“He’s the silent assassin isn’t he?” – Luke Rowe marvels at Simon Yates’ epic Tour de France stage win

Luke Rowe and Tom Fordyce dug into a dramatic first ten days of the 2025 Tour de France on the latest Watts Occurring episode, with the first rest day finally giving the peloton a moment to breathe. But not before a wild Bastille Day stage gave fans a dose of everything that makes the Tour addictive.

Simon Yates claimed the day with a brilliant win from the break, but it was Ben Healy’s all-in solo effort that grabbed headlines, and the yellow jersey. He becomes the first Irish rider in 38 years to wear it.

“This is his first stage win at a Grand Tour for donkeys years,” Fordyce said, pointing out how Yates’ climb to victory was the result of patience from the Giro winner. “Every time I went to the back, he was sat there chilling… and it's like it comes down to the final climb. Only one guy's winning this.”

Rowe agreed: “He's the silent assassin, isn’t he? Too good to go under the radar, but they do.” Yates had EF Education – EasyPost’s Ben Healy breathing down his neck, but the Irish rider had other priorities, namely, the maillot jaune.

Healy, who already took a stage earlier in the Tour, didn’t wait around for help from his breakaway companions. With over three minutes needed to leapfrog into yellow, he just put his head down and went.

“He just nailed himself against a brick wall,” Rowe said. “Tenacious, pitbull mentality.”

EF had the numbers early, four in the break, then three. From there it was a team time trial, then a solo grind. “He didn’t even blow up on the last climb. Paced it perfectly,” Rowe added.

Yates took the stage, but Healey’s yellow jersey was the moment of the day. As for UAE and Tadej Pogacar? Fordyce and Rowe both reckon the yellow jersey wasn’t given up voluntarily.

“They rode hard for so long and pinned it at two minutes,” Rowe said. “They wanted to keep the jersey.”

But EF’s Harry Sweeney and Alex Baudin turned up the pressure. Eventually UAE had to make the call, burn the team or let it go. “I think they lost the jersey, not through choice,” said Rowe.

It must be said that at one point within the final 20 kilometres, Ben Healy was dragging the breakaway along at a speed faster than Marc Soler at the front of the peloton.

The pair spent time debating Visma’s tactics too. Sending Yates up the road could suggest confidence in depth, or concern about Jonas Vingegaard’s ability to go it alone.

“For the first time, you saw that he might be isolated,” Rowe observed. “Visma have the numbers. UAE didn’t.”

Still, Visma might just be flexing. “They’ve already done what most teams would call a successful Tour, won a stage,” Fordyce said. “Now they’ve got numbers, and they’ve still got Yates.”

Rowe, though, wasn’t convinced: “I’d just have Yates there with him. He’s probably the best climber they’ve got after Jorgenson. Maybe Campenaerts goes up the road. But Yates?”

Fordyce noted the broader significance for EF, a team without the budget or firepower of the Tour’s traditional giants. And, a team who just before the Tour were hit with a set back as Richard Carapaz was forced to pull out through illness.

“This kind of win changes your finances. You go into yellow at the biggest bike race in the world—that’s a game-changer for the next couple of seasons.”

Rowe credited the team for tearing up the rulebook: “They’re not afraid to fail. If this is the way a race usually goes, they’ll go, ‘F--- that, we’ll do it our way.’”

On Stage 9, it was Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert lighting it up in a doomed-but-deliberate two-man breakaway. Rickaert got the most combative rider award, and a podium moment. Van der Poel, called the shot to go for what ended up being a 170km long attack. “He did that purely for Jonas,” said Rowe.

Their Chapeau of the Day for Stage 9? Rickaert, with an honorary half-share to van der Poel. For Stage 10? No question: “Ben Healy,” Rowe said without hesitation. “He’s like a dog with two dicks.”

Beyond Healy, Pogacar and Vingegaard are both in strong positions, especially given Vingegaard’s team strength compared to UAE’s, which only grow in importance as we heard towards the mountains.

Rowe sees Oscar Onley as a surprise name to watch, as the young Brit is looking incredibly strong so far. “He looks the best of the rest. Fighting for a podium. Didn’t realize he was that good.”

And a final note on sportsmanship: when Lenny Martinez was reeled in late, Pogacar and Vingegaard didn’t contest his position and let him cross ahead. “Nice little touch,” Rowe said. “Eighth or ninth changes nothing for them. But for Martinez? That’s a result.”

As the Tour enters its second half, it’s all still in play, and getting harder to call. “Things happen in Grand Tours,” Fordyce said. “Especially in the last couple days in the mountains.”