"It’s better to have a strong Pogacar" - Ben Healy's success might be in part due to World Champion's tactics, says EF's Jonathan Vaughters
Cycling
Tadej Pogacar is the great dominator of current professional cycling. But to what degree do his and UAE Team Emirates - XRG's tactics benefit other riders? EF Education-EasyPost manager Jonathan Vaughters believes that going to the limit for hours on end is greatly beneficial to Ben Healy, who has partly had success due to this new way of racing the big events.
“The big races, I give us a ten out of ten. The smaller ones, probably more like a five," Vaughters said in the Domestique Hotseat podcast. “We’re the youngest team in the WorldTour". Richard Carapaz finishing third at the Giro d'Italia, Neilson Powless winning Dwars door Vlaanderen ahead of three Visma riders and the many performances of Ben Healy throughout the year were the great highlights.
Healy specifically had a magical season, finishing fourth at Strade Bianche, winning a stage at Itzulia Basque Country, fifth at Flèche Wallonne, third at Liège-Bastogne-Liège... Winning a stage, spending days in the yellow jersey and finishing ninth at the Tour de France; and then still joining Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel on the podium of the World Championships. It would've been hard to ask for more from the Irishman, who led the team successfully this year.
At the Tour he rode to a breakthrough Top10 spot, racing in his own way. “He did that by losing, you know, 14 minutes on Hautacam and then gaining back four minutes in breakaways. He did it by racing GC in a way nobody else was racing it. He rode both the time trials easy in the Tour de France. Like took them as like kind of rest days".
“But you don’t do that if you’re really riding GC (he means ordinarily you don't, ed.). Two days later, he’d be in a breakaway and he’d get five minutes. Well, you’re not going to get five minutes in the time trial. To take that away from him and say 'no, we’re going to put seven guys around you. You’re never going to touch the wind'. And then you’re just going to have to go up hills really fast and go really fast in the TT. I don’t know if that’s really his style of racing. I’m not really sure. But I don’t think it is honestly.”
Ben Healy crossing the line in Hautacam, where he lost his yellow jersey to Tadej Pogacar. @Sirotti
Vaughters on Pogacar
Looking back at where he performed in the classics: Strade Bianche, Fléche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and World Championships. All four races won by Tadej Pogacar, and besides Liège, all opened up very early. The 25-year old has unusually good endurance which has him stand apart in the long races of attrition, and this is a perfect fit with how UAE is currently racing with the World Champion.
"This highly attrition based race that basically forces everyone to just ride flat out for hours on end [...] Pogacar likes his team to basically like force it into a race of attrition, that like there’s only 10 people left by the time Pogacar actually attacks. By the time he does that, there’s only 10 or 15 riders left, if that many. When he goes away, well, like there’s no team to chase. There’s just a bunch of individual riders that all consider them leaders themselves. They’re like 'well, I’m not going to chase, you chase'".
But Healy can't realistically beat Pogacar, yet. But he has ridden to monuments and World Championship podiums, which are world-class results that he might not have otherwise achieved. “We’re all waiting for Pogacar to get tired or bored or retire. But I don’t know if like, that’s a good thing for Ben. I feel like for Ben, it’s better to have a strong Pogacar," Vaughters argues.
And the American believes that when Pogacar makes a mistake or has an off day, Healy can take advantage of it and be the one in the top step. “One of these days he’s gonna like mess up his feeding a little bit or he’s gonna have a little bit of a head cold or whatever it is.”
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- Seixas appears to be that good but if he isn't (an absolute rival to Pogacar) he would have plenty of company in rising stars that did not go on to fully meet the expectations of many. That Pogacar wasn't the greatest (as great) sooner can't be transposed onto another's development. It may be not that simple.flyer14-11-2026
- I agree that, for Evenepoel, the Euro championship is overshadowed by the slightly off Lombardia and Worlds. However, I disagree that "Ciccone also made a serious mistake at the European Championships" because I don't think he had a win in the bag although he could have won with a perfect bike throw. Guesswork about the finish is not evidence by me for some serious mistake. Sometimes you just barely lose - although Ciccone's sourpuss about it persona was serious.flyer14-11-2026
- I bet you photobombed the video since you are his shadow!frieders314-11-2026
- Skipping the 2027 TDF would be fine in my opinion, and if so, it further reveals that him racing it in 2026 was a good decision. Seixas speaks confident, almost cocky, these days (not meant to be a criticism) and I find it a tad humorous that people (rather commentators) continually chide and advise on how Decathlon should direct and manage Seixas when Paul seems to be calling all his shots since well before this year's TDF.flyer14-11-2026
- Well I just watched this and I thought it was great! If you’re a Pogi fan, like me, you’ll enjoy it. Even if you’re not necessarily a Pogi fan I still recommend it. There’s plenty of new stuff I didn’t know about and I’m a Pogi-maniac! Nice interviews with Pogi & Matteo Trentin too.Lozza14-11-2026
- Well I just watched this and I thought it was great! If you’re a Pogi fan, like me, you’ll enjoy it. Even if you’re not necessarily a Pogi fan I still recommend it. There’s plenty of new stuff I didn’t know about and I’m a Pogi-maniac! Nice interviews with Pogi & Matteo Trentin too. So Zonnewotsit can stick it!Lozza14-11-2026
- Who’s gifting grand tours at UAE? Defo not Pogi! Stage wins maybe.Lozza13-11-2026
- Sepp Kuss Vuelta 2023.Lozza13-11-2026
- they have no expertise with classics, they have no leaders in classics. the classics is dominated by the few Fuori Classe riders where other riders are left with scraps. the Hiring , the salaries dont make sense at all. Same problem as Man Utd. over paid players, egos, very little performanceabstractengineer13-11-2026
- Contract year means you gotta win, at least collect UCI points, helping be damnedabstractengineer13-11-2026
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