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Ben Healy, centre, retained the yellow jersey on Wednesday. Belga Photo/Jasper Jacobs / Alamy Stock Photo
Cycling
'I’ve lost a few years of life today': Ben Healy retains Tour de France yellow jersey
Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen won Wednesday’s 11th stage as Tadej Pogacar survived a late crash.
🏁 Will @mathieuvdpoel catch the two leaders? Who will claim the win? Relive the last km of this incredible stage!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 16, 2025
🏁 @mathieuvdpoel va-t-il rattraper les deux leaders ? Qui s'imposera ? Revivez le dernier km de cette incroyable étape !#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/hMbF4WSI6x
IRELAND’S BEN HEALY finished safely among the peloton to retain the race leader’s yellow jersey at the Tour de France today, as Jonas Abrahamsen won stage 11 in Toulouse.
Healy pulled on the iconic yellow jersey with a magnificent breakaway ride on Monday, becoming only the fourth Irishman in history to hold the honour – and the first since Stephen Roche won the race in 1987.
After Tuesday’s rest day, he finished today’s stage alongside the major general classification contenders, and retains his 29-second lead over three-time winner Tadej Pogacar.
Healy will lead the peloton into the Pyrenees on Thursday where the first real mountains will test his and everyone’s legs on the legendary beyond category Hautacam climb.
“I’ve lost a few years of life today, because it was a super stressful stage,” Healy said afterwards.
“I was trying to keep my powder dry and this made me get dropped from the peloton early on, forcing my teammates to chase down – it was a super team effort!
“At some point, Tadej missed a split and the opportunity arose for me to attack along with Jonas [Vingegaard]. I did so because I felt like putting the hammer down. The final was very tough, too, making for a pretty hard day.
It’s pretty ambitious to try and keep the yellow jersey atop Hautacam with guys like Tadej and Jonas in contention, yet I’m optimistic and will give it a go tomorrow.
“I’m enjoying this yellow jersey so much… It’s been crazy at home, and it’s incredible to wear it in the race.”
Defending champion Pogacar crashed 4km from the line after hitting the back wheel of another rider.
He struggled to put his chain on after sliding across several metres of tarmac and had looked as if he would lose 30 to 40 seconds, but his rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel sportingly waited for the Slovenian to catch up after he got back on his bike.
🤝 Sportsmanship at its best!
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 16, 2025
🤝 La sportivité du peloton !#TDF2025 pic.twitter.com/W2pdKL7UUl
The thrilling stage over 156km from Toulouse and back was unexpectedly won by Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen as a long range breakaway foiled the ambitions of the sprinters.
Abrahamsen contested a two-way cat-and-mouse war of nerves down the home straight with Swiss Mauro Schmid as the cunning Mathieu van der Poel crept up on them and finished third seven seconds later.
Today’s run was billed as a likely sprint finish with 70 points at stake in the sprint points standings at Toulouse.
Stage 11 did however feature five small climbs along a 156.8km route making sure it was constantly fast and nerve-wracking.
Written by AFP and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.
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