Sam Bennett winning the final stage of Giro d'Italia 2018. This reverse angle of the finish shows just how much he lashed the gallop by. He emerges from this race one of the legends of Irish sport, having been halfway there when it began.
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Immediately after taking his third victory of the Giro d'Italia in Rome, Sam Bennett said his next goal was to try and win gold at the National Road Race Championships next month.
That title is held at present by Ryan Mullen, who also has the TT crown. And Mullen showed off the Irish colours today with an attacking ride in Rome.
When Mullen's group was caught Sam Bennett stepped up and did this thing.
QuickStep had given Elia Viviani a great lead-out. But when Bennett hit the afterburners in the final dash to the line there was only going to be one winner.
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Asked what his next goals were, Same Bennett said he wasn’t sure, before adding: “I don’t know what shape I’ll be in for the nationals.
“But it’ll be a dream to have the national champions jersey and to really represent the national colours on a big stage like this.”
Today’s race was ten laps of an 11.5km circuit in Rome's centro storico. But when some riders protested it was unsafe it was neutralised for the general classification from the end of stage 3.
That meant Chris Froome (Team Sky) could sit up and roll home with his team many minutes down.
But for Bennett; his focus did not change. He was close to tears last week when he was 2nd to Viviani on stage 17 to Iseo.
Today he was determined to make amends, and he did that in some style.
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The neutralising of the stage was very odd and really detracted from the conclusion of the race. Bennett was one of a number of riders who spoke out afterwards.
“Sky got their way too easily, in that they got the race neutralised just to suit them," he said.
"At the end of the day, we still had to race. So why do they get to go easy? It was equally as dangerous for us."
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He said as the matter was discussed among the riders during the stage he was unhappy.
"I was doing a bit of venting alright. But I'd respect any decision if we all came to that decision together.
“I was open-minded about it. But with your winners’ mentality, you want another opportunity.
“So if there hadn't been a sprint I would have been extremely disappointed. But I try to take things in my stride and take each situation as it comes."
Asked whether he would love to try for the Tour de France he confirmed he would. However, with Peter Sagan also in the Bora-hansgrohe team he said there wasn’t room for them both.
And all that mattered for him today was trying to win in Rome and then achieving that goal.
"It was a super-fast final, I took Viviani's wheel. And then I tried to go late and just wind it up. I was super happy to get it,” he said.
The recent days in the mountains, he added, had taken a toll on him. And he didn’t know how he had won the final stage.
“The last two day I was suffering so much,” he said. “I think I went too deep in the first week and a little bit in the second week and I paid for it during the last two days.”
“I think it was mainly down to the teamwork today. When that break went on the final lap they went eyeballs up. And I can’t thank them enough. They were amazing.”
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