Sam Bennett in the big time; sitting in the wheel of his team mates on the front of a major pro race in the leader's yellow jersey. He would lose the overall lead by stage end, but will target more stage wins before the race is out.
After the euphoria of taking the opening stage on the 2.HC-ranked Bayern Rundfahrt and with it the yellow jersey yesterday, Ireland’s Sam Bennett had to settle for the minor placings today.
The Bora Argon 18 rider was still in the thick of the action at the end of stage 2 into Selb with the yellow jersey on his back, but this time the big names he vanquished yesterday were ahead of him.
John Degenkolb of Giant Alpecin and Cofidis fast man Nacer Bouhanni were first and second today having been beaten into the lower steps of the podium by Bennett on the opening stage.
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Class act: Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo winner Degenkolb storms home for a clear stage 2 win in Selb. Bennett can be seen a little further back in yellow.
And because Enrique Sanz (Movistar) took 3rd just ahead of Bennett in 4th place, it meant the Irish rider was squeezed out of the time bonuses for the top three on the day.
Because of the bonuses on offer yesterday, both at the finish and at the intermediate sprints, Bennett was in yellow at the end of stage 1 by three seconds from Eduard Vorganov of Katusha who was in the early breakaway.
Just behind him in 3rd place overall starting today was Jonas Koch (Rad-Net Rose Team), also at three seconds, with stage runner up Bouhanni 4th at four seconds and 3rd on the stage Degenkolb in 5th at six seconds.
Bennett's success in the past couple of years has seen his head stay firmly screwed on and his feet remain glued to the ground. But he's enjoying himself; as it should be.
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After today, Degenkolb leads by virtue of his stage win, holding a two second lead on Bouhanni, with Bennett now 3rd overall a further two seconds adrift.
The Irish man had already said that with the race featuring an individual time trial before it concludes on Sunday, he was not thinking in terms of defending his yellow jersey.
He won the final stage of this race last year and given his clearly mint sprinting form at present he is fully expected to be in the mix in the days ahead.
Stage 2 Top 10
1 John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin 4:25:06
2 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis
3 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar
4 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18
5 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Cannondale-Garmin
6 Willi Willwohl (Ger) LKT Team Brandenburg
7 Jonas Vangenechten (Bel) IAM Cycling
8 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
9 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka
10 Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Team Roompot
General Classification
1 John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin 9:55:31
2 Nacer Bouhanni (Fra) Cofidis @2 secs
3 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 @4
4 Jonas Koch (Ger) Rad-Net Rose @6
5 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha @7
6 Enrique Sanz (Spa) Movistar @10
7 Marco Minnaard (Ned) Wanty-Groupe Gobert
8 Jasha Sütterlin (Ger) Movistar @11
9 Johannes Weber (Ger) Team Stuttgart @12
10 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Colombia
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