Ben Healy storms to solo victory on stage 6 of Tour de France as Van der Poel regains yellow
The Irishman attacked from the break with 42km remaining to claim a fine win in Vire, while Mathieu van der Poel was provided to freedom to chase the yellow jersey in the day's break. He took the lead back from Tadej Pogacar by just one second.
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) soloed to win stage 6 of the Tour de France after an all-action breakaway battle in the hills of Normandy.
The 24-year-old attacked from a strong eight-man breakaway group with 42.5 kilometres remaining on stage 6, in typical Healy fashion, from a long way out and when those around him least expected it. The Irishman was fully committed to his effort, and the gap continued to grow throughout the remainder of the stage as the riders behind hesitated.
It soon became clear that Healy would become the seventh Irish stage winner in Tour history and the first since Sam Bennett in 2020, and his margin of victory at the finish was significant, 2:44 ahead of Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) in 2nd.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was part of the eight-man group, and courtesy of the time he gained on the general classification group featuring Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), the Dutchman took back the yellow jersey as the leader of the Tour de France by a single second.
Behind in the group of general classification favourites, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took control of the pace setting, seemingly content to give the yellow jersey back to Van der Poel. However, there was an injection of pace from the general classification group inside the closing kilometres, and Pogačar pushed the pace at the top of the final climb, but Van der Poel had done just about enough to reclaim the yellow jersey.
It marks the tenth professional victory for Healy and his second Grand Tour stage win, two years after he won stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia into Fossombrone with a 50km solo effort. For EF Education-EasyPost, it’s a third Grand Tour stage win of 2025, and the second successive year that the American team has won a Tour stage after success with Carapaz twelve months ago. Courtesy of his stage success, Healy has also jumped to 8th in the general classification.
How it unfolded
The stage started fast with an early intermediate sprint that led Intermarché-Wanty to control things to enable their sprinter Biniam Girmay to fight for the maximum points in his bid to defend his green jersey from 2024.
It was the current green jersey wearer, Jonathan Milan, who claimed the maximum 20 points, but interestingly, Mathieu van der Poel sprinted to second to pick up 17 points, ahead of Girmay in third, who took 15, perhaps indicating his intent to fight for green with the departure of Jasper Philipsen.
Ben Healy and Quinn Simmons attacked through the intermediate sprint, seizing the perfect opportunity to attack, whilst the majority of sprinters, including the green jersey, were distanced. After a flurry of attacks, they were joined by Harold Tejada and Victor Campenaerts, but they were caught as they reached the summit of the Côte du Mont Pinco. Over the summit and more attacks followed, with Wout van Aert and Pablo Castrillo briefly forging clear, but it wouldn’t last.
On the next climb, the Côte de la Rançonnière, the peloton shredded in size and prominent riders like Primož Roglič were briefly distanced. Healy attacked again shortly after the summit and was once more joined by Simmons and Tejada, but also Van der Poel and Will Barta as well.
There were many attacks from behind, including Matteo Jorgenson and Simon Yates from Visma, but it was clear the UAE Team Emirates-XRG wanted to keep the group as it was, as they closed down all further attacks.
Eddie Dunbar successfully jumped across to the front group with 132.5km to go, and next were Michael Storer and Simon Yates with 130.7km to go. Mathieu Burgaudeau tried to bridge across and came close, but ultimately ran out of legs before he made it to leave an eight-man group up the road with around 100 kilometres remaining after a ridiculously fast start to the stage. Nils Politt was tasked with setting the tempo in the peloton, managing the gap to the breakaway and letting it grow out gradually.
The key point of the stage occurred with 42.5km to go, Ben Healy launched his trademark long-range attack. Within less than 10 kilometres of making the move, the gap was at over 40 seconds, and the EF Education-EasyPost rider would be a hard man to catch
With 29 kilometres to go, Simmons attacked from the group behind, but the gap to Healy was just shy of one minute. Storer jumped across to Simmons, and the duo would stay away for 2nd and 3rd but were unable to close the gap to a flying Healy.
Inside the final 10 kilometres, Simmons attempted to attack Storer but couldn’t break clear, both consigned to their fate as the gap to Healy reached two minutes.
Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) suffered a mechanical in the GC group inside the final 10 kilometres, and this would cost the Dane some time in the overall standings.
Up ahead, Healy powered his way through to the finish in Bayeux and finished 2:43 ahead of Simmons in second, who outsprinted Storer to third. Behind, Dunbar sprinted to fourth, Yates fifth and sixth to Barta, whilst Van der Poel battled his way to the finish in seventh at 3:58, knowing every second could count as he would need 1:29 to go back into yellow.
Indeed it did come down to the wire, as there was an injection of pace in the GC group towards the final ramp, and towards the top, Pogačar powered his way to the finish with Vingegaard on the wheel to finish 5:27 behind Healy, but crucially, 1:29 behind Van der Poel meaning the Dutchman regained yellow by a solitary second.
