Giro d’Italia: Irishman Ben Healy makes stunning solo break to win stage eight

In an impressive display of strength and endurance, Irishman Ben Healy emerged victorious in the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia, securing the first grand tour stage win of his career. Riding with a 12-man breakaway group on the grueling 207km stage from Terni to Fossombrone, Healy launched a daring attack with nearly 50km to go, leaving his fellow riders behind and completing a stunning solo finish.

The 22-year-old EF rider finished with an incredible lead of one minute and 49 seconds, the largest margin in the race since 2018. Canada’s Derek Gee took second place, while Italy’s Filippo Zana came in third.

When asked about his victory, Healy humbly stated, “I had good legs today, and just gave it a good go.” He went on to explain how he made the decision to go solo on the first little dig and pushed on from there. Confident in his time-trialing abilities, he paced himself to the finish line, which paid off handsomely.

In other notable developments, Great Britain’s Tao Geoghegan Hart finished 10th in the stage, moving up to sixth in the general classification, just behind his Ineos team-mate Geraint Thomas in fifth. Norway’s Andreas Leknessund retained the overall race lead, while Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic made a strong attack on the final climb to move up to third.

Thomas and Geoghegan Hart joined Roglic on the attack and gained 14 seconds on Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel by the end of the stage. However, Evenepoel remained in second place, just eight seconds behind Leknessund.

Stage four winner Aurelien Paret-Peintre dropped four places to seventh after the efforts of Geoghegan Hart and Thomas. Although Ineos made impressive improvements, the team suffered a blow before the day began when Filippo Ganna was ruled out after testing positive for Covid-19. In a statement on Twitter, Ineos Grenadiers announced that the two-time time trial world champion had displayed mild, flu-like symptoms and would rest and recover fully before resuming his remaining 2023 race programme.

Looking ahead, stage nine will consist of a 35km time-trial from Savignano sul Rubicone to Cesenato, concluding the first week of the race.