Ireland's Ben Healy storms into Tour de France yellow jersey on Bastille Day
Ben Healy
has claimed the
Tour de France
yellow jersey from Tour favourite Tadej Pogačar after a gruelling stage 10.
Healy, racing for EF Education-EasyPost, stuck with the leading group up to 3km from the line, at which point Simon Yates (Team Visma-Lease A Bike) powered on for the stage victory.
Healy finished the stage in third, 31 second back on Yates.
The 24-year-old is the first Irish man to wear the yellow jersey since Stephen Roche's Tour win in 1987, joining Seán Kelly (1983) and Shay Elliott.
READ MORE
Healy was part of the leading group throughout the gruelling 165.3km stage from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy, which included seven Category 2 climbs, after the day's breakaway formed almost immediately after the 8.3km rollout from Ennezat.
Healy was joined in the breakaway by fellow stage contenders Ben O'Connor and Yates, but also, crucially, his three ED Education-EasyPost team-mates, Neilson Powless, Harry Sweeny and Alex Baudin.
As the stage ticked on, Healy's support pealed off, Baudin the last to let up leaving the Irish rider to fight to the finish in the leaders group solo with 35km to go.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Munster to host Gloucester at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in December Champions Cup clash as fixture details confirmed
Munster open their 2025/26 Champions Cup campaign under new coach Clayton McMillan against Bath on Saturday, December 6th before breaking new ground in Europe when taking Gloucester to the home of Cork GAA, Páirc Uí Chaoimh for their round two clash on December 13th. Munster then travel to the Stade Felix Mayol to take on Toulon before rounding off the pool stages at home to Castres Olympique for what will feel like the millionth time they have met. Leinster and La Rochelle will do it all again on Saturday, January 10th when they meet for the seventh time in this competition. No venue is confirmed as yet – the building work at the RDS won't be completed so the province will once again look at match specific venues – but there is a possibility it could be played at Croke Park. READ MORE Leo Cullen 's charges open their campaign against Harlequins, whom they beat in the Round of 16 in last season's tournament. That match is likely to be played at the Aviva Stadium. The URC champions also make the short trip across to the East Midlands to face another perennial foe, the Leicester Tigers for a Friday night game, while their last pool match is away to Bayonne on January 17th. In the Challenge Cup , Ulster open their campaign against Racing 92 on a Friday night at the renamed Affidea Stadium in Belfast, where they will also play their final game against Stade Francais. In between, Richie Murphy's side will visit Cardiff and play the Cheetahs. The South African side have to play the game in Europe at a venue yet to be determined. Stuart Lancaster's first game in charge at Connacht will be a short hop to Wales to take on the Ospreys, who haven't specified their home ground for next season. Connacht will host Georgian side Black Lion at the Dexcom Stadium where they will also be in action against Montauban. They travel to Montpellier in round three. 2025/26 Champions Cup Pool Fixtures Round 1 Saturday, December 6th: Leinster v Harlequins, TBC (5.30pm); Bath v Munster, The Rec (8pm). Round 2 Friday, December 12th: Leicester Tigers v Leinster Rugby, Welford Road (8pm) Saturday, December 13th: Munster v Gloucester, Páirc Uí Chaoimh (5.30pm) Round 3 Saturday, January 10th: Leinster v La Rochelle, TBC (5.30pm) Sunday, January 11th: Toulon v Munster, Stade Felix Mayol (1pm Irish time) Round 4 Saturday, January 17th: Bayonne v Leinster, Stade Jean Dauger (3.15pm Irish time); Munster v Castres Olympique, Thomond Park (5.30pm) 2025/26 Challenge Cup Pool Fixtures Round 1 Friday, December 5th: Ulster v Racing 92, Affidea Stadium (8pm) Sunday, December 7th: Ospreys v Connacht, TBC (3.15pm) Round 2 Saturday, December 13th: Cardiff v Ulster, Cardiff Arms Park (8pm); Connacht v Black Lion, Dexcom Stadium (8pm) Round 3 Sunday, January 11th: Toyota Cheetahs v Ulster, TBC (3.15pm); Montpellier v Connacht GGL Stadium (1pm Irish time) Round 4 Saturday, January 17th: Ulster v Stade Francais, Affidea Stadium (1pm); Connacht v Montauban, Dexcom Stadium (8pm).
Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
'F it anyway' - emotional TJ Reid breaks silence following Kilkenny exit
Kilkenny legend TJ Reid penned an emotional message as he broke his silence following Kilkenny's exit from the All-Ireland Hurling Championship. Reid is one of the game's all-time greats, but as he turns 38 this November, time is ticking on his intercounty career. Kilkenny were narrowly beaten by Tipperary in a thriller in Croke Park a couple of weekends ago, and it remains to be seen if that will be Reid's last act in a Kilkenny jersey. However, his emotional post did not mention retirement. "F it anyway Harper. A week on and it still hurts," he wrong on Instagram. "Grateful for another year wearing the black and amber jersey. Completing 6 Leinster titles in a row is still a wonderful achievement but it would have been brilliant to get back into an All-Ireland Final and to compete in it. Thanks to my best supporters @niamhdebrun and my little daughter Harper, and to all the Kilkenny supporters. "Thanks to a group of special players. We had a great journey this year, sport is about the process and progress and we enjoyed every moment of it. "Up Kilkenny". Reid has a whopping seven intercounty All-Ireland titles to his name as well as six club All-Ireland titles in one of the truly great hurling careers of all time. First joining the Kilkenny panel in 2007, Reid would go on to collect seven All-Star awards during his illustrious career and has won 14 Leinster Hurling titles. Speaking to media earlier this season though, Reid has hinted that he wants to play until he is 40-years-old. He also opened up on how he decides if he'll play the following year or not. 'That decision comes in November. If it was in the immediate aftermath of last year's game (loss to Clare) you might have thought differently about it. 'I needed to take the time. I must say most players will be annoyed and frustrated and 'F this' or whatnot, 'F that. This is a waste of a year again.' 'You have to allow things to settle down and go again. But the main thing is that I suppose you have to have the belief in yourself as well that you can be an impact and I'm still very confident in that department. And look, you have to enjoy the process as well. 'We all know for a long time now that the demands of inter-county players are high and the dedication is high, but I always had that and I enjoy it internally as well.'
Irish Times
an hour ago
- Irish Times
Kerry and Donegal show underdogs that only the ruthless survive
Underdogs have to take all of their chances, whether it's shots at the posts, half-chances at goal or minding possession in tight areas. Neither Meath nor Tyrone were able to do these things and thus Donegal and Kerry were treated to armchair semi-final victories. On Sunday, Meath started the game with two-pointers in the opening 12 minutes from Eoghan Frayne and Ruairi Kinsella, but that was as good as it got for the Royals, as their preferred shooting method subsequently malfunctioned. After a great turnover inside their own 45, Jordan Morris carried the ball from deep, a momentary reprieve from his marker, Brendan McCole. The Meath forward tried to play a defence splitting pass into Matthew Costello, but his tormentor Brendan McCole intercepted the ball just ahead of the onrushing Matthew Costello. Robbie Brennan spoke after the Galway win about Jordan Morris and his creativity, saying that he doesn't want to restrict players who have a little bit of magic. Brennan has given them the freedom to concede what he terms 'creative turnovers'. This was one of them and it was acceptable at that stage of the game with just six minutes on the clock. READ MORE Robbie Brennan has encouraged Meath to play freely, and here Morris gambles to try and create a goal chance, leading to a "creative turnover" In the next phase, Donegal continued to attack as they usually do, but were turned over as they approached the Meath arc. Meath attacked with pace, but the two-point effort from Conor Duke went wide, under severe pressure from Oisín Gallen, who had worked hard to get back to cover. An underdog needs to take those chances. The game would have been very different at this point if the scoreboard read 1-5 to 0-2 in favour of the Royals, rather than just the one-point advantage. As a cagey opening quarter played out, Donegal were only up 0-6 to 0-5, with Meath scoring 2/4 of their two-point efforts. However, for the remainder of the half, they missed four two-point efforts to go into half time with a conversion rate of 2/8 (25%) on two-point shots and 4/8 (50%) inside the arc. Meath two-point attempts (1-4): Meath's conversion rate in the first half for two-pointer was 25 per cent, as they often took the wrong option. In the 18th minute, Jordan Morris had yet to register a score and, under pressure from McCole again, he dropped a two-point attempt tamely wide. As the television cameras panned to Robbie Brennan and Shane Supple on the sideline, there was frustration evident in their body language, their willingness to embrace 'creative turnovers' maybe not as high at this moment. They would not have been happy, as Meath were very much in the game, with success on the Donegal kickout, some great defensive turnovers from Sean Rafferty and strong ball carrying from Ciaran Caulfield, but they needed to convert their chances. Donegal definitely afforded them chances. Meath two-point attempts (5-8): Meath's four consecutive two-point misses badly hurt their chances of staying in the game. Jordan Morris finally got his sole contribution to the scoreboard in the 32nd minute as his delightful dummy onto his left gave him momentary breathing space to bring the Meath tally to 0-8. However, Donegal finished the half off with two points as they continually put Billy Hogan's kickout under pressure. Ruairi Kinsella missed a rushed two-point effort as the buzzer sounded, when calm was needed to work the right shot. At half-time Donegal led 0-13 to 0-8 and the game was close to over. The removal of Michael Murphy in the 44th minute signified that Donegal has started preparation for their final joust with Kerry. A day earlier in Croke Park, the underdog struggled again but in a different way. Tyrone dominated the Kerry kickout in the first half as they won seven out of 10 of Shane Ryan's restarts, giving them a huge platform. However they were not able to punish accordingly, as Kerry came with a teak tough defensive structure and a real edge, where they had no interest in conceding soft frees or affording goal chances. Battle lines were firmly drawn as within 30 seconds Kerry executed the perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan and turned over Tyrone. Kerry controlled the tempo of the game in the next phase, before David Clifford won a free in front of the posts which Sean O'Shea converted. Kerry executed a perfect choke tackle on Darragh Canavan inside a minute, setting the tone The one scoreable free that Tyrone conceded in the first half was a foul with a purpose, as Joe O'Connor's quickly snuffed out a rare Tyrone jaunt toward Shane Ryan's goal. Joe O'Connor made the smart choice to give Tyrone a handy free, rather than a rare chance at goal O'Connor was involved again in the 9th minute as Kerry forced a turnover after a long spell of controlled Tyrone possession. O'Connor showed his confrontational side by winning a turnover under the Hogan stand as he hassled Brian Kennedy vigorously. O'Connor once again forcing a turnover, this time popping the ball out of Brian Kennedy In the 24th minute, Tyrone won a miscued Shane Ryan kickout but weren't able to punish with Eoin McElholm's attempt tailing wide as Kerry scrambled back. The defining turnover of the half came in the 28th minute as Mattie Donnelly wound up to shoot at the posts, but a diving block from two Kerry defenders sent the Kingdom on the attack for David Clifford's goal at the far end of the field. This block on Mattie Donnelly was rewarded, as Kerry scored their goal from it at the opposite end Clifford demonstrated the perfect back door cut, followed by a dummy bounce to beat Niall Morgan and stick it in the net. David Clifford's genius on and off the ball on show, executing the backdoor cut, rounding Niall Morgan and finishing Tyrone led after the first quarter by 0-6 to 0-4, but by half-time the scoreline was 1-9 to 0-9. Tyrone lacked some of the edge you'd associate with their tempestuous clashes with Kerry over the last 20 years, where they dictated terms. After dominating possession for much of the half, the score at the break left the Ulster underdogs with too much to do. While the scoreline on Saturday wasn't quite the massacre that Donegal delivered on Sunday, this game was just as comfortable for Kerry. After their initial second half scoring burst, Tyrone were dictated to by the Kingdom, setting up an All-Ireland final full of intrigue.
