Tour de France 2025 Stage Six was won by Ben Healy after an incredible solo attack propelled him unchallenged into the northern town of Vire Normandie.
Healy, the Irish professional, had ridden with the main breakaway group for 100 kilometers when he launched his attack. Even the likes of Mattieu van der Poel struggled to close the gap, and Healy built a healthy lead.
Averaging over 30 km/h up the closing hills, Healy had clearly targeted today’s stage win to go with the impressive victory he managed in the 2023 Giro d’Italia. Although he is not one of those in with a chance of winning the whole race, his exploits today are worthy of recognition. Nobody was able to live with his speed, and he eventually closed the win out untouched by any of the chasing pack.
The intensity of racing today was notable. Some competitors found themselves over ten minutes off the pace at the halfway mark. Even Tadej Pogačar held back, as one of his main rivals gained time on him. He wasn’t able to close the gap, and now hands the yellow jersey back to Matthieu van der Poel. The gap between them is just one second, however, far from a disaster for the Slovenian.
The stage began, for the first time, in the Normandy town of Bayeux, famous for the 70-meter tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The remaining 179 pros cycled the 201.5 km distance to Vire Normandie.
The British have had their revenge since 1066, winning Le Tour six times in the years from 2012 to 2018, although neither nation is expected to repeat that, or a Norman Conquest, this summer.
The most probable Norman Conquest is likely to come in the form of their new cycling hero, Kevin Vauqelin, the 24-year-old rider from Bayeux itself. Hundreds of fans lined the roads with banners in his honor as the peloton weaved its way through the pretty streets of this French region.
Early action on the roads was riders tussling for points for the green and polka dot jerseys, interestingly, all three held by race leader, Tadej Pogačar. Race rules, as well as wardrobe common sense, dictate that if a rider holds more than one jersey, the next is worn by the cyclist in second place on that classification.
Pogačar may make no effort to regain the lesser jerseys, but will fight to regain the yellow, having shocked the world by losing it, albeit by just one second. He also lost the green jersey today to Jonathan Milan, as well as the polka dot jersey to Tim Wellens. Neither loss is unexpected, and neither is very significant.
For interest, Milan’s sprint speed when taking the green jersey was 63.5 km/h, which might put cyclists’ supreme athleticism into context for newer fans. This, along with the danger involved, as the bike he was on wouldn’t have been more than a few inches away from his rivals at times.
The earlier parts of the hilly stage also involved several breakaway attempts, which fizzled out as soon as they’d begun.
To explain the significance of breakaways, this is when one or more riders ride clear of the peloton with a view to winning the stage, or simply getting more exposure for the team. French hero Julian Alaphilippe said before the race that he did not intend to win the whole Tour de France, but instead to target individual stage wins. A couple are expected this month from the former World Champion.
On flat or hilly stages, breakaways are often allowed to happen, provided no rider in the leading group is seen as a threat to the leaders of the overall classification.
If any rider in contention for overall victory enters a breakaway group, his rivals and their teams give chase promptly. This invariably results in the new leaders losing momentum and advantage, and they drop back into the peloton.
Alternatively, the break succeeds, but doesn’t result in any one rider gaining significant time over the other because they reach the finish together.
It may have raised eyebrows that Pogačar and his team allowed van der Poel to gain so much time. Arguably, they don’t see him as a contender for overall victory in the 2025 Tour de France.
Breakaways in the mountains are different altogether, and while they may be attempted by ‘lesser’ riders, the ones who attack on the steepest hills are generally the ones vying for overall victory. When that happens, only the best of all can keep up.
Many a Tour de France has been won and lost on a mountain stage. Almost no Tour de France has ever been decided before the steep climbs.
What happened today, however, reminds us that this sport is as unpredictable as any other.
The early days of the Tour de France are critically important in every conceivable way, but the efforts made by the teams in Week One don’t come into their own until Week Two.
If you’ve been with us this far, the coming 16 days promise to be even more electric.
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