BEN JOINS LEGENDARY TRIO IN SPECIAL GROUP

BEN Healy has become just the fourth Irishman to wear yellow at the Tour de France after his stunning performance into Le Mont-Dore Puy de Sancy.

- By DAVID COUGHLAN

The two-time national champion follows Shay Elliott, Sean Kelly (bottom left) and Stephen Roche (bottom right) in leading the Tour's general classification.

He bridged a gap back to 1987 when Roche rode into Paris in yellow to win the Tour - the last Irishman to wear the famed jersey.

"I've got to respect the jersey and I'm in quite a nice position now to just hold on to it as long as possible," said Healy.

Fellow Dubliner Elliott was the first to do it - holding the jersey for three days in 1963 after winning a stage into Roubaix to take the race lead.

Kelly rode the Tour 14 times between 1978 and 1992, winning five stages and the green jersey on four occasions. But in a glittering career, he only held the Maillot Jaune for just one day.