VIRE NORMANDIE, France — Ben Healy won a hilly sixth stage of the Tour de France after a long solo breakaway Thursday, and Mathieu van der Poel took back the overall leader’s yellow jersey from reigning champion Tadej Pogacar by one second.
Healy, a 24-year-old Irishman who rides for the EF Education—EasyPost team, had won a stage at a Grand Tour before — the eighth stage of the 2023 Giro d’Italia — but this was his first such victory at cycling’s showcase race.
“A stage win in the Tour is just unbelievable, it’s what I’ve worked for,” he said. “I grew up watching the Tour and wishing one day I could just be there. Participating in the Tour is already an achievement, and to win a stage is just so, so amazing.”
American rider Quinn Simmons finished 2 minutes, 44 seconds behind Healy for second place in the stage, and Australia’s Michael Storer was 2:51 back in third.
Van der Poel finished eighth, and Pogacar was a little further back in ninth.