Remco Evenpole (Belgium) won gold in the men's road race at the Paris Olympics, but Ireland's Ben Healy unofficially deserves the "most aggressive rider" award for his daring all-out attack with 95 km to go.
Healy is an expert in breakaways. Wearing an aero helmet and skin suit, he took every advantage possible and pulled away from Kazakhstan's Alexey Lutsenko in the early breakaway. Healy then went on to clear alone.
Evenpoel and Valentin Madouas of France eventually joined Healy and dropped him on the Montmartre climb. Healy dug deep to finish within the group of nine contenders for the bronze medal, but there was little left to do.
He finished in 10th place, 1:20 behind Evenpoel.
"I played my cards the best way I know how," Healy said in the media mix zone after the race.
"If I had a little more power today, I could have gone for a medal. To finish in the top 10 is a great result.
"I think I put myself in the best position and did what I do best. But there were a lot of strong players today.
Race radios are not allowed in the Olympic road races, so Healy went into the race almost invisible. He didn't care much and just kept on running.
"It was weird racing in the dark. You get a little question mark during the race, but you just have to keep that in mind and race super aggressively," he explained. [When I attacked and Ryan was in front, I just prayed that he got the message."
"When I was away, sometimes I could make up time, but I didn't really know who was behind me or what the gap was. I just raced my race and did what I thought was right at the time."
Ireland had only two riders out of 90, but they played as well as they could. Ryan Mullen joined the fightback and took the lead with 120 km to go. When Healy crossed, Ryan did everything he could to help the breakaway get away.
"We definitely talked about it, but it doesn't always work out that way," Healy explained.
"We didn't want to let him sit in front of us for 200 kilometers before that. I didn't want him to just sit in front of me for 200 kilometers before that. When the opportunity came up, he was able to get into the pack easily. He did a great job at the front and really helped me out."
Healy has already raced 52 days in 2024 and is ready for a rest after riding aggressively in the Tour de France.
"I haven't thought too much about my next goal yet. I want to do well at the World Championships."
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