"I played my cards the best way I know" - Ben Healy's attackive racing rewarded with a 10th place

Ireland wasn't mentioned among the main favourites for the Olympic race but Ben Healy didn't let that bother him and together with Alexey Lutsenko, they launched an attack with 95 kilometers to go. Healy later continued solo and although a chasing group lead by Remco Evenepoel later caught up to him, he still managed to cross the finish line in the top 10.

"I played my cards the best way I know how," Healy said in the media mixed zone after the race. "Maybe if I’d had a tiny bit more in the tank today then I could have been in the shout for a medal but I'm super proud of that performance. A top 10 is a result. I think I put myself in the best place and did what I know suits me best. There were just stronger guys today, unfortunately."

Race radios are not allowed in the Olympic road race and so Healy felt almost blind as a bat. Yet that wouldn't make the 23-year-old turn away from his attackive race style. "It was kind of strange racing in the dark like that. It creates a few more question marks during the race but you just have to race with that in mind and be super proactive," he explained.

"When I attacked and Ryan was ahead, I was just praying that he got a message. When I was away, I got a time gap every now and again, but I didn't really know who was behind or what the gaps were. I just had to do my own race and do what I thought was right at the time."

Ireland only had two riders at the start of the road race, however they were able to ride a nearly tactically perfect race with Ryan Mullen serving as a satellite rider after a move with 120km to go. "We didn't just want him to be sat out front for 200 kilometres before that. When the opportunity came and he was able to get in a group pretty easily, and so it was a no-brainer. He did a big day out front and really helped me," Healy praised his colleague.