"Everyone will be a little afraid of Tadej Pogacar, but I have a lot of confidence" - Ben Healy "ready to fight for the win" at Strade Bianche
Cycling
After announcing himself to the world with a breakthrough Classics campaign in 2023, Ben Healy takes on his first one-day race of 2024 this weekend at Strade Bianche.
"I feel good," previews the 23-year-old Irish star of EF Education-EasyPost in a pre-race conversation with In de Leiderstrui. "I took a few days to recover from the Tour of the Algarve, which was a really tough race. I am now ready again, ready to fight for the win."
Last year, Healy starred in the Spring, with notable performances at Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold Race and Liège - Bastogne - Liège before taking a stage win on his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia. This time around though, Healy's added reputation means he comes to Strade Bianche a more widely regarded threat. "In Strade Bianche it's ultimately just about how good the legs are," he says. "We come here on paper with Richard Carapaz and myself as leaders, but if Neilson Powless has the legs we will see him in the final too."
Click here to
create your own team for the Fantasy Strade Bianche. At least $1625/€1,500/£1,285 in
prizes.
This year, Strade Bianche is also longer and gravellier than ever before. "It's punchy, a very tough race. I like that, the extra thirty-kilometre loop makes a tough race even tougher, I can't complain about that," Healy says. "It will be full throttle from Monte Sante Marie, although some will hesitate to go all-in, with an extra thirty kilometres to the finish. The selection will be made there and the extra strips mainly make it more challenging in terms of endurance."
Read also
On his new status, Healy doesn't feel it will make much of a difference. "I can no longer just make a crazy attack," he notes however. "I no longer feel pressure, know that I am stronger and can have confidence in racing these finals. I didn't do much else in the winter, mainly be consistent. Last year I broke my hand early in the season, but the winter was pretty much the same last year towards the big goals."
"Everyone will be a little afraid of Tadej Pogacar on Saturday, but I have a lot of confidence," he concludes. "I have already shown this season that last year was not an outlier, I am really looking forward to this season"
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment