Ireland’s Ben Healy produced a stunning solo break to win stage six of the Tour de France while Mathieu van der Poel regained the race leader’s yellow jersey.
Healy and Van der Poel spent most of the 201.5km hilly stage in an eight-man breakaway before the former attacked with 42km remaining.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider then pulled away to claim his first stage win on the Tour, crossing the line in Vire Normandie almost three minutes before Quinn Simmons and Michael Storer.
Dutchman Van der Poel came in about four minutes after Healy, followed by Tadej Pogacar at the front of the peloton, and the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider had done enough to take the yellow jersey back from reigning champion Pogacar by one second.
Healy was in the breakaway several times last year, when he finished 27th on his debut, and the 24-year-old said he targeted this hilly stage when the route was announced.
“Last year was a real eye-opener and it really made me believe that I could do it,” he said.
“It’s really incredible and [down to] hours and hours of hard work by so many people. To pay them back today is really amazing.”
Pogacar claimed the yellow jersey from Van der Poel after Wednesday’s time trial
There were six categorised climbs on the route from Bayeux, with the temperature rising to 27C, yet the peloton maintained a ferocious average speed of 47km per hour (29mph) over the first three hours.
Healy and Simmons were the first to go clear, with the likes of Van der Poel, British rider Simon Yates and Irish debutant Eddie Dunbar soon joining them in the lead group.
They were clear of the peloton for more than 100km and had a gap of almost four minutes when Healy made his move on the flat before the final three climbs.
By the start of the next climb, Healy led by 47 seconds, and he gradually increased his lead on his way to what was ultimately a comfortable win.
“Once I was in [the break] we really had to work for that gap,” Healy added.
“I knew I needed to get away from the group and picked my moment. I think I timed it well and hopefully caught them by surprise.”
It was Ireland’s 15th Tour stage win, by seven riders, and the country’s first since Sam Bennett won the last stage of the 2020 edition on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Dunbar made it two Irish riders in the first four on the stage while Van der Poel sat up and came in eighth, potentially saving energy for stage seven.
It is another hilly stage, covering 197km from Saint-Malo to Mur-de-Bretagne Guerledan, where Van der Poel claimed his first stage win in 2021.
Stage six results
General classification standings after stage six
Bbc.com
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