Sam Bennett overcame some very rough conditions in Canada; with cold temperatures raining and plenty of mud greeting the riders. Above, the Irishman battles one of the dirt tracks on Sunday's penultimate stage (Photo: Bora-Argon 18 - VeloImages)
Sam Bennett has concluded his ride in the Tour of Alberta in Canada with 5th place on the punishing final stage.
Late on Monday night Irish time the Bora-Argon 18 man came home on the same time as bunch sprint winner Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin).
Bennett added that result to the 5th place he had taken on stage 2 last Thursday won by Australian Michael Matthews of Orica-GreenEDGE.
The final stage 6 was cold again for the riders, though this time they did not have the rain or dirt tracks that greeted them the previous day when the peloton was sent the wrong way.
Advertisement
With 11 laps of 11km to contend with and each with a climb, the final stage always presented the possibility that the general classification men may go for broke in the hope of dislodging race leader Bauke Mollema (Trek Factory Racing) and ruining things for the sprinters.
The conditions were brutal for much of the week due to the rain and cold temperatures. But the mud tracks on Sunday had to be seen to be believed.
Mollema took the lead on the opening stage when his squad won the team time trial only to lose it to Matthews when the former U23 world champion won the sprint finish the following day.
However, Mollema recaptured the yellow jersey on stage 3 and held it all the way to the finish.
He went into the final stage with six seconds to spare on rising British star Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge) and 22 seconds over double stage winner Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin).
Related News
After the breakaway had been caught on the final stage on Monday, Slagter put in a last ditch effort for a third stage win and the time he needed to claim the race outright.
However, when he was caught the stage went down to a bunch sprint with Arndt winning from Matthews and another Australian Dion Smith of Hincapie Racing Team.
Wouter Wippert of Drapac Pro Cycling was 4th and then Bennett. There was no change at the head of the general classification.
Stage 6: Edmonton Circuit Race (122km)
1 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 2:44:57
2 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica GreenEdge
3 Dion Smith (Aus) Hincapie Racing Team
4 Wouter Wippert (Ned) Drapac Professional Cycling
5 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
6 Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:00:02
7 Aleksei Tsatevich (Rus) Team Katusha
8 Justin Oien (USA) Axeon Cycling Team)
9 Alexander Ray (Aus) Silber Pro Cycling
10 Miguel Byron (USA) Hincapie Racing Team
Final General Classification
1 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 20:20:28
2 Adam Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 0:00:06
3 Tom-Jelte Slagter (Ned) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:00:22
4 Sergey Lagutin (Rus) Team Katusha 0:00:35
5 Dion Smith (NZl) Hincapie Racing Team 0:00:39
6 Lasse-Norman Hansen (Den) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:08
7 Toms Skujins (Lat) Hincapie Racing Team 0:01:12
8 Paul Voss (Ger) Bora-Argon 25 0:01:16
9 Davide Formolo (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:23
10 Mike Woods (Can) Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies 0:01:25
81 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 0:28:22
Topics
