Sam Bennett may not have won today but he survived in the front group, which suggests better form as the season nears a close.
There was no repeat win for Sam Bennett at Sparkassen Münsterland Giro today. However, he put in a ride that suggests his condition is improving.
The Irish rider took victory last year but had to be content with 11th place today. His Bora-hansgrohe team mate Pascal Ackermann was 5th.
The race was won by Team Sunweb’s Max Walscheid. He saw off the challenge of a 20-man group that arrived at the finish intact.
And the German ran out the winner from compatriots John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) and Nils Politt (Katusha Alpecin).
Bora-hansgrohe’s sports director André Schulze said the team had tried its best today but come up short.
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“The team worked the whole day perfectly together and set the pace,” he said of the 210.8km contest.
“We went into today’s race with Pascal as the leader. But we also gave Sam, the defending champion, some freedom to take any opportunity to defend his title.
“In the finale, the coordination between our two sprinters didn’t work out like planned. Trek did the lead-out for Degenkolb but at some point, they slowed down a little bit.
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“Walscheid took advantage of (that) to take the victory. At that moment, Pascal got held back and as a result he couldn’t launch his sprint and finished fifth.”
However, while 11th was not a good placing for treble-Giro stage winner Sam Bennett, it is a sign that his condition is improving.
He has endured a very quiet time since early June. And surviving in the front group today after crosswinds split the 4½ hour races to pieces looks like a positive step in the right direction.
Next up for him is a return to the Tour of Turkey, where he won four of the six stages last year.
For his part, today’s winner Walscheid said he was delighted to take a victory on home roads.
“I’m super happy to win one of my favourite races and it means so much to win while I’m in Germany,” he said.
“As a team we were really strong today and we had five riders in the first group after the crosswinds.
“We kept our nerves and kept the legs quiet to wait for the sprint. We trusted in my ability to win the sprint and in the end I’m super happy to finish it off.”
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