Ben Healy has declared himself “ready to race” ahead of Saturday’s Tour de France grand depart in Barcelona, the Irish rider confident he is approaching similar form which last year saw him win stage six and later wear the leader’s yellow jersey for two days.Healy was confirmed on Monday as part of EF Education-EasyPost eight-rider team which takes on the 3,333km race over 21 stages, with Saturday’s opening stage featuring a hilly team trial which could present a chance to challenge for the yellow jersey early on.Despite withdrawing from stage eight of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on June 14th due to illness – that race formerly known as the Critérium du Dauphiné – Healy has completed a recent training camp in Mallorca. His withdrawal from that race was also designed to ensure he’d be fully recovered for the Tour, following an earlier undiagnosed sacral fracture in April during the Itzulia Basque Country.“I’ve had a spring with some bad luck, but I’m in good shape and ready to race,” said Healy. “I’m looking forward to being back racing again, and hopefully racing at the front.“Last year was a standout year, and it would be amazing to replicate it. But even half that success would still be a successful Tour in my eyes. There’s not too much pressure, I just want to be up front and in a fight for a stage win, maybe even two.“There are a lot of hard transitional stages this year, so I think there’ll be plenty of opportunities for breaks. I’m hopeful.”The 25-year-old Healy is joined by Richard Carapaz from Ecuador, the 2020 Olympic champion and 2024 polka dot jersey winner coming off second place at the Tour de Suisse. Completing the team are Kasper Asgreen (Denmark), Michael Valgren (Denmark), Alex Baudin (France), Sean Quinn (USA), Max Walker (Great Britain), and Georg Steinhauser (Germany).Healy added his name to the pantheon of Irish cyclists last July when becoming only the fourth Irish rider in Tour de France history to wear the leader’s yellow jersey, joining Shay Elliott, Seán Kelly and Stephen Roche. He then won bronze in the World Championships road race in Rwanda, also joining the same three Irish riders who previously won medals.He ended up ninth overall in the Tour last year, also winning the overall combative rider award which goes to the most attacking rider over the three-week race. Breaking into the top-10 again looks well within his reach.“Our team is super strong and pretty well balanced,” added Healy. “We can go into this Tour with any goal in mind and be adaptable to any situation. We have a lot of experience, a lot of young guys – it’s going to be a fun one.“I have had a good prep. I did an altitude camp, which I was able to do the full block of, and then Dauphiné as a prep race – even though I got sick, I didn’t really miss too much and was able to get back into training fairly quickly. And yeah, some heat work in Mallorca. Hopefully that’s me ready.“I will just have to race the same way, with an air of unpredictability. Even if they know how I’m going to race, if it’s still unpredictable then it’s still hard to predict.“Even last year people kind of knew who I was and I was still able to do it. So nothing’s going to change really – just going to try and rinse and repeat.After Saturday’s opening team time trial, there are two mountainous stages in the Pyrenees which will also present Healy with the opportunity for a possible stage win, with similar hilly stages in the Vosges, before taking on the Alps in the final week, stage 19 and 20 both finishing atop Alpe D’Huez. The final stage on July 26th will again include some passes over Montmartre before finishing on the Champs-Élysées.Tadej Pogacar from Slovenia is favourite to win a record-equalling fifth Tour, adding to wins in 2020, 2021, 2024 and last year.