Sam Bennett has brushed off his ride at Paris-Nice today,
when he placed 5th on stage 2 and lost his yellow jersey, saying he thought the
finish line was much further from the final corner than it actually was.
However, surrounded by a scrum of journalists at the
finish in Amilly, he explained that such mistakes can happen in sprinting and
there was no need for disappointment.
Bennett lost his yellow jersey to Michael Matthews (BikeExchange). The Australian picked up five seconds yesterday and another five today at the intermediate sprints, as well as taking another time bonus for 3rd on today’s stage.
“The legs were good, I just came too far back,” Deceuninck-QuickStep sprinter Bennett said of the final sprint today. “But I don’t really have to be disappointed."
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Bennett continued: “The legs are there and there’s still another chance; it’s not the outcome we want but we can go again,” he said in reference to a likely sprinters’ day on stage 5 on Thursday.
Bennett added it was “normal in sprinting” to get boxed in
from time to time and that he and his team would dust themselves down and be
ready for the next opportunity.
“I was waiting and I think we thought (the finish line)
was further away after the last corner. But I just stayed too relaxed coming
into the last corner, I should have moved up a lot more.
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“And then I thought Michael (Mørkøv) was going to open it up. But I think he used up so much energy to come back… he had used up all his energy for one day. Then I waited too long to go. It was my own mistake, the team were fantastic again.”
Bennett came out of the last corner, with about 550 metres to go, on the wheel of trusted lead-out man Mørkøv. However, there were eight or nine riders ahead of them and Team DSM and Trek-Segafredo were driving very hard on the front.
And though Bennett gained ground in the sprint to the
line, he had to settle for 5th; the win going to Cees Bol (Team DSM) from Mads
Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) and Matthews.
Bennett is now 3rd overall, four seconds down on Matthews, ahead of tomorrow’s 14.4km stage 3 TT in Gien, but the Irishman still has the green points jersey after his win yesterday and 5th place today.
Tomorrow’s TT is followed by stage 4 on Wednesday, which features seven climbs including a cat 1 – which is 7.4km at 5.9 per cent – to the finish line in Chiroubles.
And on Thursday Bennett should get another chance for a
sprint win as the 200km stage 5 from Vienne to Bollène is
mainly flat. The only climb is a cat 3 close to the finish, though Bennett
should be able to cope with it.
The final three stages on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are better suited to the climbers in the field, meaning Thursday is the only likely sprinters’ stage remaining.
However, as Bennett has three wins already under his belt this year, and a day in yellow on Paris-Nice today, the season is already proving very successful for him.
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