Ben Healy had another fine performance on the fourth and concluding day of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour in France, attacking repeatedly on the stage in a bid to win the race overall. Healy’s aggression saw him, stage winner Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and four others gain 29 seconds on the nearest chasers, which included overnight race leader Bryan Coquard (Cofidis).
Coquard lost the race lead as a result, with Healy finishing fifth on the stage to Le Mans and leaping up 13 places in the general classification to finish fifth in the overall standings.
He won the best young rider competition and also ended the race third in the King of the Mountains classification.
The result follows on from his superb performances in March, where he landed the first two victories of his professional career. He took stage three of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali on March 23rd and then won the GP Industria & Artigianato with a solo attack three days later.
The course over the four days of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour was not particularly testing and this made things more difficult for Healy in trying to land big results. He nevertheless went on the attack on Thursday and stayed out front until just over two kilometres to go.
Healy was aggressive again on Friday, moving clear in a breakaway inside the final hour of racing. He attacked with 16 kilometres to go to whittle down the number of those at the front to six, and tried again with 12 kilometres left.
He then put in another move with 2.4 kilometres to go, drawing Alexander Kamp (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) clear, but these were rejoined by three others inside the final kilometre, with Dversnes winning the sprint to the line.
Meanwhile, Cycling Ireland confirmed this week that it will be entering a national team into this year’s Rás Tailteann, which will be held next month.
Last year the team won two stages, the points classification, the best climber award and was best international team. The squad will once again feature four under-23 riders plus an older road captain and will be guided by former world track champion Martyn Irvine.
Selection will be based on performances in domestic and international competition, including events such as this weekend’s Kerry Group Rás Mumhan.
British rider Thomas Springbett seized the first yellow jersey of this year’s race on Friday, attacking after the final climb of the opening stage and going clear inside the final 20 kilometres.
The Foran CC rider built a lead of almost half a minute and then hung on well to fend off a hard-chasing bunch. He reached the line in Tralee four seconds clear of Cycling Ulster rider John Buller, who led in the peloton ahead of Team Ireland junior rider Sam Coleman, Conor Halvey (Four Masters CC) and first under-23 rider Patrick O’Loughlin (Skoda Munster).
“I just had to keep it in the biggest gear, keep going,” said Springbett after his stage victory. “I’d seen the peloton had sat up a little bit so I just kept it lit all the way to the end.”
Stage one comprised two laps of a circuit starting and finishing in Tralee and including the big climb of Lyracrumpane. The second ascent of that mountain topped out with 19 kilometres remaining and saw Lucan CRC guest rider Aaron Wade go over first. Springbett made his move soon afterwards and was strong enough to fend off the chasing bunch, which splintered under the high speeds on the run in to the finish.
The race continues on Saturday with a hilly 114.4 kilometre stage starting in Killarney, crossing the Ballaghisheen Pass and Coomakista climbs and finishing in Sneem.
