Tour de France contender Remco Evenepoel has abandoned the race during Saturday's Pyrenean stage. The Belgian cyclist, wearing the white jersey for best young rider, struggled early in Stage 14 from Pau to Luchon-Superbagnères.

Healy was in the same main chase group as Pogačar after a fraught, hilly stage around the southern city of Toulouse when the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader was thrown off balance by another rider's manoeuvre, falling some four kilometres from the line.

Ben Healy won stage six from Bayeux to Vire Normandie and his brilliant Tour continued with a third place on stage 10, from Ennezat to Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy in the Massif Central, enough to secure the race lead at the expense of the world’s best rider and three-time champion.

"His stage win was just brilliant, the way he attacked, going for it at 40 kilometres out, he just has that style of riding that makes it really exciting."

Ben Healy gets a custom-painted Cannondale Lab71 Supersix Evo to commemorate his race lead in the 2025 Tour de France.

Though it doesn’t always hold sway, Tour de France tradition dictates that in the event of an unfortunate crash or mechanical problem, the peloton sits up and waits for the rider in the yellow jersey. But Pogačar wasn’t in yellow on Wednesday. Irish rider Ben Healy snagged the overall lead earlier in the week and had the jersey on his shoulders.

The general classification battle of the 2025 Tour de France is set to properly ignite today as the race reaches the high mountains for the first time, with a formidable stage 12 in the Pyrenees ahead.