“I left it all out on the road”: Ben Healy battles to impressive 10th place in brutal World Championships

Ben Healy left the 2026 World Championships without a medal, but the Irishman had plenty of reasons to be satisfied after finishing tenth in one of the most demanding road races of the season.

Brandon McNulty ultimately claimed the rainbow jersey in Montréal after attacking from a reduced group and surviving a late chase. Michael Matthews took silver and Mathieu van der Poel bronze, while Healy was among the riders who repeatedly tried to influence the race during its decisive stages.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider was particularly active during the final 70 kilometers. After Van der Poel, Primoz Roglic and Quinn Simmons had established themselves at the front, Healy launched his own pursuit and eventually bridged across to the leading trio. He later found himself in contention again as the race repeatedly reshuffled on the climbs around Mount Royal.

Healy was still close enough to the front to challenge for a medal when McNulty made his decisive move. The American quickly opened a gap while Tom Pidcock and Giulio Ciccone led the attempts to bring him back. The chase briefly reduced McNulty's advantage to around 10 seconds on the final lap, but the hesitation behind allowed the American to survive and take the title.

Despite missing the podium, Healy was satisfied with the way he approached the race and felt his legs were better than he had expected after a difficult season.

“I just gave it everything today. I really wanted to anticipate and try to get ahead, and I think I had better legs than I even thought I had today,” Healy said in a post-race interview. “So maybe I should have waited, but I left it all out on the road and I'm still pretty proud of the race I did today.”

The result was particularly significant given Healy's struggles earlier in 2026. After finishing third at the 2025 World Championships and winning a stage of the Tour de France last year, he entered this season with considerably higher expectations but was hampered by a sacrum injury and missed the Ardennes Classics. His results were more modest through much of the spring, although he finished eighth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico and 12th at Strade Bianche.

His form improved towards the end of the season. He finished eighth at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal two weeks before the World Championships after spending 52 kilometers in a breakaway, while his Tour de France campaign included several attempts to make the breakaway despite ultimately finishing 59th overall.

The Montréal performance therefore provided Healy with a much-needed reminder that he could still compete with the strongest riders when the race was at its hardest.

“Obviously I haven't had the best season, so to be racing up there again with the big guys today definitely gives me a bit of confidence back,” he said. “It was just a super nice race, super fun, and I really enjoyed it out there.”

After a season that included inconsistent results and a long recovery from injury, Healy can now look back on a World Championships performance that was much closer to the level he showed during his 2025 campaign.