As the longest stage of the Tour de France, stage 6 was the first proper opportunity for long-range attackers – and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) proved to be the best at the game.
Attacking with an early break, the Irishman survived an intense battle for the breakaway and eventually dropped his companions with 42 kilometers to go to claim Ireland’s 15th stage win in the Tour, the first since Sam Bennett’s triumph on the Champs-Élysées in 2020.
Among the attackers, American and U.S. National Champion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Michael Storer (Tudor) stayed strong behind him to come in as second and third in the stage.
Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) who also went with the early break, successfully regained the Maillot Jaune he had lost to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in the individual time trial by one second!
Here are the top GC ranks of the stage after the finish:
| 1 | M. VAN DER POEL | ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK | 21h 52′ 34” | – | B : 16” | – |
| 2 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 21h 52′ 35” | + 00h 00′ 01” | B : 16” | – |
| 3 | R. EVENEPOEL | SOUDAL QUICK-STEP | 21h 53′ 17” | + 00h 00′ 43” | – | – |
| 4 | K. VAUQUELIN | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | 21h 53′ 34” | + 00h 01′ 00” | – | – |
| 5 | J. VINGEGAARD | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 21h 53′ 48” | + 00h 01′ 14” | B : 8” | – |
| 6 | M. JORGENSON | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 21h 53′ 57” | + 00h 01′ 23” | – | – |
| 7 | J. ALMEIDA | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 21h 54′ 33” | + 00h 01′ 59” | – | – |
| 8 | B. HEALY | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 21h 54′ 35” | + 00h 02′ 01” | B : 10” | – |
| 9 | F. LIPOWITZ | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 21h 55′ 06” | + 00h 02′ 32” | – | – |
| 10 | P. ROGLIC | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 21h 55′ 10” | + 00h 02′ 36” |
On the day after the ITT, 179 riders set off Bayeux – Kévin Vauquelin’s hometown – for a much different challenge. The 3,550 metres of elevation gain to overcome en route to Vire Normandie (201.5 km) make stage 6 of the Tour 2025 “the most leg-breaking flat stage in the recent history of the Tour,” according to the director Christian Prudhomme.
A break was inspired from the start
This terrain inspired an attack today, and perhaps inadvertently Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) made it happen when he hinted the Maillot Jaune could be up for grabs if the right breakaway formed in the stage.
But first, Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Biniam Girmay’s Intermarché-Wanty controlled the peloton until the early intermediate sprint in Villers-Bocage (km 22.2). The Italian sprinter went first to the line ahead of Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) got into the mix in anticipation of a break.
The duo set off right after the intermediate sprint and a flurry of attacks ensues. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) and Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) take over at the front but the brutal pace – 49.5 km covered in the first hour – also nullifies their attempt.
Battling it through the stage
Healy and Simmons went ahead and formed a 5-man group that got away at km 57 with Van der Poel in the mix, as well as Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) and Will Barta (Movistar). Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) bridged the gap at 69 km. He was rapidly followed by Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Michael Storer (Tudor), then forming an 8-man breakaway.
More riders were willing to get away form the peloton, among them local Frenchmen Kévin Vauquelin and Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ, hailing from Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne, at km 74.8). Calm eventually returned after Mathieu Burgaudeau (Total Energies) was caught by the peloton at km 95.
A significant margin for Healy, the tightest for Pogacar
UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the main peloton and the gap gradually increasesd 1’15’’ halfway through the stage, 2’25’’ with 70 kilometer to go, 3 minutes atop the Côte de Mortain Cote 314 (63.5 km to go)… Van der Poel lead the virtual GC as he only trailed by 1’26’’ at the start of the stage.
But Healy who is known for his aggressiveness on long stages, Healy put the hammer down with 42.5 kilometers to go. At the bottom of the second last climb of the day, the cat.-3 Côte de Saint-Michel-de-Montjoie, the gap was up to 47’’. Over the top (27.2km to go), Simmons and Storer trailed by 45’’ while the rest of the chasers were 15’’ further behind.
Healy never looked back and opened up significant gaps to take his first Tour stage win, Ireland’s 15th (the first came from Seamus Elliott in 1963, the last from Sam Bennett in 2020). Simmons comes 2nd (+2’44’’) ahead of Storer (+2’51’’) while Van der Poel finishes with a gap of 3’58’’. As Pogacar leads the GC group over the line with 5’27’’ behind Healy, it meant Van der Poel takes the Maillot Jaune for only 1 second!
The stage rankings:
| 1 | B. HEALY | EF EDUCATION – EASYPOST | 04h 24′ 10” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | Q. SIMMONS | LIDL-TREK | 04h 26′ 54” | + 00h 02′ 44” | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | M. STORER | TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM | 04h 27′ 01” | + 00h 02′ 51” | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | E. DUNBAR | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 04h 27′ 31” | + 00h 03′ 21” | – | – |
| 5 | S. YATES | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 04h 27′ 34” | + 00h 03′ 24” | – | – |
| 6 | W. BARTA | MOVISTAR TEAM | 04h 27′ 39” | + 00h 03′ 29” | – | – |
| 7 | H. TEJADA | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 04h 28′ 02” | + 00h 03′ 52” | – | – |
| 8 | M. VAN DER POEL | ALPECIN-DECEUNINCK | 04h 28′ 08” | + 00h 03′ 58” |
