Sam Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) had to settle for 2nd place on yesterday's opening stage of Paris-Nice when his plan to get in front early in the final sprint was undone by a very fast-finishing Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), who took victory.
Bennett had his final lead-out man, Danny van Poppel, drop him off expertly at the front on the finishing straight. And though the Irish rider was stronger than all but one of the other fancied sprinters, Merlier was the exception.
However, like his 2nd and 3rd placings on the final two stage at the recent UAE Tour, Bennett's sprint looked very strong yesterday and he wasn't too far from collecting his second victory of the season. His first win of 2023 came in his opening race of the new campaign; claiming stage 1 at January's Vuelta a San Juan Internacional (2.Pro) in Argentina.
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"The final 30km were quite tough, but I felt really good, which gives me confidence for (Monday's) flat stage," Bennett said after yesterday's Paris-Nice finish, adding the finale had been "hectic".
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Before yesterday's stage, Bennett said he was looking forward to Paris-Nice and while his sprint felt good there was room for improvement. "It's coming on, still needs a bit of work," he said. "My condition is good, I think (my sprint) is the last piece of the puzzle and hopefully I find it here."
He added his intention for yesterday's finale was to try and hit the front early and take advantage of the final turns - which he did but for Merlier coming through late with a huge finishing kick to take the stage win from Bennett.
"I feel quite good, the cold is a bit of a shock to the system after being in San Juan and UAE," Bennett said. He expected a "chaotic" race, saying the roads in France - with constant changes of direction and plenty of road furniture - were very different to his most recent competitive outing at UAE Tour.
Though Merlier won yesterday - and claimed a clear victory - Bennett beat some of the mostly highly fancied sprinters of the current crop, even though Paris-Nice is not as stacked with fast men as UAE Tour was.
Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) was 3rd yesterday, with Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) 4th, Arnaud de Lie (Lotto Dstny) 5th and Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla) in 6th, just ahead of Bryan Coquard (Cofidis). Today's stage 2 at Paris-Nice is, on paper, an even more certain bunch sprint. The course is flat, though could be hit with crosswinds, and takes the riders some 163.7km from Bazainville to Fontainebleau.
