2025 bronze medallist Ben Healy shares the incredible wattages needed to win a World Championship medal
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Follow us on GoogleBen Healy says he’s in good shape for the 2026 World Cycling Championships in Montreal, but the Irish rider from EF Education-EasyPost also knows that won’t guarantee success. Healy will have to pedal at unprecedented power levels in Sunday’s elite men’s road race if he wants to have a shot at a medal in Canada.
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In a press release from his EF team, Healy goes into remarkable detail about what it will take to even have a chance at World Championship success. For the Irishman, that will undoubtedly mean competing for medals, and his data from TrainingPeaks is encouraging in that regard. His stats from the GP Montréal, where Healy rode at the front for a long time, are impressive.
Jacob Tipper, Healy’s coach at EF, says: “The World Championships are usually a race that tests endurance, which is why some riders always do so well there. It’ll be interesting to see what effect the longer course and fewer climbs will have. Ben should be in good shape after putting in some extra training.'
Healy pedaled at 334 watts 'normalized power' (free-wheeling removed) at the GP Montréal. The race lasted 5 hours and 13 minutes, during which Healy rode above his threshold for a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes. That means his body produced lactate during those 70 minutes, and that Healy was pedaling at a power output he couldn’t sustain for hours on end.
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Healy finished third at the World Championships last year.
Healy 'close to his best form' for the World Championships
Healy is a diesel—he just keeps getting better the longer and harder the race gets. The Irishman is therefore looking forward to the World Championships, especially now that he set records for endurance at the Montreal GP. After surpassing the 1,200-kilocalorie mark, Healy was still able to maintain an average power output of 601 watts for one minute.
The climber also rode for 5 minutes at an average of 443 watts and for 20 minutes at an average of 338 watts. In the final stretch, he also delivered a peak power output of 984 watts. Given that Healy weighs 62 kilograms, his 5 minutes at 443 watts equates to 7.1 watts per kilogram. Over 20 minutes, he averaged 5.4 watts per kilogram.
"With those numbers, Ben won a stage in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, and it earned him a podium finish at the 2025 World Championships," according to EF Education-EasyPost. It will be needed again on Sunday, in the hope that many of the explosive riders in the peloton will lose some of their initial punch after a few hours of racing. “The GP Montréal proved that Ben is close to his best form,” the statement concluded.
Or, as EF aptly puts it: “Watch out for Ben in the World Championships final.”
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David Bavin-HobbsChief Editor
David has been working in the sports & cycling industry for 16 years. Covering racing, business and technology, he has worked in communications for cycling companies, teams, and as a journalist. His proudest achievement is winning the first bike race he ever entered. He hasn't won a race since.
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