Ben Healy was overjoyed after finishing third in the UCI Road World Championships elite men’s road race, and the Breakaway team hailed the Irishman’s immense achievement.
Healy became the first rider from his country to secure a World Championships podium place since Sean Kelly in 1989.
It was a superb display from Slovenia’s Pogacar, who followed on from winning his first road race title in Zurich last year with another victory here.
Merely finishing this race was an achievement in itself, given only 30 of the 164 riders made it to the end.
So, the immense fortitude which Pogacar showed to come out on top, as he has done so often in his career, cannot be underestimated.
As for Healy, he mastered the challenging terrain through Kigali with aplomb, securing third in the closing kilometres to take a hard-fought bronze.
Adam Blythe waxed lyrical about the 25-year-old’s achievement in a landmark year that also saw him secure a stage win at the Tour de France.
“He is someone’s hero back home, which is a lovely thing to be,” said Blythe on TNT Sports’ Breakaway show.
“I don’t think he would have grasped it, but after the year that he had this year, with the yellow jersey in the Tour, he’s just progressed and progressed.
“He’s getting better. I feel he’s going to be stronger and even better next year.
“The nice thing about Ben is he’s always a rider that’s there and one to watch, but he’s never the obvious one, which I love about him.
“He’s always the underdog and does things in almost the hard way. I love watching him, and he’s just a great person to support and a great ambassador for our sport as well.”
‘Insane’ – Healy on third-place finish at worlds
Video credit: TNT Sports
Healy’s humble nature is also an endearing quality for Blythe, and he explained that the Irishman underestimates his own talent.
He continued: “There were a lot of people like Remco who had an expectation of winning that race, who were very disappointed with everything that happened.
“But Ben there [in footage of the finish] was celebrating third. I love that, because it’s almost unexpected.
“He doesn’t even know how good he is, so that leading into next year is almost like a surprise to him.”
Dani Rowe echoed Blythe’s sentiments, and believes the sky is the limit for what Healy can go on to achieve.
“This is huge for Ben Healy, for Ireland, and as you say, he’s such a huge model to so many in Ireland,” Rowe said.
“What it does, it puts him into a different category. He was ninth on GC in the Tour de France, so even that could be a goal for the future, the yellow jersey.”
The EF Education–EasyPost rider also reflected with pride on his achievements, and was in disbelief to share a podium with Pogacar and Evenepoel.
“It’s pretty special. I’ve done a lot of hard work this season for this and to stand on the podium with Remco and Tadej is pretty incredible,” said Healy in quotes published by efprocycling.com.
“This season is just getting crazier and crazier to be honest. From a stage win and the yellow jersey at the Tour to now the podium at Worlds, it is hard to compare.”
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