Ben Healy has claimed a bronze medal for Ireland in the road race UCI Road World Championships in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 267.7km race took no prisoners, with a combination of steep cobbled climbs and oppressive heat making for tough conditions throughout. Healy took to chasing leaders Isaac Del Toro of Mexico, and reigning world champion Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia with a small group. Del Toro found himself dropped and quickly overtaken by the chase group, while Pogačar held a steady one-minute lead from about the midway point of the race, and ultimately retained his title.
Healy’s group continued to shrink, and the Irish rider was left with just Mattias Skjelmose of Denmark and Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel of Belgium – who successfully defended his Time-Trial World Championship earlier in the week. An attack from Evenepoel with 20km to go left Healy battling for bronze with Skjelmose. The Irish rider made a jump with just over 5km to go, and the Dane could not hold his wheel.
Healy’s efforts were supported by four teammates in Eddie Dunbar, Darren Rafferty, Rory Townsend and Ryan Mullen.
Healy’s bronze medal makes him just the fourth Irish rider to take a medal in the elite men’s road race at a World Championships, joining Stephen Roche, Shay Elliott and Sean Kelly.
“Yeah it’s pretty special,” said Healy, “I’ve done a lot of hard work and to stand on a podium with Remco and Tadej is pretty incredible. This season is getting crazier and crazier, from a stage win and yellow jersey at the tour and now a podium at worlds it’s just hard to compare. Tadej is one of the greatest the sport has ever seen, Remco isn’t far behind him, so to be on the podium with them was just insane.”
On his custom speed-suit, Healy said: “Spin11 have put a lot of work into this suit. It’s a pretty specific course with some slow speed climbs and pretty hot weather as well, so it’s perfect for today.”