Sam Bennett takes victory ahead of Nacer Bouhanni and John Degenkolb to relieve the pressure he said the team put themselves under.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett said his win on the opening stage of the 2.HC-ranked Bayern Rundfahrt ranks up there with the best of his career.
The Bora Argon 18 man told stickybottle about the incredible job his teammates did in setting him up for the victory and he felt he might not be able to pull it off as he was forced to sprint far earlier than he’d have liked.
“My team did an incredible job and I owe this win to them,” he said.
“Zak (Dempster) and Shane (Archbold) were there in the final with me but the whole did an amazing job for me all day.
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“Even when I wasn’t feeling too good after three and a half, hour hours; they were still there encouraging me but I wasn’t sure if I was up for it.
“It was a long day and by the time we came to the sprint we’d have had 230 kilometres in the legs,” he explained.
Bennett said with a time trial to come in Germany on Saturday, it will be hard for him to hold onto the yellow jersey.
But Bennett summoned the strength to get into contention as the kilometres clicked down to the finish in Waldassen.
“My team, who rode on the front for a long time and controlled the break, still helped me get into position towards the front when it mattered and I knew I owed them a performance.
“There were a lot of teams there in the finish fighting for not only the stage win but also the yellow jersey but I was taken into position perfectly.
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“There was the Giant-Alpecin chain there for (John) Degenkolb, Cofidis, Credit Solutions had their train for (Nacer) Bouhanni; there was a Wanty rider and a few others and we were there too.
“The Wanty guy let the wheel go so I was forced to get back on the wheel and when we took the final bend I was towards the front and suddenly on the front so I just opened up my sprint.
“It was a lot earlier than I wanted to (sprint) because I normally like being dropped off far closer to the line; like 100 metres. But I just put my head down.
Taking the lead in the 2.HC-ranked Bayern Rundfahrt is a long way for the last time he wore yellow, at the Suir Valley Three Day on home soil less than two years ago, above (Photo with thanks to Carol Dunne)
“I could hear the others coming behind me but I just held on. It was a brilliant day and a just reward for the work the team did.
“We came into the race with pressure from ourselves so to achieve what we set out to was massive for us.”
Wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey is something Bennett has never got to do in his professional career but he’ll break new ground in that regard tomorrow.
“It’s a new one for me for sure,” he said.
“I don’t think it’ll be possible to hold it for the week, especially with the individual time trial (on Saturday). But we’ve strength in depth and plenty in contention for it.”
Today’s stage takes the riders 180 kilometres from Waldassen to Selb and as well two categorised climbs there are three intermediate sprints.
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