Sam Bennett produce some serious power in the final sprint on today's stage 2 at the UAE Tour, though he was beaten to the line by Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Soudal).
Bennett attacked with about 200 metres to go on the uphill finish on Hatta Dam and the battle between himself and Ewan saw them put clear daylight between themselves and what remained of the peloton,
Ewan finished two seconds up on Bennett who was in turn two seconds up on Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) in 3rd and who led home the much-reduced main field.
Bennett, whose listed weight is 73kg, put in a 26-second sprint at the end of 168km stage, after the final couple of climbs on rolly roads had been ridden quite hard by Astana at the front.
The Irish rider's average watts for that sprint were 1,060, or 14.52 watts per kg, right at the very end of the stage.
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His average speed was 27.3km per
hour, his maximum power was 1,480 watts and his average cadence was 89rpm.
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Bennett tied up well before the finish and in the end struggled across the line as the last 20 metres continues to rise sharply.
He was also forced to stop pedaling for an instant as he almost clipped the crowd control barriers to his left.
That mishap did not influence the outcome as Ewan looked like he had the stage in the bag even before Bennett's slight problem.
But that issue would have lowered Bennett's average power output for the 26-second sprint.
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