Healy was in fine company last year (Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulant \/ AFP)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nHealy is now 26 and has become known for his long range attacks. EF Education-Easypost team manager Jonathan Vaughters termed him mini-De Gendt early in his career for that reason, referring to notorious breakaway rider Thomas de Gendt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m super good at a more longer duration effort,\u201d Healy said, when asked by Velo<\/i> to describe his strengths. \u201cBecause I\u2019m not quite as explosive or can\u2019t do a super high power like some other guys for two, three minutes. So if I can make that effort as long as possible by opening up the race by attacking early, I believe that\u2019s the best way that I can win these big races.\u201d<\/p>\n
Followers of the sport will be well familiar with Healy\u2019s style. He can hide away in a bunch, something made easier by his compact, aero shape, but then boom. He\u2019s hammering on the front, head tilted a little to one side, going and going and going again.<\/p>\n
He used to attack too much, burn all his matches. But once he learned to hold back a little, then hit his rivals with one perfectly-timed move, things started to fall into place.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how he won his Tour stage in 2025, after all.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also how he proved to be a big threat in the recent Grand Prix Cycliste de Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n
He went clear in a strong breakaway with 52km to go and then struck out solo with 25km left. Del Toro and Seixas chased him but the gap persisted for quite some time.<\/p>\n
Seixas eventually bridged, as did several others. Healy went on to finish eighth but was the most aggressive rider in the race and showed very promising form.<\/p>\n
That is, his coach Jakob Tipper says, the result of a very concentrated approach.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, it has just been the first time really we had a good uninterrupted buildup the whole year,\u201d Tipper told Velo<\/i> Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year we didn\u2019t have the smoothest run into the early season races. We had a couple of issues on training camps. We saw that Ben\u2019s power numbers were good but not everything was perfect. Going into Tirreno [Tirreno-Adriatico] and Strade [Bianche], there were good signs but not everything was 100 percent where it needed to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd obviously in this day and age, if you are not one of the super freaks, Poga\u010dar, [Paul] Seixas etcetera, then you get found out if you are not 100 percent on it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018It definitely stokes the fire a bit\u2019<\/h2>\n
Healy trained well early on in the approach to Itzulia Basque Country but then crashed on stage one and fractured his sacrum. He missed the Ardennes Classics as a result.<\/p>\n
He returned to racing at the Tour Auvergne-Rh\u00f3ne-Alpes, previously known as the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9, and regarded as a key pre-Tour de France event.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t go to plan, with fever causing him to withdraw.<\/p>\n
\u201cBen got sick in the Dauphin\u00e9 and that illness seemed to affect basically everyone who got it,\u201d Tipper said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the same thing that Wout [Van Aert] got, hence why he didn\u2019t go to the Tour. The same thing that Kevin Vauquelin got and obviously he was pretty below average at the Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe basically found, for all the bit of preparation and work on weaknesses we did towards the Tour, ultimately for whatever reason he wasn\u2019t as fit as he needed to be. You just can\u2019t not be at full fitness any more. So the Tour was a little bit frustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Healy rode into form and went on the attack on seven of the final nine stages. Things still didn\u2019t quite click and the stage win he was chasing didn\u2019t materialize.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think ultimately what I missed is just that top end race-ready fitness,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the end of the Tour I was able to go on those bigger attacks because I had a couple of weeks of racing in the legs. Really, that\u2019s what I was missing from the start.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s used that frustration as an incentive to work even harder and to try to turn his season around in the final few weeks of competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely stokes the fire a little bit,\u201d he said. \u201cI just really want to get in a really good last part of the season, and worlds is a really big part of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo 100% it\u2019s been full work, no compromise. Hopefully I can show that in the races to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Healy](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2237866865.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\"\/)