ANALYSIS - The 2025 Tour de France saw the rise of Ben Healy; In 2026 he will enter the race without three months of racing

Modern cycling is living a golden age of talent. The dominance of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Mathieu van der Poel has pushed the sport to spectacular heights. Yet among so many superstars, there’s a rider profile fans often value even more: the attacking, unpredictable, fearless type. Few embody that essence better than Ben Healy, who has now been absent from the peloton for months.

EF Education-EasyPost’s leader has become in recent seasons one of the most spectacular riders in the international peloton. He doesn’t need to be the strongest to take center stage. Nor does he wait for the final kilometers. Healy races differently. He attacks from range, blows up impossible races, and turns seemingly quiet days into tactical chaos.

The truth is that Ben Healy’s start to the season fell well short of the level he showed over the past two years. In the opening races he barely logged notable results, finishing 20th at the Faun-Ardèche Classic and 44th at the Drôme Classic, performances too modest for a rider used to leaving his mark almost every time he competes.

The sensations weren’t great either. He looked short of his usual punch and lacked that constant aggression that defines him. But little by little, positive signs began to appear.

The first came at Strade Bianche. Although the final result was only 12th, the race left important hints. Healy was competitive again in a top-level test, holding firm for a long time alongside some of the world’s best classics specialists. Beyond the placing, the feeling was that his legs were starting to come around. Then came confirmation at Tirreno–Adriatico.

There we saw the recognizable Ben Healy again. He finished 8th overall and added 6th and 7th on stages, staying busy on rolling and medium-mountain terrain. It was exactly the kind of performance both he and EF Education-EasyPost needed. Not yet the devastating 2025 version, but clearly competitive again.

The next big step seemed set to arrive at Itzulia Basque Country, an ideal race for his characteristics. Explosive terrain, nervy stages, and constant chances for attacking riders. Healy also knew what winning there felt like after taking a stage in 2025.

But things went wrong before it even began. As emerged later, the Irishman crashed while exploring the opening time trial. The impact caused a small, non-displaced sacral fracture. Not an extremely serious injury, but uncomfortable enough to completely compromise his performance.

And still he raced. That detail says everything about who Ben Healy is. Because despite the pain and physical limitations, the Irishman finished the Basque race and did so as a protagonist. On the final three days he made the breakaways and raced again with that aggression fans love. He obviously wasn’t at the level needed to fight for major wins, but even injured he kept trying to animate the race.

Very few riders represent today’s attacking cycling so well. The concern now is what comes next. After Itzulia, EF Education-EasyPost decided to stop their leader completely with the summer’s big target in mind: the Tour de France. And that means, barring a major surprise, Ben Healy won’t race again until July.

In an era where many riders pick their targets carefully and race less, losing a rider like Healy for so long is felt keenly. Especially because he’s one of those who improve any race simply by being there.

It doesn’t matter if he’s fighting for the win or not. When Ben Healy is in the peloton, there’s always a chance something unexpected will happen.

His aggressive style has already built an impressive palmarès for a 25-year-old. In 2023 he probably took the biggest win of his career to that point by winning a stage at the Giro d’Italia after a trademark long-range exhibition. That same year he also won the GP Industria & Artigianato and came close at the Amstel Gold Race, finishing second after a memorable ride.

He also holds two Irish road titles, and he has consistently shown a huge capacity to perform in both one-day races and stage races. The definitive step up likely arrived in 2025.

That year he won a stage at the Tour de France, entering a different media dimension within the sport. Winning at the Tour changes careers. And Healy did it true to style, attacking from distance and leaving a spectacular image.

It wasn’t his only big result. He was also third at the Kigali World Championships and third at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, confirming himself as one of the best classics riders on the planet.

That’s why it hurts to see his progress stall now. This 2026 looked tailor-made for him to consolidate among the peloton’s biggest stars. At 25 he was entering the ideal window of sporting maturity. His consistency had improved markedly, and he seemed increasingly capable in week-long stage races.

The injury comes at the worst possible moment. Even so, amid the negatives, EF Education-EasyPost seem to have taken the right decision. Forcing Healy to chase more spring races or even the Giro d’Italia would have been an unnecessary risk. The goal must be full recovery and taking him to the Tour de France in peak condition.

If there’s a stage for Ben Healy, it is probably the Tour. Nervy stages, medium-mountain routes, and the tactical freedom that often exists away from the GC battle make the French race perfect for him. And the Irishman already proved last year that he can win there.