Ben Healy launched a massive solo attack to win stage 6 of the Tour de France yesterday.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider struck out from the eight-man breakaway with 42km to go, finishing with a 2mins 44secs lead over his closest chaser, Quinn Simmons.
There’s no doubt the peloton’s decision to let the breakaway go aided Healy’s first Tour de France stage win. But attacking from so far out and holding off any chasers is still a remarkable feat.
So, how did Healy do it? Fortunately for us, the two-time Irish national cycling champion is a big fan of Strava and he uploaded his stage win to the fitness-tracking app.
While pros usually hide their vital stats, it gives a rare insight into the power and stats you need to solo to victory at the world's biggest bike race.
With the title ‘Let’s gooooooo’, Healy’s Strava upload reveals he averaged a 266W power output over the stage’s 205km.
This works out to a weighted average power output of 317W. Strava says weighted average power is its “best guess” at your average power if you rode at the exact same wattage for the entire ride.
EF Education-EasyPost also uploaded an Instagram reel from the stats on Healy’s Wahoo Elemnt Bolt 3. They show Healy hit a maximum power of 969W for 3 seconds; 380W for 20 minutes; 356W for 30 minutes and 324W for 60 minutes.
The 25-year-old averaged 44.7kph across the course, which included more than 3,500m of elevation.
Healy’s Strava ride also reveals he had an average heart rate of 154bpm, with a maximum of 189bpm. According to Strava’s heart-rate analysis, Healy spent 38.7 per cent of the stage riding in zone 3 (tempo) and 18.7 per cent in zone 4 (threshold).
Healy also bagged himself seven KOM awards in the process.
