with a perfect nine points and swatting aside Germany on Saturday. "We just wanted to be confident and enjoy it and I think we obviously play better football when we do that. I think there was more flow to the game tonight, there was better connections," said midfielder Keira Walsh. "(Sweden are) going to be a really tough opposition but we're just going to keep trying to focus on what we're doing, keep being confident, playing good football." France meanwhile will take on Germany in Basel in the last quarter-final on Saturday, and are on the same side of the knockout draw as world champions Spain who face hosts Switzerland on Friday. The French finished the group stage three points ahead of England after making it three wins from three thanks to Delphine Cascarino's decisive double. San Diego Wave forward Cascarino has been excellent in Switzerland, and she made sure that France would top the group with the key goals in a superb comeback from a goal down. France, who opened the scoring through Sandie Toletti in the 22nd minute, trailed at the break to a Victoria Pelova strike and Selma Bacha's clumsy own goal. Cascarino stars But Marie-Antoinette Katoto levelled for France just after the hour and the match was done six minutes later thanks to Cascarino's fine finishes. First Cascarino lashed France back ahead with a sumptuous, dipping long-range strike, before rolling in the fourth after Sandy Baltimore watched her shot ricochet off both posts. Sakina Karchaoui completed the scoring from the penalty spot in stoppage time. "I'm having a good Euros, and it's a real pleasure to play in a major tournament. I'm pleased and I hope that we can go a long way," Cascarino told reporters. In St Gallen, England knew a win would be enough to seal a spot in the next round regardless of what happened in Basel, and once Stanway slotted home her penalty after being brought down by Carrie Jones there was no way back for Wales. Eight minutes later Toone doubled England's lead after Wales failed to clear and the Manchester United forward tapped home after her initial effort was blocked on the line by Lily Woodham. Toone then turned provider on the half-hour with a perfect searching cross for Hemp, before Russo rolled home from close range just before half-time to get off the mark for the tournament. Mead drilled home England's fifth in the 72nd minute, but Hannah Cain gave Wales fans something to cheer about by lashing a fine consolation goal past Hannah Hampton. And Beever-Jones completed the rout one minute from the end to send England through on a high.
Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
Merlier wins Tour de France stage nine
Tim Merlier won stage nine of the Tour de France at Chateauroux on Sunday after a heroic long-range escape from Mathieu van der Poel was caught in the final kilometre. There was no change atop the overall standings with Tadej Pogacar now holding a 54sec advantage over Remco Evenepoel in second with French starlet Kevin Vauquelin third. This was a second win for Soudal Quick-Step sprinter Merlier who was first across the line on stage three at Dunkirk as he racked up a 12th stage win this year. On a sun drenched slog from the Chinon vineyards, Van der Poel and a teammate broke early and built up a lead of 5min 30sec on the flat roads to Chateauroux. Jonas Rickaert won the combativity award for accompanying Van der Poel to within 10km of the line before slumping over his handlebars. With his gung-ho all-in style Van der Poel grew his Tour de France legend here despite being caught with 700m to go, the plaudits will be both his and Merlier's. As Van der Poel was reeled in, it looked as though Jonathan Milan would win a second consecutive stage but Merlier got ahead with 50m remaining as Milan finished second with Arnaud De Lie completing the podium. Pogacar's Tour de France defence took a hit Sunday as his key teammate Joao Almeida threw in the towel two days after his nasty fall at the Mur de Bretagne, where he fractured a rib. Monday's stage 10 should shake up the race with eight classified climbs in the Massif Central on the July 14 French national holiday. Road signs in honour of British cycling great Mark Cavendish had been placed at entry points to Chateauroux — reading Cavendish City — in homage to the now-retired 40-year-old, after he won three stages there in 2008, 2011 and 2021. "But can't ask him to kill himself for a bike race," Pogacar said. Before the fall Almeida himself was also in contention for a spot on the podium, and would have been of value in the mountainous second half of the Tour. 'Cavendish City' Road signs in honour of British cycling great Mark Cavendish have been placed at entry points to Chateauroux city centre, where stage nine of the Tour de France ends Sunday. Cavendish won three Tour de France stages here, in 2008, 2011 and 2021. "We placed road signs at 17 roundabouts at the entry points of the city as a nod and wink to him," Town Hall communications director Anne-Laure Bodin told AFP. "We put up the signs at the start of July and they'll stay there until the end of the Tour de France," she said, explaining it was to mark the fast-man's legacy and connection with the town. "He was happy by the looks of it because he made an Instagram post of it. It's fun but he deserves it." Cavendish was a specialist on the flat stages and the finish line on Sunday's eighth stage is the same 3km home straight that suited the 'Manx Missile' so well. "Now I'm truly humbled," Cavendish wrote on Instagram. "It's emotional to me as my first ever win. "I hope it's a place as special for whoever wins there this year." The 40-year-old Briton is now retired, and won 35 stages in total at the Tour de France, a record for stage wins he shares with all-time great Eddy Merckx.
