Bora-hansgrohe has cited Sam Bennett's recent big training load as the reason he under-performed in the final sprint at Ronde van Limburg (1.1) today, when he placed 5th.
Irishman Bennett would normally be expected to pull the trigger and finish the job with victory after the quality of the lead-out he received today from his team mates. However, in the final gallop to the line he looked laboured and never seemed to get on top of his big gear.
Instead of kicking and passing his lead-out man Danny van Poppel, the Dutch rider realised mid-sprint that Bennett wasn't coming through with his usual speed. And so Van Poppel persisted with his own effort and salvaged 3rd place for the team.
“First of all I have to say that everybody did a great job today. From Ide and Luis to Shane, Ryan and in the end Danny, they all have been perfect," said Bora-hansgrohe director Torsten Schmidt. "Our plan was to go in front before the last corner and that worked out really well.
Advertisement
"Also Sam was in the perfect spot, but he comes from a hard training block and simply couldn’t push his best power. Of course, we wanted that win today, but I also have to admit that we are happy with the performance of the team, they all seem to develop in the right direction.”
The race was won by Belgian 20-year-old Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Soudal), who was collecting his sixth victory of the season and his second of the weekend after his triumph in Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl (1.1) on Saturday. Simone Consonni (Cofidis) got up for 2nd today while Van Poppel was 3rd, Milan Menten (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB) 4th and Bennett 5th.
While Mark Cavendish was in the race, with QuickStep Alpha Vinyl lead-out man Michael Mørkøv, the British rider was taken out by a crash in the final kilometres. He played no part in the finish, though he was not seriously injured.
Related News
One bright spot for Bora-hansgrohe was the quality of the lead-out. Ryan Mullen was on the front in the Irish champion's kit going into the final kilometre, with Shane Archbald then pulling hard before Van Poppel took over with Bennett in his wheel.
Van Poppel led into the final corner with about 200 metres to go and when he came out of that turn first, Bennett initially attempted to move around him 100 metres from the line. However, it was immediately clear his usual kick wasn't there today.
De Lie then came around the outside and passed both of the Bora-hansgrohe riders, winning it very well on a slightly uphill finish that turned to the left all the way to the line.
Today's 202.6km race into Tongeren was Bennett's third outing of the weekend after riding Heylen Vastgoed Heistse Pijl (1.1) on Saturday and Brussels Cycling Classic (1.Pro) yesterday, finishing 58th and recording a DNF respectively.
Bennett already has one victory this season - at Eschborn-Frankfurt (1.UWT) in Germany at the start of last month. While his familiar winning kick was very much in evidence that day, he is still building his form and honing his sprint ahead of the Tour de France, which is his main goal of the season.
