MONT-DORE, France-- Ben Healy rode himself into the ground in a nail-biting finale to become the first Irishman in 38 years to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France, as Britain's Simon Yates claimed victory in stage 10 on Monday with a perfectly timed attack.
Giro d'Italia champion Yates emerged from the day's breakaway to secure his third career Tour stage win, pulling away on the final climb to beat Thymen Arensman of the Netherlands and Healy, who finished second and third, respectively.
Heading into the first rest day, Healy leads defending champion Tadej Pogacar by 29 seconds in the general classification, after the Slovenian eased off on the final ascent.
"It was insanely tough, it was a battle against myself really. I just had to dig deep. My teammates put in so much work today, Harry (Sweeny) and Alex (Baudin), I really, really wanted to pay them back and I'm happy I could do that in the end," Healy, who won stage six last week, told reporters.
"I kind of gambled a bit. I had the stage win in the bank and how often do you get the opportunity to put yourself into yellow so I felt I had to take that and really go for it."
Belgian Remco Evenepoel sits third, one minute further back, after losing six seconds in the closing kilometres when Pogacar briefly surged in an attempt to test Jonas Vingegaard, widely seen as his main rival for the overall title.
Vingegaard stayed locked onto Pogacar’s wheel and remains 1:17 behind the UAE Team Emirates leader.
As Pogacar approached the finish, Healy smiled while watching the Slovenian on the giant screen.
With Pogacar visibly backing off, the EF Education–EasyPost rider crossed the line to become the first Irishman to lead the Tour since Stephen Roche won the race in 1987.
Healy had looked one of the strongest riders in the breakaway on the 165.3-km hilly route from Ennezat, but Yates timed his move to perfection, attacking solo on the final climb to seal a tactical victory.
While Yates rode cleverly to win the stage, the Visma-Lease a Bike team strategy was somehow puzzling as the Briton is expected to ride in support of his leader, Vingegaard.
"The plan was to be in a breakaway in case someone (from the team) would attack from behind, but the gap became too big," Yates explained, six years after winning his last Tour stage.
"It's been a long time, I did not expect it. We're here for Jonas."
After Tuesday's rest, and Wednesday's flat stage around Toulouse, the peloton will head into the Pyrenees, where the GC battle will heat up.
