'It had to be done' - Ben Healy's parents take whistlestop Tour de France trip to see historic yellow jersey ride
They say the unplanned moments are always the best. Bryan and Lisa Healy would certainly agree.
What should have been a normal Wednesday of work in the West Midlands, will instead be a day of celebration in the south of France for the proud parents of cycling’s newest superstar.
In the past week they have watched their son Ben become the Black Country’s first-ever stage winner in the Tour de France and then, even more extraordinarily, become the region’s first-ever leader of the world’s most famous bike race.
The 24-year-old, who claimed the iconic yellow jersey with Monday’s heroic ride through the mountains of the Massif Central, will wear it for the first time on the road during Wednesday’s 98-mile 11th stage around Toulouse.
Both Bryan and Lisa will be there to see it, swapping their usual viewpoint in the Wordsley family home for the heat, noise and all-round pandemonium of the Tour.
“It had to be done, didn’t it?” laughs Bryan, speaking while travelling to Bristol Airport to catch a flight late on Tuesday.
“I had messages from people on Monday after Ben had taken yellow, asking if I was going over to watch and I said no, I had to work.
“But then we went to the Bird in Hand pub in Wordsley that night to celebrate and my mate Barry, who had been checking flights on his phone said: ‘You do realise you can fly to Toulouse and back in a day?’.
“I saw Lisa’s ears prick up and from that point it was a case of seeing if my boss could afford to let me have Wednesday off and she said: ‘Go for it’.
