A series of numbers, statistics, and points of reflection from the sixth stage of the Tour de France.

15: HEALY AFTER BENNETT
Ben Healy raises his arms for the first time at the Tour. He gives Ireland its 15th victory, almost five years after the last one by Sam Bennett (Champs-Élysées 2020). This is his second success in a Grand Tour: he won the 8th stage of the 2023 Giro d'Italia in Fossombrone.

10: RIGHT CALL BEFORE MÛR-DE-BRETAGNE GUERLÉDAN
Mathieu Van der Poel reclaims the Yellow Jersey, the 10th of his career and the 85th for the Netherlands. His first ever was in 2021 at Mûr-de-Bretagne Guerlédan. The venue that will host the finish of stage 7!

3: SHAKE IN THE CLASSIFICATIONS
Tadej Pogacar loses the lead in the general classification, points classification, and best climber classification. The last time these three classifications changed hands on the same day was in stage 3 of the 2019 Tour. Julian Alaphilippe took the Yellow Jersey from Mike Teunissen and was also dethroned in the points classification by Peter Sagan. Tim Wellens (as always!) took the polka dot jersey from Greg Van Avermaet.

144: VICTORIOUS INCURSION
Attacking from the start, Ben Healy entered the decisive breakaway at km 57 and stayed there until the finish, 144 km later! The Irishman broke away to take the lead alone 42 km from the finish. A scenario similar to his Giro d'Italia 2023 victory: he escaped alone 50 km from the finish.

1: CLOSEST IN 14 YEARS
There is one second between the Yellow Jersey (Mathieu Van der Poel) and his second (Tadej Pogacar) in the general classification. This is the smallest gap after six stages since the 2011 edition, 14 years ago! The same gap separated the general classification leader Thor Hushovd from the final winner Cadel Evans in Lisieux.

2: THE POWER OF YOUTH
At 24 years, 9 months, and 29 days, Ben Healy is the second youngest Irish winner of the Tour after his compatriot Sean Kelly. He was 22 years, 1 month, and 11 days old when he won in Poitiers in 1978.

40: IRELAND SHINES
With Ben Healy (1st) and Edward Dunbar (4th), the two Irish riders in the group are today in the top-4. This is unprecedented since the one-two finish of Stephen Roche-Sean Kelly at the Col d'Aubisque on July 17, 1985, almost 40 years ago!

17: WELLENS WITH THE POLKA DOT JERSEY
Holder of the polka dot jersey during stage 3, before losing it to Tadej Pogacar, Tim Wellens reclaims the lead in the climbers' classification. This is his 17th polka dot jersey and allows him to equal Christopher Froome, Laurent Jalabert, and Peter de Clercq.

2: US RIDERS ON TOP
With Quinn Simmons (2nd) and William Barta (6th), two Americans are among the top six today. This is the first time since stage 9 of the 2023 Tour (Matteo Jorgenson 4th, Neilson Powless 6th). The last US victory dates back to stage 15 of the 2021 Tour, won by Sepp Kuss in Andorre-la-Vieille.

12: ONE MORE FOR EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST
The EF Education - EasyPost team wins for the 12th time. Their last success was on July 17, 2024, in stage 17 won by Richard Carapaz at SuperDévoluy. The team got its first victory in 2011 (when it had a different name), winning a team time trial. Since then, 10 different riders have won: the only one to do it twice was Thor Hushovd (stages 13 and 16 in 2011).