{"id":152969,"date":"2025-09-22T11:06:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/152969\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T11:06:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:06:07","slug":"a-rider-like-ben-has-a-really-good-chance-irelands-elite-mens-road-race-pinning-hopes-on-ben-healy-at-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/152969\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A rider like Ben has a really good chance’ – Ireland\u2019s elite men\u2019s road race pinning hopes on Ben Healy at World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

To judge by the events of last year\u2019s World Championships elite men\u2019s road race, the demanding and exceptionally hilly nature of the Rwanda circuit should suit defending champion Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> (UAE Team Emirates) down to the ground.<\/p>\n

But other squads with riders given to long-distance moves are also looking forward to taking their chance, and if Belgium\u2019s Remco Evenepoel<\/a> (Soudal\u2013Quick-Step) is one such obvious candidate, Ireland are quietly certain they have their own cards to play, too.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“Ben Healy<\/a> (EF Education-EasyPost) is one of the best one-day racers in the world at targeting one day races and performing in them,\u201d Ireland\u2019s Eddie Dunbar<\/a> (Team Jayco\u2013AlUla), also in Ireland\u2019s line-up for Kigali, told Cyclingnews during the recent Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a>, \u201cHe can go from distance and he’s proved that on numerous occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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“I\u2019ve no idea what Ben’s plan is for the Worlds, but I\u2019m sure he’ll have the mindset that he’s going into it wanting to be World Champion.”<\/p>\n

Seventh in the Worlds in Zurich last year – where Dunbar also took part, finishing 67th – Healy most recently showed his talent for nosing out big moves with a stunning victory in the first week of the 2025 Tour de France<\/a>. But his breakaway talents have also netted the Irishman solo stage victories in the 2023 Giro d\u2019Italia and 2025 Itzulia Basque Country – in the latter, his 124-kilometre solo being the longest in the race\u2019s 101-year history.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s pretty clear,” Dunbar added. “Healy definitely is somebody who could medal, and so you go out there and try and support him.<\/p>\n

“We have the riders to do that, Archie Ryan<\/a> (EF Education-EasyPost) been flying here [in the Vuelta] and he\u2019s a very good one-day racer, too. So we\u2019ve got plenty of options, and hopefully I\u2019ll manage to come out of this race and have good legs too. We\u2019ll have a very solid team there.”<\/p>\n

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Taking on Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/p>\n

While the global strategy for Ireland is, as Dunbar says, “to have numbers in the final,\u201d a lot of the way the road race plays out will depend on how the world\u2019s very top expert in long-distance breakaways is racing, too. But having to use Poga\u010dar as the reference point on September 27, as Dunbar says, is not different from any other race where he takes part.<\/p>\n

“Everyone knows it\u2019s Slovenia’s responsibility to control the race. But at the end of day, all you can do is try and hold on when he [Poga\u010dar] goes.<\/p>\n

“If you can, you’re obviously on a really good day, and if you can\u2019t, that\u2019s just the way it is.<\/p>\n

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“He’s the best bike rider there’s been. So you have to just roll the dice, race your best race, and worry about that, and if you can race against him, then it’s fair play.<\/p>\n

In terms of the practicalities of getting to Rwanda and the logistics involved, the first-ever World Championships in Africa was fairly straightforward for Dunbar, meaning he can focus fully on the racing.<\/p>\n

“There is a bit more to it than if you\u2019re going to somewhere like Switzerland, there\u2019s more paperwork. But I\u2019m updated on my vaccines, from when I was young, so I\u2019m all right there. I hear some of the guys need one or two jabs to make sure they’re ok. But if you want to race that’s how it is.”<\/p>\n

“I got a direct flight to Kigali, too, and I think it\u2019s the same time zone, which is definitely not so bad, even if it\u2019s a long flight.”<\/p>\n

“The altitude won\u2019t be so bad, either, it\u2019s about 1,500 metres so nothing too crazy. I\u2019m going in late, and sometimes that works when you go to a race at altitude, so hopefully that’s the right strategy.”<\/p>\n

When it comes to the race itself, obviously racing for a top challenger like Healy makes it more attractive, but Dunbar says the Worlds itself is always an attractive event to do.<\/p>\n

“I do look forward to it,” Dunbar, riding his fourth senior Worlds elite road race, says. “You\u2019re wearing an Irish jersey, which is nice, it\u2019s a different country, as well, which is interesting.”<\/p>\n

“The great thing though above all is it\u2019s a completely different kind of race. You\u2019re racing against teammates you ride with 60 days of the year, which makes it interesting. And everybody knows the World Championships has an iconic jersey, so whatever happens, it always feels special to do.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To judge by the events of last year\u2019s World Championships elite men\u2019s road race, the demanding and exceptionally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152970,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-152969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152969\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}