At the end of stage five of the Tour de France, EF Education-EasyPost sports director, Tom Southam, can recite – with no notes or route in front of him – the entirety of the last 60km he’s just driven in the team car to Vire Normandie while supporting Ben Healy to his maiden Tour stage win.
“We didn’t want to attack before 60km to go as that was too early, but after the climb that started with 50km to go, you then had a downhill which was a bit technical, then at 48km to go it went steeper and left, then you had a drag up there where we chose to attack because you then dived down into another downhill, and got in another section of road where the group would hesitate and feed, then you just had to push on to the drag.”
When Southam stops and finally takes a breath, there is a beat of silence before the next question is asked. Journalists look wide-eyed at the British man, scarcely able to believe the accuracy with which he has described the curves and corners of the Norman hills.
Scientist and writer Stephen Hawking once said: “Science is not only a disciple of reason but also one of romance and passion.” It is this quote which sums up the ethos of the American team Southam and Healy are part of.
Their approach to Grand Tour stages is clinical, methodical and investigative, but this only works with the combination of devotion and love they have for their sport. The scenes outside the EF Education team bus as Southam is speaking at the end of stage five perfectly illustrate this: “We f*cking did it!” Australian rider Harry Sweeny shouts as he hugs his mechanic. “How f*cking good,” grins his teammate Michael Valgren. There are embraces and shouts and a lot of horn tooting coming from the driver of the team bus, because this is the release. For the last four-and-a-half hours of bike racing, the mood has been sharp, unsentimental and factual. But it was all fuelled by the desire to reach this very moment of wild elation when things finally pay off.
“It's quite often so daring and risky what Ben does, so it keeps you on the edge, you don’t want to believe it until it’s done,” Southam smiles. “I knew once that race had taken the shape he had that Ben had an advantage because of how resilient he is. He is the one who marked this stage with an ‘x’ and said, ‘this day.’ He has been talking about it since the winter. He is studious with his material, his approach to the racing, his equipment and also the courses and what is going to suit him and where he can go. The credit goes to the rider every time, as he has the idea and believes in it.”
Anyone who has watched Ben Healy race over the last few seasons would have seen the dedication to his sport that Southam describes. The Irish rider is his own man – he does not follow the status quo. His riding style is distinct and unique; he will wear whatever helmet tests fastest in the wind tunnel – no matter how many memes of him are created afterwards – he will don a skin-tight race suit in 30 degrees to get every aero gain, he will pore over race routes for months before he is due to stand on the start line. That is what makes it work.
“The way that I look at being in a breakaway alone is that it is really a game of mental honesty. I try to push on the climbs, go easy on the descents and that draws out elastic and lures others into a false sense of security. This is how I am able to tear out the gap,” Healy said with a grin after his stage win. “For me, I don’t push the most power out of everyone, so I just try to be as efficient as possible with full TT tyres, a TT suit, a road-ish helmet and maximise everything,”
Healy fits so perfectly into the paradox of romance and science at EF Education-EasyPost because he has these very qualities in his own character. As his teammate Sweeny said at the finish: “Today is a culmination of all of the work that Ben puts in with equipment choices with the team. Behind the scenes, he’s looking at tyre choices, pressure, wheels, skinsuits, helmets – you saw what he wore today and there was a reason for it.”
At the same time, Michael Valgren perfectly summed up the other side to Healy’s character: “He's down to earth, f*cking funny, good humour. He's good in the group, he likes the dynamic, the chit chat, the banter. So yeah, he's one of the good ones.”
With all their kooky social videos, their stand-out pink kit covered in ducks, and their outlandish off-bike fashion choices, it might be easy to think that EF Education-EasyPost is a team that can be described as a little bit mad. What they prove with each perfectly-planned victory, like stage five of the Tour de France though, is that there is always a method behind this madness. Today, Ben Healy was the crazy genius who pulled it off.
