Ben Healy takes Tour de France yellow jersey to give Ireland another cycling hero
Ben Healy became the fourth Irish rider to earn the Tour de France's yellow jersey on Monday with a gritty ride in the fabled race's first mountainous stage.
Healy led for much of the tough 165.3-kilometer route through the Massif Central — France's south-central highland region — but had to be content with third place after Giro d'Italia winner Simon Yates broke on the final ascent to take the stage victory.
But Healy's push — he was nominated the most combative rider of the day on France's national day — was enough to take a 29-second lead over Tadej Pogačar in the general classification and take the yellow jersey from the three-time Tour champion.
'It's a fairy tale, you know,' said Healy, who claimed his first stage victory at the Tour on Thursday. 'If you'd told me before this Tour, I think I wouldn't have believed it. So a stage win and yellow jersey is just incredible and beyond belief, really.'
Healy is preceded by fellow Irish riders Shay Elliot, who won a stage in 1963, Sean Kelly, who led after Stage 9 in 1983, and Stephen Roche, who won the Tour in 1987.
'It's some pretty crazy footsteps to follow, isn't it, and I'm just super proud to represent Ireland and wear the yellow jersey for them and hopefully I can do it some justice,' said Healy, who was born in England and qualifies for Ireland through his father's parents from Cork and Waterford.
Healy was 3 minutes, 55 seconds behind Pogačar when he started Stage 10, but he found himself in a large breakaway from the favorites in the peloton, and then forced the initiative over seven category two climbs.
Supported by UAE Team Emirates colleagues, Pogačar fought back late. Healy watched as the defending champion finished the stage on the ascent of Puy de Sancy — the region's highest peak — 4:51 behind stage winner Yates. Healy was only nine seconds behind.
'UAE surprisingly let a really big break go up the road,' he said. 'We had four guys in there and, yeah, I've got to really say a massive thank you to (EF Education-Easypost teammates) Harry Sweeney and Alex Baudin today, you know, they were just incredible and I'm just so glad I was able to finish.'
Healy was not considered among the race favorites — two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard was expected to provide Pogačar with his sternest challenge. But wearing the yellow jersey means Healy will have to be more focused on the general classification than before.
'It would be rude not to be,' he said. 'I've got to respect the jersey and I'm in quite a nice position now, I guess, to try and hold on for as long as possible.'
___
AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
32 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Robot umpires to make All-Star Game debut, another step toward possible regular-season use in 2026
ATLANTA (AP) — Tarik Skubal views the strike zone differently than robot umpires. 'I have this thing where I think everything is a strike until the umpire calls it a ball,' Detroit's AL Cy Young Award winner said ahead of his start for the American League in Tuesday night's All-Star Game. MLB has been experimenting with the automated ball-strike system in the minor leagues since 2019 and will use it in an All-Star Game for the first time this summer. Each team gets two challenges and retains the challenge if it is successful. 'Pitchers think everything is a strike. Then you go back and look at it, and it's two, three balls off,' Pittsburgh's Paul Skenes, starting his second straight All-Star Game for the National League, said Monday. 'We should not be the ones that are challenging it.' MLB sets the top of the automated strike zone at 53.5% of a batter's height and the bottom at 27%, basing the decision on the midpoint of the plate, 8 1/2 inches from the front and 8 1/2 inches from the back. That contrasts with the rule book zone called by umpires, which says the zone is a cube. 'I did a few rehabs starts with it. I'm OK with it. I think it works,' said three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers. 'Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve should have different sized boxes. They've obviously thought about that. As long as that gets figured out, I think it'll be fine.' Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred anticipates the system will be considered by the sport's 11-man competition committee, which includes six management representatives. Many pitchers have gravitated to letting their catchers and managers trigger ball/strike appeals. Teams won 52.2% of their challenges during the spring training test. Batters won exactly 50% of their 596 challenges and the defense 54%, with catchers successful 56% of the time and pitchers 41%. Hall of Famer Joe Torre, an honorary AL coach, favors the system. After his managing career, he worked for MLB and helped supervised expanded video review in 2014. 'You couldn't ignore it with all the technology out there,' he said. 'You couldn't sit and make an excuse for, 'Look at what really happened' the next day.' Now 84, Torre recalled how his Yankees teams benefitted at least twice from blown calls in the postseason, including one involving the strike zone. With the 1998 World Series opener tied and the bases loaded with two outs in the seventh inning, Tino Martinez took a 2-2 pitch from San Diego's Mark Langston that appeared to be a strike but was called a ball by Richie Garcia. Martinez hit a grand slam on the next pitch for a 9-5 lead, and the Yankees went on to a four-game sweep. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Asked whether he was happy there was no robot umpire then, Torre grinned and said: 'Possibly.' Then he added without a prompt: 'Well, not to mention the home run that Jeter hit.' His reference was to Derek Jeter's home run in the 1996 AL Championship Series opener, when 12-year-old fan Jeffrey Maier reached over the wall to snatch the ball above the glove over Baltimore right fielder Tony Tarasco. ___ AP MLB:
Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Argument over ‘valid buisiness purpose' for NIL collectives threatens college sports settlement
Less than two weeks after terms of a multibillion-dollar college sports settlement went into effect, friction erupted over the definition of a 'valid business purpose' that collectives making name, image likeness payments to players are supposed to have. The new College Sports Commission sent a letter to athletic directors last week saying it was rejecting deals in which players were receiving money from collectives that were created solely to pay them and don't provide goods or services to the general public for profit. A lead attorney for the players responded by saying those instructions went against settlement terms and asking the CSC to rescind the guidance. 'This process is undermined when the CSC goes off the reservation and issues directions to the schools that are not consistent with the Settlement Agreement terms,' attorney Jeffrey Kessler wrote to NCAA outside counsel Rakesh Kilaru in a letter obtained by The Associated Press. Yahoo Sports first reported details of the letter, in which Kessler threatens to take the issue to a judge assigned with resolving disputes involved in the settlement. Kessler told AP his firm was not commenting on the contents of the letter, and Kilaru did not immediately respond to AP's request for a comment. Yahoo quoted a CSC spokesman as saying the parties are working to resolve differences and that 'the guidance issued by the College Sports Commission … is entirely consistent with the House settlement and the rules that have been agreed upon with class counsel.' When NIL payments became allowed in 2021, boosters formed so-called 'collectives' that were closely tied to universities to work out contracts with the players, who still weren't allowed to be paid directly by the schools. Terms of the House settlement allow schools to make the payments now, but keep the idea of outside payments from collectives, which have to be approved by the CSC if they are worth $600 or more. The CSC, in its letter last week, explained that if a collective reaches a deal, for instance, for an athlete to appear on behalf of the collective, which charges an admission fee, that collective does not have a 'valid business purpose' because the purpose of the event is to raise money to pay athletes, not to provide goods or services available to the general public for profit. Another example of a disallowed deal was one an athlete makes to sell merchandise to raise money to pay that player because, the CSC guidance said, the purpose of 'selling merchandise is to raise money to pay that student-athlete and potentially other student-athletes at a particular school or schools, which is not a valid business purpose.' Kessler's letter notes that the 'valid business purpose' rule was designed to ensure athletes were not simply being paid to play, and did not prohibit NIL collectives from paying athletes for the type of deals described above. To prevent those payments 'would be to create a new prohibition on payments by a NIL collective that is not provided for or contemplated by the Settlement Agreement, causing injury to the class members who should be free to receive those payments,' Kessler wrote. ___ AP college sports:
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Starc takes 6 wickets for 9 runs as West Indies routed for 27 in Kingston
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Mitchell Starc took six wickets for nine runs, surpassing 400 test wickets in his 100th test, and Scott Boland claimed a hat trick as Australia bowled out the West Indies for 27 to win the third test by 176 runs on Monday, The West Indies missed the lowest score in test cricket by one run. Starc's first 15 balls delivered the fastest five-wicket haul in test history, and his 15th five-wicket bag in tests. The tall left-armer took a wicket with the first ball and three wickets in the first over of the West Indies innings at Sabina Park. Australia took only 14.3 overs to rout the home side in the first day-night test in Kingston and complete a 3-0 series sweep. 'It's been a fantastic series. I think we've seen some difficult batting conditions throughout,' Starc said. 'It's been a good few days, very enjoyable and I'll go home with a smile on my face. 'We saw last night the conditions with the hard pink ball under lights. It's pretty difficult. We didn't think it would happen as quickly today, until the sun went down a bit.' The match was the first day-night test in the Caribbean. Australia's bowlers dominated the series after winning the first two tests — by 159 runs in Barbados then by 133 runs in Grenada — to secure the Frank Worrell Trophy. While Starc missed a hat trick after dismissing Kevlon Anderson and Brandon King with consecutive deliveries, Boland completed his with the wickets of Justin Greaves, Shamar Joseph and Jomel Warrican. It was the 10th test hat trick by an Australian. Boland finished with three wickets for two runs. The West Indies was out for its lowest test score, eclipsing the 47 against England on the same ground in 2004. At 11-6 in the sixth over it was in danger of inheriting the lowest score in test history. A misfield by Sam Konstas in the 14th over allowed the West Indies to take a single and reach 27, just avoiding New Zealand's 70-year-old record of 26 set against England. Earlier, Alzarri Joseph took 5-27 as the West Indies bowled out Australia for 121 in its second innings, leaving a chase of 204 runs for victory. Australia began the third day at 99-6 but lasted only eight more overs. Cameron Green, who battled hard on Day 2 to reach 42, was out to the first ball of the day and the rest of the Australia tail followed quickly. When the West Indies replied, Starc produced an outstanding display of fast bowling on a responsive pitch. His first ball of the second innings, he compelled opener John Campbell to play defensive at a ball which moved away and he was caught by substitute wicketkeeper Josh Inglis. Inglis kept in place of Alex Carey, who was struck on the helmet by Alzarri Joseph on the second day. Starc then removed Anderson lbw, bowled King without scoring and Mikyle Lewis for 4, leaving the West Indies four wickets down for five runs. His fifth wicket was Shai Hope, trapped lbw by a ball that swung in at pace to hit the back pad. When Josh Hazlewood dismissed captain Roston Chase, caught by Inglis without scoring, the West Indies was 11-6. Taking out extras, the top six West Indies batters collectively scored only six runs. The West Indies was 22-6 at the dinner break. Shortly after it passed 26, helped by two dropped catches in the slips by Sam Konstas off Starc. Boland's hat trick brought the end closer and Starc's sixth wicket finished the match inside three days. ___ AP rugby:
