Sam Bennett has said he was delighted to take his first win today, on La Vuelta stage 4, since his victory into Paris on the final day of the Tour de France.
The 30-year-old was best in the bunch sprint at the end
of the 192km race from Garray to Ejea de los Caballeros, though
Jasper Philipsen (UAE Team Emirates) went early in the sprint and stole a march
on the Irishman.
However, a combination of Bennett’s speed
and staying power meant he was able to come out of the Belgian’s slipstream and
overtake him just before the finish line for his seventh win of the year.
“It was so fast in the run-in, and actually, it was fast all day and I was a bit nervous, got to admit that,” the Deceuninck-QuickStep said after his latest victory.
Advertisement
Related News
What a finish from @Sammmy_Be 👏
He becomes just the fourth 🇮🇪 rider to have won stages of two Grand Tours in the same year 🙌
2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣0️⃣ - Sam Bennett
1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣7️⃣ - Stephen Roche
1️⃣9️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ - Sean Kelly
1️⃣9️⃣6️⃣3️⃣ - Shay Elliott pic.twitter.com/0EnoLK5zOU— Cycling on TNT Sports (@cyclingontnt) October 23, 2020
Bennett continued: “We said we needed to come together at one point and the team did the job perfectly.
“They came together when we needed to and even more than
we asked to be. We only asked a few guys to be there and the whole team was
there.
“I went for the outside and Philipsen came up the inside
and got such a jump I actually didn’t think I was going to be able to catch
him.
“But in the end, I started getting more and more speed
and I was still accelerating to the line. I had the power but he was so
explosive out of the corner and I didn’t know if I would catch him.
“But I found the speed I needed, and in the end, I managed to overtake him and take my first win since Champs-Élysées, which feels amazing.”
Topics
