Sam Bennett is clearly putting all his eggs in one basket after his ride on today's stage 3 at the Arctic Race of Norway.
Having started stage 3 of the Arctic Race of Norway 2nd overall and leader of the young riders’ classification, any hope Sam Bennett would try to hold those positions was set aside on the road on Saturday.
Clearly intent on trying to keep as much power as possible for the concluding leg, Bennett came home second last man today, just over 10 minutes down.
The Irish man had Bora-Argon 18 team mate Shane Archbold for company; both clearly deciding the final testing climb to the finish was not for them and riding to the line to keep as much in reserve as possible.
It meant Bennett relinquished his lead in the young riders’ classification and tumbled down the general standings.
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However, he remains in 2nd place in the points classification after his 3rd place on stage 1 and victory on stage 2.
He trails Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) by just one point in that competition.
The other Irish man in the race, Stephen Clancy of Novo Nordisk, finished in 92nd place today.
As expected, the ramp to the finish in Målselv split the field on what was the queen stage of the race.
Ben Hermans of BMC Racing won the stage by three seconds from late breakaway man Rein Taaramae of Astana.
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Hermans now leads overall by seven seconds from the Estonian with just one stage remaining.
Sunday's concluding leg features three climbs, two of which are located on the finishing circuit, though it is a stage where Bennett can feature.
Stage 3: Finnsnes to Målselv (183km)
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 4:27:10
2 Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team 4:27:13
3 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling 4:27:20
4 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team 4:27:24
5 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 4:27:27
6 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 4:27:30
7 Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka 4:27:33
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka
9 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling
10 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Team Joker 4:27:38
92 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 4:32:56
123 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 4:37:58
General Classification
1 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 13:06:41
2 Rein Taaramae (Est) Astana Pro Team 13:06:48
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) MTN - Qhubeka 13:07:05
4 Silvan Dillier (Swi) BMC Racing Team
5 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling 13:07:06
6 Dylan Teuns (Bel) BMC Racing Team 13:07:08
7 Odd Christian Eiking (Nor) Team Joker 13:07:19
8 Rasmus Guldhammer (Den) Cult Energy Pro Cycling 13:07:21
9 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha 13:07:22
10 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling 13:07:23
104 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 13:17:25
117 Stephen Clancy (Irl) Team Novo Nordisk 13:21:49
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