Many riders had identified stage 6 of the Tour de France 2025 as a first proper opportunity for long-range attackers - and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) proved to be the most expert of them! Among the very first attackers of the day, the ever-aggressive Irish man survived a most intense battle for the breakaway and eventually dropped his companions with 42 kilometres to go to claim Ireland’s 15th stage win in the Tour, the first since Sam Bennett’s triumph on the Champs-Élysées in 2020. Among the attackers, Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Storer (Tudor) complete the stage top 3. And Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) regains for 1 second the Maillot Jaune he had lost to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in the individual time trial! Tomorrow, the race and the Flying Dutchman return to Mûr-de-Bretagne, where he had claimed his first Tour successes in 2021.
On the day after the ITT, 179 riders set off Bayeux - Kévin Vauquelin’s hometown - for a much different challenge. The 3,550 metres of elevation gain to overcome en route to Vire Normandie (201.5 km) make stage 6 of the Tour 2025 “the most leg-breaking flat stage in the recent history of the Tour”, according to the director Christian Prudhomme.
A brutal start
This terrain inspires attackers, furthermore since Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) hinted the Maillot Jaune could be up for grabs if the right breakaway formed today.
But first, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay’s Intermarché-Wanty control the bunch en route to the early intermediate sprint in Villers-Bocage (km 22.2). The Italian powerhouse goes first on the line ahead of Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) get in the mix to anticipate the battle for the break.
The duo set off right after the intermediate sprint and a flurry of attacks ensues. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) and Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) take over at the front but the brutal pace - 49.5 km covered in the first hour - also nullifies their attempt.
A fierce battle
Healy and Simmons insist, so much so that they’re part of a 5-man group that get away at km 57 with Van der Poel by their side, as well as Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) and Will Barta (Movistar). Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) bridges the gap at km 69. He’s rapidly followed by Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Michael Storer (Tudor), making it an 8-man breakaway.
The battle goes on, with more riders willing to get away form the bunch, including local heroes Kévin Vauquelin and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ, hailing from Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne, at km 74.8). Calm eventually returns after Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) is caught by the bunch at km 95.
A significant margin for Healy, the tightest for Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates-XRG control the bunch and the gap gradually increases: 1’15’’ halfway through the stage, 2’25’’ with 70 kilometres to go, 3 minutes atop the Côte de Mortain Cote 314 (63.5 km to go)… Van der Poel leads the virtual GC as he only trailed by 1’26’’ at the start of the stage.
The ever-aggressive Healy puts the hammer down with 42.5 kilometres to go. At the bottom of the second last climb of the day, the cat.-3 Côte de Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie, the gap is up to 47’’. Over the top (27.2km to go), Simmons and Storer trail by 45’’ while the rest of the chasers are 15’’ further behind.
Healy never looks back and opens significant gaps to take his first Tour stage win, Ireland’s 15th (the first came from Seamus Elliott in 1963, the last from Sam Bennett in 2020). Simmons comes 2nd (+2’44’’) ahead of Storer (+2’51’’) while Van der Poel finishes with a gap of 3’58’’. As Pogacar leads the GC group over the line with 5’27’’ behind Healy, it means Van der Poel takes the Maillot Jaune for only 1 second!
