Sam Bennett with a scrum of media around him at stage end in the Tour Down Under.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett has praised the efforts of his team for their help in getting him into position to launch his sprint at the end of today’s opening stage of the Tour Down Under in Australia.
The Bora-Hansgrohe men gave Bennett a quality lead-out with world champion Peter Sagan hauling Bennett up to around 150 metres to go.
Bennett kicked but couldn’t match the finishing speed of stage winner Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) and a fast-finishing Danny Van Poppel (Team Sky).
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“It’s always a bit nerve wracking in the final but all the guys did a fantastic job,” said Bennett.
“We hit the front at the perfect time but I made a mistake by waiting a little bit too long and the guys came over the top with a bit more speed and I found it hard to accelerate back up and match them."
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As usual, Bennett picked the positives out of his own sprint and will try again in the days ahead.
“Today we were meant to go for Peter and then he came up to me in the race and he gave me another chance," he said.
“I was there to lead him out today but once we were into the stage, about 20km to 30km in, he asked me how I was feeling.
“I said I didn’t feel great but he decided we would go for me. It’s a great compliment that Peter puts his trust in me.
“It was a really messy sprint because everybody was so fresh but we timed it really well when we came into the last corner taking the lead.
“I wanted to wait until about 150m to go but I was afraid of the headwind but we came in so quick I should have gone earlier, probably around 200m out; you live and you learn.
“I think if I’d kicked a bit earlier it would have been better but it’s very hard to match Caleb.”
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