Sam Bennett has stormed in for victory at Tour de la Provence, the Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale man looking back to his best on a very hard day and beating some big name sprinters for victory.
The Irish rider looked like he was boxed in a little during the headwind finish into Saint-Victoret. But, at the last, a couple of riders ahead of him moved in the road, opening the way for Bennett to come through and take it.
On the line, he saw off Lukáš Kubiš (Unibet Tietema Rockets) and 3rd placed Valentin Ferron (Cofidis). Though Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) were the fancied riders in the final sprint, and got a lot of their teams' support, they faded to 5th and 7th respectively.
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Irish champion, Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) was on the front for much of the final 15km, stringing out the much reduced peloton in pursuit of a lone attacker, Samuel Leroux (Team TotalEnergies), who was caught just inside the final 2km.
Sam Bennett wins the opening stage of Tour de la Provence, his first win since May 2024! ? pic.twitter.com/Zvpssr3y9g
— Eurosport (@eurosport) February 14, 2025
And though Lidl-Trek bossed the front of the peloton, with Rafferty, for much of the final, Bennett and his Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale team mates kept a slightly lower profile, just off the front.
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That more subtle approach by the French team and its Irish sprinter proved the wiser strategy considering the draggy roads and headwind to the finish.
For Bennett, this victory - his best since his two stage wins on La Vuelta in 2022 - will come as a big relief. It suggest his finishing sprint is returning to him and he will draw a lot of confidence from an early season win, especially in a contract year.
Aside from Bennett scoring the victory today, the fact it came on a very challenging 169km stage, with 2,615m of climbing when the field split several times, is also a very good sign.
For Rafferty's part, despite the big shift he put in on the front for the final 15km, he managed to hold his place in the 40-rider peloton, finishing in 34th place on the same time as winner Bennett.
They were joined today by Dillon Corkery (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93). He was in 50th place - of 115 starters - so in the next group after the small peloton sprinting for victory. In a mark of how hard the stage was, that second group on the road was 11:35 down.
More to come.
