Sam Bennett got a clear run at the line but at the end of a very long, wet and cold day in the saddle, Aussie speedster Michael Matthews, far right, took victory. Bennett is partially obscured behind Matthews taking 5th place.
Having travelled to the Tour of Alberta with opportunities to contest perhaps three sprint finishes, Sam Bennett has come up short in the first bunch gallop to the line.
He was 5th on stage 2 in Grande Prairie County, Alberta; Australian fast man Michael Matthews emerging with victory after a freezing cold and wet 171km.
Bennett was dropped off close to the front of the bunch by his team perhaps a little too early and was forced to open his sprint from a long way out.
While that scenario was not ideal, he has taken victories that way when on song but this time out he never truly worried the fastest men in the charge to the line.
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Matthews held off Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) by the narrowest of margins.
The two men were only separated on the line as a result of Matthews timing his finishing lunge better than the German.
Bennett had a clear run at the line up the inside of Matthews, but when he kicked he could not draw level with the Australian and then faded a little to take 5th.
Stage 2, Tour of Alberta
Bennett's team had been 4th on the stage 1 team time trial on Wednesday, losing 23 seconds over 19.6km.
And because Matthews' Orica-GreenEDGE squad finished on equal time with team test winners, Trek Factory Racing, he now goes into the leader’s jersey thanks to the time bonuses on offer at the finish of stage 2.
Cesare Benedetti (Bora-Argon 18), Phil O’Donnell (Axeon), Ben Perry (Silber), and Thomas Vaubourzeix (Lupus) comprised the early breakaway that pulled out a gap of over three minutes but was brought back just inside 30km.
And though another strong move pulled clear in the closing kilometres up the second of two late climbs, it was brought back by Matthews’ team.
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That escape featured Tom-Jelte Slagter (Cannondale-Garmin), Ryan Roth (Silber), Dan Eaton (Axeon), and Dion Smith (Hincapie Racing).
Friday’s stage 3 takes the riders 181.8km from Grande Cache to Jasper National Park and features two very testing climbs. The final ascent to the finish is 5km in length with an average gradient of eight per cent.
Bennett is most likely to get another shot at a sprint for victory on Sunday’s stage 5 and Monday’s concluding stage 6.
On Sunday, stage 5 takes the riders 206.2km from Edson to Spruce Grove. While it is a flat stage, there are 56.4km of dirt roads in six sections to be negotiated.
The concluding stage next Monday is a 124.1km circuit race in Edmonton, with no fewer than 11 passages of the short steep climb of Bellamy Hill.
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