Ben Healy may not have walked away with a medal in the elite men's road race, but his sheer determination and unwillingness to give up made it one of the most notable performances at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal on Sunday.
The Irish rider is well-known for his tenacity, and staying true to his racing style, he gave his maximum effort while racing in the front group behind eventual solo winner Brandon McNulty (USA).
"I just wanted to give it a really good go today and try to get ahead of the big guns. That's what I aimed for, and I left it all out on the road," Healy said.
Healy was part of a decisive selection that formed early after relentless attacks from Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), starting with roughly 85km to go in the elite men's 273.4km race.
He eventually made his way across to the four-rider breakaway that included Van der Poel, Oscar Onley (Great Britain), Primož Roglič (Slovenia) and Quinn Simmons (USA), and as the front group came back together and then reshuffled multiple times over the subsequent laps, it was Healy who remained a constant, launching multiple attacks.
In the end, McNulty cleared the group and held off the chase group by just 13 seconds, the silver medal going to Michael Matthews (Australia) and bronze to Van der Poel.
Healy acknowledged that Team USA's numbers in the group, which also included Simmons and Matteo Jorgenson, worked in their favour, and that McNulty is a deserving champion.
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"I really feel like having numbers in the final today was a massive help for Team USA today, and Brandon was super strong as well and so chapeau to him," Healy said.
Overall, Healy said he thought the race played out as he expected, "I think we all knew it was pretty open and a race that anyone could play for. Brandon is so strong, and he has won here before, so it was a race we expected."
Last year, Healy won a stage of the Tour de France and spent a stint in the yellow jersey before securing the bronze medal at the Worlds in Kigali after a similarly tenacious performance.
This year, however, he crashed at Itzulia Basque Country and had to miss the Ardennes Classics with an injured sacrum, and he wasn't at the level to take a stage win at the Tour.
"I'm satisfied," Healy said of his race at the Montreal Worlds. "It hasn't been the best season for me, so to find my legs today was super nice."
Ben Healy, Mathieu van der Poel and Primoz Roglic at the Montreal Worlds (Image credit: Getty Images)
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Kirsten Frattini has been the Editor of Cyclingnews since December 2025, overseeing editorial operations and output across the brand and delivering quality, engaging content.
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