Sam Bennett may have slipped to lanterne rouge on the Tour and had another very difficult day today but the young pro from Carrick-on-Suir is not giving up without a fight (Photo: Bora-Argon 18)
Having slipped to last man on the general standings at the Tour de France yesterday, Sam Bennett had another very difficult day on the saddle on stage 14 this afternoon.
The racing took the riders 178.5km from Rodez to Mende and with plenty of climbing to contend with the field split to the pieces.
Bennett came home some 20:17 down on stage winner Stephen Cummings (MTN - Qhubeka) after another day of climbing, with the cat 2 Côte de la Croix Neuve crested just under 2km before the finish.
The main escape of the day survived to share the spoils, with Cummings dropped on the final ascent by Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale).
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However, riding for an African team on Mandela Day, Cummings caught the Frenchmen and clearly having studied the unusual downhill run-in to the finish line better than his rivals; once he got ahead of the them the speed of the downhill carried home to a famous victory.
Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) finished in 49th place at 7:33, while Dan Martin was 160th; the Cannondale-Garmin man losing 19:09 on Cummings.
Martin said in his Irish Times diary today that he had developed a sore throat just before last week's rest day that had since developed into a cough. He insisted he was not concerned about the development and hopefully he can be on the attack again during the tough final week.
However, while Martin will relish the thoughts of more high mountains to attack on next week, the race finish in Paris cannot come quick enough for Bennett.
The young Irish man was always set for a baptism of fire by taking on the Tour de France as his first Grand Tour. And his illness before this race has certainly not helped his condition.
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But having already won some very big pro races in the past 18 months, he seems determined to battle hard all the way to the finish and will hopefully be a much better rider for the experience.
Tomorrow's stage is flatter and should suit the sprinters. And although Bennett said he is simply in survival mode now and hoping to finish the race, at least he will get a break from the mountains on stage 15 and Monday's rest day.
Stage 14: Rodez to Mende (178.5km)
1 Stephen Cummings (GBr) MTN - Qhubeka 4:23:43
2 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:00:02
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:03
4 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:00:20
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:29
6 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar 0:00:32
7 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Lampre-Merida
8 Bob Jungels (Lux) Trek Factory Racing
9 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team
10 Simon Yates (GBr) Orica GreenEdge 0:00:33
11 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:07
12 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 0:01:10
13 Pierre-Luc Perichon (Fra) Bretagne-Séché Environnement 0:02:00
14 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:12
15 Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Giant-Alpecin
16 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team
17 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:02:43
18 Michal Golas (Pol) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:03:25
19 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ.fr
20 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:04:15
21 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:04:16
22 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:19
23 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:04:34
24 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:04:45
25 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:04:55
49 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 00:07:33
160 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin 19:09
171 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 @00: 20:17
General Classification
1 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 56:02:19
2 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:03:10
3 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:03:32
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:04:02
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:04:23
6 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Team Sky 0:04:54
7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 0:06:23
8 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:08:17
9 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 0:08:23
10 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Trek Factory Racing 0:08:53
11 Warren Barguil (Fra) Team Giant-Alpecin 0:11:03
12 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:10
13 Mathias Frank (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:13:26
14 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing Team 0:14:21
15 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 0:14:58
16 Andrew Talansky (USA) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:22:18
17 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:30:57
18 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team 0:31:05
19 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:31:45
20 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:33:18
21 Jarlinson Pantano (Col) IAM Cycling 0:34:44
22 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar Team 0:37:46
23 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:38:37
24 Serge Pauwels (Bel) MTN - Qhubeka 0:40:36
25 Jan Bakelants (Bel) AG2R La Mondiale 0:41:15
26 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:43:00
27 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:43:29
28 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step 0:46:27
29 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 0:47:37
30 Michael Rogers (Aus) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:49:53
31 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Soudal 0:52:16
32 Daniel Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin Pro Cycling Team 0:53:54
40 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky 1:04:41
172 Sam Bennett (Irl) Bora-Argon 18 2:59:08
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