Racing
Ben Healy goes all-in to win the final stage of the Tour of Slovenia
The Irish National Champ attacks in the final kilometers to sprint to victory
June 16, 2024
In the final stage of the Tour of Slovenia, Ben Healy wasn’t going to let the squad leave without a win. And when he saw his moment, he took it.
Launching an attack with 47 kilometers to go, Ben burst from the peloton, taking a few riders with him. This chasing group began turning up the heat in order to catch the breakaway.
With 14 kilometers to go, Ben’s group caught the breakaway and he hit the gas again. It’s race moments like this when it’s no wonder announcers have dubbed him the “Duracell Bunny” – he just keeps going!
Entering the final five kilometers, Ben made countless aggressive moves to break from the group. He punched up the speed with his relentless attacks. It was only within the final kilometer when Ben created a gap from the rest of the group. He then sprinted to victory, arms aloft in celebration.
The victory comes after some hard-earned days of racing for Ben and the squad. Teammate Mikkel Honoré spent some long kilometers in the break throughout the week, while Archie Ryan and Yuhi Todome played a big role in protecting Ben on the final stage.
“After losing time on the GC yesterday, I was out here to take revenge today,” Ben said. “I know how I can win, I know how I like to win, and it was always the plan to go full gas on the first climb and try and catch them by surprise. In the end, I managed to go solo and then they caught me on the last climb of the day but the GC guys were playing silly buggers and I managed to get a gap and hold it to the line."
When asked how he felt to close the Tour of Slovenia on a victory, Ben simply replied, “To finish it off on the last day like this with a nice crowd in a nice place, it’s been a really great race. Slovenia’s a nice place to race a bike.”
We couldn’t agree more. Thanks for giving us a thrilling finale to celebrate, Ben. Congratulations to the squad on the win!