Sam Bennett's efforts to take a stage against some key sprint rivals will have to wait for another day as the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale man was run out of the action in the final sprint at Tirreno Adriatico today.
As Lidl Trek controlled the front of the bunch, for eventual stage winner Jonathan Milan, Bennett bumped shoulders with Olav Kooij (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) just before the final bend; the Irishman losing that tussle and relinquishing positions as a result.
When the front of the field rounded that last bend, Bennett was already too far back, after his team had earlier brought him close to the front. And though the Irishman kept a sprint effort going, he never got close to contending for the victory.
Milan was unstoppable today, winning the stage lengths ahead of Maikel Zijlaard (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) and Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), with Bennett in 6th place.
Advertisement
Related News
Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) both kept their general classification hopes intact by finishing in the bunch; in 53th and 85th respectively.
Dunbar, after his very strong TT ride of yesterday, is 14th overall, some 44 seconds down on TT winner and race leader Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers). Healy is 19th at 48 seconds as the race heads into the first climbs tomorrow.
The 239km stage 3 on Wednesday finishes on the top of the Colfiorito HC climb, which is long a steady rather than brutally steep.
