Sam Bennett tries to go clear in the opening kilometers of today’s Tour of Britain stage 5 (Photo: www.velouk.net)
By Gavin McLoughlin
Sam Bennett displayed all his promise as a sprinter and street-smart road racer by finishing sixth on stage 5 of the Tour of Britain today, Thursday, on a tough course that tore the field to pieces.
The An Post-Sean Kelly sprinter went clear with an elite group of some 30 riders in the final hour of racing on the lumpy route based in the region around Stoke-on-Trent.
The result is the Carrick-on-Suir rider’s third top-ten stage placing of this race, coming as it does after a ninth place on stage 2 into Knowsley and a fifth place on stage 3 into Dumfries. The 22-year-old today finished just one slot behind new race leader Leigh Howard (Orica-GreenEdge), who reclaimed the gold jersey from world champion Mark Cavendish (Sky) who was dropped.
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Stage victory went to the hirsute figure of Unitedhealthcare rider Marc de Maar, who powered clear in the final 7 kilometres shortly after picking himself off the deck as a result of an entanglement with Jérémie Galland (Saur-Sojasun).
The ensuing rush of adrenaline was enough to see the Curacao national champion hold off the chasing hordes and snatch a win in his debut appearance at the Tour of Britain.
Thankfully untroubled by the vagaries of the British weather, the stage got off to a hectic beginning.
Anxious to impose their mark on the race, the young members of the Team GB outfit set a blistering 40mph tempo in the early kilometres. The net result was that the peloton arrived intact at the first intermediate sprint in Stone, with Howard claiming the three precious bonus seconds.
Less welcome for the Australian, however, was the unfortunate loss of top lieutenant and lead-out man Brett Lancaster in an early crash.
After the powerful Czech Jan Barta (NetApp) took the mountains classification points over the Cannock Chase climb, a trio of seasoned campaigners - Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale), Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp) and Bernard Sulzberger (Team Raleigh) - succeeded in getting up the road.
Some 32 miles into the stage, these men had accumulated a lead of over two minutes, but Team Sky’s patient police work on the front of the peloton ensured the gap remained bridgeable.
As the race reached the environs of the Alton Towers theme park, the terrain became increasingly challenging. So it was no surprise when the wily Basso upped the pace to summarily dispatch his breakaway companions out the back door.
Back in the peloton, Cavendish was among those suffering as the bunch started to fracture on foot of an impressive demonstration of power from Endura Racing at the front.
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It was here that the day’s decisive moment came as Bennett’s group of 30 quickly reeled in Basso and pushed hard for home with 40km to go.
Cavendish lost four minutes in remarkably short order, with Bradley Wiggins - who started the morning a mere 36 seconds down on the general classification - surprisingly waiting for the struggling sprinter.
This left German rouleur Christian Knees as Team Sky’s sole representative at the head of the race.
On Gun Hill, the day’s final climb, Endura Racing’s early-season climbing phenomenon Jonathan Tiernan-Locke showed his pedigree by soaring clear of the leaders. But the ascent was not long enough to produce a decisive move, and attack followed attack in the final 25 kilometres as a host of riders scented victory.
In the end, however, de Maar was the only one with the firepower to make it stick, with Bennett bagging fifth in the sprint from the select group 15 seconds later to take 6th on the stage.
Another superb result for the An Post-Sean Kelly team, then; with Bennett’s display coming hot on the heels of Ronan McLaughlin’s gutsy breakaway ride yesterday. Spirits should be high in the camp, and it is to be hoped that this provides the impetus for more fireworks from the Irish-Belgian squad in the days ahead.
Brief results below.
Stage Five, The Stoke-on-Trent Stage, 147km
1) Marc De Maar, AHO, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, 3:30:26
2) Sep Vanmarcke, BEL, Garmin - Sharp, + 0.15
3) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, same time
4) Nathan Haas, AUS, Garmin - Sharp, same time
5) Leigh Howard, AUS, Orica GreenEDGE, same time
6) Sam Bennett, IRL, An Post-Sean Kelly, same time
7) Damiano Caruso, ITA, Liquigas – Cannondale
8 Leopold Koenig, CZE, Team NetApp
9) Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, GBR, Endura Racing
10) Jérôme Coppel, FRA, Saur - Sojasun
Rouleur Combativity Award: Ivan Basso, Liquigas - Cannondale
IG Gold Jersey, General Classification
1) Leigh Howard, AUS, Orica GreenEDGE, 20:38:35
2) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, + 0.07
3) Sep Vanmarcke, BEL, Garmin - Sharp, + 0.17
4) Nathan Haas, AUS, Garmin - Sharp, + 0.23
5) Christian Knees, GER, Team Sky, + 0.24
Chain Reaction Cycles Points Classification
1) Boy Van Poppel, NED, UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, 61pts
2) Leigh Howard, AUS, Orica GreenEDGE, 53pts
3) Mark Cavendish, GBR, Team Sky, 44pts
4) Russell Downing, GBR, Endura Racing, 44pts
5) Luke Rowe, GBR, Team Sky, 39pts
SKODA King of the Mountains Classification
1) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor, 66pts
2) Pablo Urtasun, SPA, Euskaltel - Euskadi, 44pts
4) Peter Williams, GBR, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 32pts
4) Richard Handley, GBR, Rapha Condor, 32pts
5) Bernard Sulzberger, AUS, Team Raleigh - GAC, 31pts
Yodel Sprints Classification
1) Peter Williams, GBR, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 29pts
2) Matt Cronshaw, GBR, Node4 - Giordana Racing, 13pts
3) Rony Martias, FRA, Saur Sojasun, 12pts
4) Kristian House, GBR, Rapha Condor, 10pts
5) Bartosz Huzarski, POL, Team NetApp, 8pts
Team General Classification
1) Saur Sojasun, FRA, 62:00:45
2) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling, USA, + 1.14
3) Garmin - Sharp, USA, + 2.30
4) Endura Racing, GBR, + 3.41
5) Team NetApp, GER, + 7.39
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