Sam Bennett has looked laboured on La Vuelta stage 10 today; the Irish rider clearly suffering badly on the road to Suances.
The 30-year-old began to get into difficulty on some of the medium climbs in the last 50km of the race but clawed his way back on to the peloton after briefly losing contact.
However, with the bunch pursuing a breakaway and the roads constantly up and down, Bennett had no opportunity to recover and with about 30km to go it looked like he may be dropped.
That outcome unfortunately soon came to pass and it appeared Bennett was never his team's favoured rider of the stage as he was left to his own devices, despite an uphill finish today that may have suited him on a good day.
While Bennett won stage 4 of the race and was first across the line yesterday, he was denied that second stage win when he was relegated for improper riding.
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That meant Pascal Ackermann (Bora-hansgrohe) was promoted from 2nd place to stage victor yesterday.
It was unclear at the time of writing if Bennett had been unwell today, but he has had a busy season; one made more complicated by Covid-19.
It would come as no surprise if he was beginning to run out legs as the end of a very successful - but long and interrupted - season gets closer for him.
More to come.
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