Matt Maher: Ben Healy's brilliant Tour de France victory was forged on Black Country roads
Ben Healy’s superb win in Thursday’s stage of the Tour de France was hailed as a great triumph for Irish sport.
And that’s fair enough. After all, the 24-year-old holds an Irish racing licence and a passport. Every headline in every national newspaper understandably described him as “Ireland’s Ben Healy”.
But Thursday was also, undoubtedly, a landmark moment for Black Country cycling and a great moment for Midlands sport. It was a win which will have been deservedly celebrated in Halesowen, Stourbridge, Wolverhampton and most particularly in Wordsley, where Healy’s parent, Bryan and Lisa, still live just a few pedal strokes from the glass cone.
No matter what the documents might say, Healy remains a proud son of the Black Country and when he made a point, during the interviews which followed his victory, of referencing those who had helped him along the way, you can guarantee he had a few people round this way on his mind.
