Ben Healy is just not remotely overawed by the prospect of happening the assault on the opening day of the Tour de France on Saturday.
The Irishman is one in all a forty five riders lining up for the primary time on the race this yr, a prospect that, as a Giro d’Italia stage winner on debut, doesn’t faze him.
Stage one on Saturday, a medium mountain stage between Florence and Rimini, options greater than 3,500 metres of elevation achieve. The punchy course bears resemblance to a hilly Spring Traditional, and is one which Classics specialist Healy is trying ahead to getting his enamel into.
Talking to Biking Weekly, the Irishman stated that taking the race’s first yellow jersey could be very a lot a goal for him and his teammates.
“I can dream of that for certain,” Healy stated. “It is a parcours that can swimsuit me. However that is the Tour, it is totally different gravy. Everyone seems to be right here of their finest form. The highest GC guys are right here as properly and I believe that these guys are only a class above.
“I believe all the things actually does need to go my manner if I’ve bought a shot at taking the primary stage, however for certain, it is one thing I would like to do. I believe that the staff is right here to hunt for levels and I believe now we have a number of choices. If we will play our playing cards proper, you by no means know what might occur.”
He added: “There’s me, Neilson Powless, Alberto Bettiol and Richard Carapaz, as properly. There’s 4 of us on this staff which might be actually suited to this type of terrain. I believe in each state of affairs we will hopefully be there.
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“If we’re there with numbers then generally that is sufficient to overwhelm the opposite guys. And in the event that they’re simply primarily occupied with their GC place and watching one another, then possibly that offers us an opportunity to slide away and doubtlessly do the work, which might be unimaginable for the staff and in addition individually for me.”
Though he knew months in the past that he can be in his staff’s Tour line-up, Healy was stuffed with nerves in current weeks whereas he awaited the decision that might verify his place on the airplane to Florence for the Grand Départ.
“You by no means know the way the staff’s going to be slotted collectively,” he stated. “Once I bought the decision, it was only a huge, huge reduction, and pleasure for me.
“In the course of the coaching camps and all the things there’s at all times nonetheless a protracted record. Yeah, some guys are going to overlook out, sadly, so that you’re at all times ready for that official name up.”
Healy added that the hundreds of individuals on the race’s staff presentation on Thursday night was what made it actually hit house for him that he was about to be a part of one thing big.
“You aren’t getting the rest like that at a motorbike race,” he stated. “I believe it then actually actually hits house simply how huge the Tour is.”
The Irishman counts a Giro d’Italia stage win, second at Amstel-Gold Race and fourth at Liège–Bastogne–Liège amongst his achievements lately. However when his Tour debut will get underway on Saturday, he stated there was one specific piece of recommendation to himself that he can be conserving in the back of his thoughts.
“I believe I can lose my head generally in a race scenario,” he stated. “I actually simply see purple after I get going. I believe that I actually have gotten to attempt to cease, learn the race scenario and attempt to be sensible with my legs.
“That is the factor that I’ll carry on reminding myself of and hopefully I can do this on Saturday.”
