Bennett (front, left) takes the sprint for ninth place today, Saturday
An Irish national team riding a three-day stage race in Brittany, France, have been to the fore on the opening stage; with Ronan McLaughlin going on the attack and Sam Bennett taking the bunch sprint for ninth place.
An eight-man group just about stayed clear of the bunch to contest the stage honours; with the leaders fragmenting on the run in and crossing the line covered by time gaps of seven seconds.
Just four seconds after the last of the breakaway crossed the line, Bennett galloped in to take the bunch sprint for ninth place on the stage. He led in a 108-strong main field, with the rest of the Irish riders in the race finishing on the same time as him.
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At one point Ronan McLaughlin got clear with another rider in pursuit of the breakaway but they were absorbed by the peloton.
The six-man Irish team then established a train on the front of the bunch in an effort to get the escape back and set the finish up as a bunch sprint for Bennett.
While they just fell short of reeling in the escapees, the Irish jerseys could be seen at the head of affairs stringing the bunch out for long periods.
Bennett demonstrated that the trust shown by the team in his abilities was not misplaced when he took the hotly contested bunch gallop after 198.8km into Plouray.
The rest of the Irish team – McLaughlin, Sean Downey, Aaron Buggle, Jack Wilson and Peter Hawkins – were all in the bunch as was Philip Lavery who is riding the three-day with his Node4-Giordana team.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the riders face a 12.5km TT in the morning followed by a 102.4km road stage in the afternoon. The road stage features the Mur de Bretagne where Cadel Evans won a stage of the Tour de France last year.
See more photos below. Special thanks to Jean-a Vantalon.
Stage 1 198km - Kreiz Breizh (UCI 2.2)
1 STEENSEN André GLU 5h00'27''
2 JAKIN Alo VCR76 @ 3secs
3 ZIESLER Johan OHR
4 GUILLOU Florian BSC
5 PACHER Quentin ESG
6 NORTHEY Michael James NGR @6secs
7 PAILLOT Yoann TOP16
8 ZEPUNTKE Ruben RB3 @7secs
9 BENNETT Sam IRL @11secs
10 LE MONTAGNER Benjamin CAC22
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56 WILSON Jack IRL same time
59 LAVERY Philip NGR
65 DOWNEY Sean IRL
109 BUGGLE Aaron IRL
113 MC LAUGHLIN Ronan IRL
115 HAWKINS Peter IRL
(There were 139 finishers)
McLaughlin at the head of the bunch in pursuit of the breakaway
Bennett looks relaxed in the bunch in the early stages today
Hammer Time: Downey holds his place as the speed ramps up
McLaughlin leads Downey as they both pursue the escape working for Bennett (in third)
The Irish team at the presentation in Brittany, L to R: Hawkins, Bennett, Wilson, Downey, Buggle, McLaughlin.
Lavery (centre) with his team mates during the team presentation
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