Racing

Ben Healy wins Irish national time trial

Young Irish rider takes his first win as a WorldTour rider

June 24, 2022

Yesterday, Ben Healy took home the Irish time trial championships in Kanturk.

Our young Irish rider – who is in his first year with the team and first year as a WorldTour rider – won the junior time trial title in 2018 as well as the under-23 in 2020 but this was his first time competing in the elite race, and Ben made sure to make it count.

“I set the fastest time for the elites as a U23 a couple of years ago but never got to take the elite jersey because it was two different categories but on the same course and the same day,” Ben says. “For sure, it was nice to give it a good go and actually race for that jersey this time.”

With changing winds and a challenging 31-kilometer course, Ben knew the only way to win this one was to be bold and go out of the gate fast. The tactic paid off and saw him cross the line a full minute and a half faster than the next best rider.

“It was slow on the way out and fast on the way back,” he says. “I did a pretty good split and it worked out well. I just held a nice average speed throughout the course. My legs obviously felt really good as well.”

In his first year in the top ranks of the sport, Ben has shown time and time again that he has the legs for a strong solo effort and often launches long solo attacks in closing stages of races. This victory though, is a special one for him.

“It’s my first time racing for the elites and being able to take home that jersey is obviously amazing. It kind of takes that pressure off now that I’ve secured that win and it’s obviously a pretty cool thing as well.”

On Sunday, Ben will take the start of the elite road race as well, a race he won two years ago.

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Ben Healy

Ben Healy is one of the best young bike racers of his generation. Born and raised near Birmingham, the 23-year-old is proud of his Irish roots and honored to wear the Bratach na hÉireann colors as the Irish road race national champion.

The 2023 season was Ben’s breakout year. After winning the GP Industria & Artigianato and a stage at Coppi e Bartali, he finished second at Brabantse Pijl and second at the Amstel Gold Race. And then he went and won a stage at the Giro d'Italia with a 50-km solo.

Results like that are a testament to his tenacity.

Ben blazed his own way to the pro ranks. He was riding at his local track by the time he was five years old. Growing up, he was there every Sunday morning to train and race. But his first love was mountain biking. That meant hucking himself off the established track for a young bike racer in Britain. Ben dropped out of the academy and decided to go it alone.

Racing mountain bikes and road bikes on smaller teams, he soon had stage wins at the Giro Ciclistico d’Italia and the Ronde de l’Isard to his name, as well as Irish road and time trial championship titles. In 2019, Ben became the youngest ever winner of a stage at the Tour de l’Avenir.

And now, he has shown that he can go toe-to-toe with the best bike racers in the world in the sport’s greatest races.

Ben loves getting in breakaways and surprising his rivals with his daring attacks. He is as aero as anyone in the peloton and is always looking for the latest edge.

Last to go will be his flowing black locks. Away from the races, Ben likes big cities and hanging out with his friends from art school.

He is an explosive climber, who wants to find out what he can do over the course of a grand tour. So does the rest of the world. The only thing that’s for certain is that Ben Healy is going to keep racing his own way.

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