Ben Healy just isn’t remotely overawed by the prospect of occurring the assault on the opening day of the Tour de France on Saturday.
The Irishman is one in all a forty five riders lining up for the primary time on the race this 12 months, a prospect that, as a Giro d’Italia stage winner on debut, doesn’t faze him.
Stage one on Saturday, a medium mountain stage between Florence and Rimini, options greater than 3,500 metres of elevation acquire. The punchy course bears resemblance to a hilly Spring Basic, and is one which Classics specialist Healy is trying ahead to getting his tooth into.
Chatting with Biking Weekly, the Irishman mentioned that taking the race’s first yellow jersey may be very a lot a goal for him and his teammates.
“I can dream of that for certain,” Healy mentioned. “It is a parcours that can go well with me. However that is the Tour, it is totally different gravy. Everyone seems to be right here of their greatest form. The highest GC guys are right here as nicely and I feel that these guys are only a class above.
“I feel every part actually does must go my manner if I’ve bought a shot at taking the primary stage, however for certain, it is one thing I might like to do. I feel that the workforce is right here to hunt for levels and I feel we’ve got a number of choices. If we are able to play our playing cards proper, you by no means know what may occur.”
He added: “There’s me, Neilson Powless, Alberto Bettiol and Richard Carapaz, as nicely. There’s 4 of us on this workforce which are actually suited to this form of terrain. I feel in each state of affairs we are able to hopefully be there.
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“If we’re there with numbers then typically that is sufficient to overwhelm the opposite guys. And in the event that they’re simply primarily fascinated with their GC place and watching one another, then perhaps that provides us an opportunity to slide away and probably do the work, which might be unbelievable for the workforce and likewise individually for me.”
Though he knew months in the past that he could be in his workforce’s Tour line-up, Healy was stuffed with nerves in latest weeks whereas he awaited the decision that will verify his place on the airplane to Florence for the Grand Départ.
“You by no means understand how the workforce’s going to be slotted collectively,” he mentioned. “After I bought the decision, it was only a large, large reduction, and pleasure for me.
“Through the coaching camps and every part there’s all the time nonetheless an extended checklist. Yeah, some guys are going to overlook out, sadly, so that you’re all the time ready for that official name up.”
Healy added that the 1000’s of individuals on the race’s workforce presentation on Thursday night was what made it actually hit residence for him that he was about to be a part of one thing big.
“You do not get anything like that at a motorbike race,” he mentioned. “I feel it then actually actually hits residence simply how large the Tour is.”
The Irishman counts a Giro d’Italia stage win, second at Amstel-Gold Race and fourth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège amongst his achievements lately. However when his Tour debut will get underway on Saturday, he mentioned there was one specific piece of recommendation to himself that he could be holding in the back of his thoughts.
“I feel I can lose my head typically in a race state of affairs,” he mentioned. “I actually simply see pink after I get going. I feel that I actually have gotten to attempt to cease, learn the race state of affairs and attempt to be sensible with my legs.
“That is the factor that I will carry on reminding myself of and hopefully I can do this on Saturday.”
