Following days of aggressive racing, Irish road race champion Ben Healy reaped the rewards of that approach when he took an impressive stage win on the final day of the Tour of Slovenia on Sunday.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider bounced back from a frustrating day on Saturday when he dropped from fourth to ninth overall, and came out fighting on Sunday.
"I came here to really test myself on the GC [general classification]," he said. "I blew up a little bit yesterday so for sure I am disappointed there, but to take a stage win the end makes up for it.
"After losing out in the GC yesterday, I was here to take revenge today. I know how I can win, I know how I like to win and it was always the plan to go full gas on that first climb and try to catch them by surprise."
The 23 year old began his run towards the stage win with 46km to go on Sunday, attacking the main bunch and beginning a chase of the day's early breakaway.
He and several others reduced the gap to that front group, with Healy doing most of the work, and bridged across with 14km to go.
Healy then pushed forward on the day’s final climb of Trška Gora and was joined by some of the strongest riders in the race. They sought to control him but had no answer when he made a big move with 3km to go.
While they were mopped up by those chasing behind, he pushed on to an impressive win, six seconds clear.
"In the end I managed to go solo," he said. "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."
Healy’s teammate Archie Ryan also finished well, netting ninth on the stage. He spent the week riding for his compatriot and continues to gain strength and experience in what is his first year as a professional.
Healy’s performance saw him move from ninth to seventh overall, finishing 44 seconds behind the final race winner Giovanni Aleotti (Bora-Hansgrohe).
"It’s really amazing," he said of his emotions on the concluding stage. "I came here with good legs and I knew I could win. 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 is a nice place to race a bike."
He is expected to be on the startline of the Tour de France on Saturday week, marking his debut in cycling’s biggest race.
Sam Bennett (Decathlon - Ag2r La Mondiale) is also expected to be there, although both riders are yet to be officially confirmed by their teams.
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