Bennett at the An Post motorhome before the start yesterday (Photo: www.velouk.net)
Sam Bennett has said he was pleased with his performance on yesterday’s hilly and breezy stage of the Tour of Britain which split the field to pieces, but was disappointed his efforts did not carry him onto the podium.
The An Post-Sean Kelly rider finished 5th in the sprint from the select group some 15 seconds after solo stage winner Marc de Maar (Unitedhealthcare); taking 6th on the stage after 147km.
It was his third top 10 stage placing of the race following 9th on stage 2 and 5th on stage 3.
“I was frustrated that I didn’t podium but I tried; I gave all I had. It was a tough stage, very breezy. So it took a lot out of me and by the finish I had just given everything. I didn’t have that kick of speed that I normally would.”
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Bennett was part of a select group of around 25 riders that dropped the rest of the field on Gun Hill, the last climb of the day. That would be whittled down to just 19 riders in the closing kilometres.
The 22-year-old Irishman told stickybottle before the start of this morning’s stage 6 that while the climb was tough yesterday, the breeze was more decisive in splitting the race.
“I was expecting the wind to split it so it was about keeping myself positioned really well and then when the splits came I was in the right place at the right time.”
The most difficult period of the stage began with around 40km remaining when Endura Racing went to the front and put the hammer down; with that effort followed by the climb, where the crosswinds would prove so decisive.
Bennett said he was perhaps no expecting to climb as well as he had, and though he managed to stay in the group he said he was at times in great difficulty.
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“I couldn’t really ride tempo up the climbs. I could accelerate and then slow down and then accelerate again. But riding tempo was the problem.”
He added the last 25kms after the climb were difficult in the lead group given the amount of attacking. While he left most of the riding to the bigger teams, he joined one move with around 15km remaining.
“All the strong guys were in it, they just went so I went after them. It took me a big effort to get across. And then when I did, we were caught just after that. That definitely took a lot of energy; a lot of energy wasted there. But at the same time, sometimes you have to go for it.”
On the approach to the finish he said while he was physically spent, he was determined to podium and did his best in the gallop for second.
“I had nothing else to give. I felt I did everything I could. I also wasn’t expecting the finish to be as hard as it was. In the race manual it only looked like a little kick up but it was actually very steep. It probably didn’t like that way on TV, but it was pretty steep.”
With 190kms to negotiate on stage 6 today, Friday, between Welshpool and Caerphilly, the riders take in four climbs, all of them cat 1 ascents. To spice things up, the organisers have included two passages of the cat 1 Caerphilly Mountain to be crested at the 177.3km and 184.6km marks. The field should be decimated by the finish.
Bennett told stickybottle this morning he was feeling the efforts of yesterday’s stage in his legs.
“But I was tired yesterday morning and I hung in OK so I’ll see what happens today.”
Bennett crosses the line in 6th spot at the finish in Stoke-on-Trent yesterday
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