FOSSOMBRONE, Italy: Ben Healy of Education First pulled off a long-range breakaway to win stage eight of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday, as race favorite Remco Evenepoel came under pressure.
The 22-year-old Irishman dropped his three breakaway companions on the day’s hardest climb, the Monte Delle Cesane, to take his first ever world tour victory in style.
“I had great legs and nobody could follow me, so it was a great day,” said Healy, who has broken through this year coming second to Tadej Pogacar in April’s Amstel Gold Race.
Drama unfolded in the overall race as three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic attacked Evenepoel around 5km from the line.
While Roglic managed to drop Evenepoel, Ineos pair Geraint Thomas and Tao Geoghegan Hart also skipped past the Belgian as the trio managed to trim his advantage in the standings by about 15 seconds.
While Evenepoel at first managed to keep pace with Roglic he soon stopped trying, almost certainly keeping his powder dry for his preferred time-trial flat terrain on Sunday’s stage nine.
World champion Evenepoel had come under criticism overnight for having returned to his hotel from an Apennine peak by helicopter after Friday’s six hour stage seven.
Norway’s Andreas Leknessund retained the overall lead eight seconds ahead of Evenepoel while Roglic climbed to third at 38 seconds.
Other fancied riders Joao Almeida and Damiano Caruso kept pace and Ineos pair Thomas and Hart seemed to have brushed off the overnight loss of teammate Filippo Ganna, who has Covid.
Leknessund is almost certain to lose his pink overall jersey on Sunday when the Giro stages its second of three individual time trials, a 35km run to Cesena.
The total length of the three individual time trials on this Giro is 73km, which is huge by any standards and lends Evenepoel enough advantage for the Quick Step rider to choose the Giro over the Tour de France this season.
The peloton gets its first rest day on Monday before two mountain and three hilly stages in week two with the race veering into Switzerland where the Crans Montana and the Col du Grand Saint Bernard at 2469m altitude await any pretender to this 106th Giro.
Ireland’s Healy solos to Giro triumph as Evenepoel wobbles
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Ireland’s Healy solos to Giro triumph as Evenepoel wobbles
- Drama unfolded in the overall race as three-time Vuelta winner Primoz Roglic attacked Evenepoel around 5km from the line
US invests in counter-drone tech to protect FIFA World Cup venues
The US will invest $115 million in counter-drone measures to bolster security around the FIFA World Cup and America’s 250th Anniversary celebrations, the Department of Homeland Security said on Monday, the latest sign of governments stepping up drone defenses. The FIFA World Cup will be a major test of President Donald Trump’s pledge to keep the US secure, with over a million travelers expected to visit for the tournament and billions more watching matches from overseas. The threat of drone attacks has become a growing concern since the war in Ukraine has demonstrated their lethal capabilities. And recent drone incidents have worried both European and US airports. “We are entering a new era to defend our air superiority to protect our borders and the interior of the United States,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. Defense companies are developing a range of technologies aimed at countering drones, including tracking software, lasers, microwaves and autonomous machine guns. The DHS did not specify which technologies it would deploy to World Cup venues. The announcement comes weeks after the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which sits under DHS, said it granted $250 million to 11 states hosting World Cup matches to buy counter-drone technologies.
Last summer, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, called on Trump, a Republican, to bolster federal support for defending against drone attacks.
