Sam Bennett is the king of close finishes, often sealing victory with his bike throw to the line. But yesterday he was beaten at his own game, by Australian Sam Welsford, at the end of stage 6 at Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina.
Welsford, a former track rider turned road sprinter with Team DSM, timed his run to perfection on the downhill, tailwind-assisted, bunch sprint into Velódromo Vicente Chancay to take a brilliant win. He beat Bennett (Bora-hansgrohe) on the throw, with Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) and Fabio Jakobsen (Soudal-QuickStep) 3rd and 4th in a near blanket finish.
After another mint lead-out from his team, and having won stage 1 of the race, Bennett was not disappointed with yesterday's result, saying the new season - and his form - was going according to plan.
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“Was a good day for us, I just had to stay calm and have faith in my team mates to get me there," Bennett said of Ryan Mullen pulling him into position yesterday before Danny van Poppel dropped him off just inside 200m to go.
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"They did a fantastic job and I really want to thank them for their work. I’m happy with the speed I have at the moment, that’s good for the confidence.“
Bennett' sports director, Bernie Eisel, has a stage win with the Irishman and Sergio Higuita looking odds-on to finish 3rd overall, adding the team had come very close to another victory.
“The guys rode strong and Danny van Poppel guided Sam Bennett perfectly in the finale. In the end, Welsford had the better timing and we can only congratulate him and DSM on that," he said, adding the team was looking forward to today's final stage.
That last day of action sees the riders take on 112km, starting and finishing in San Juan. It is expected to conclude in another bunch sprint, where Bennett should be in the hunt for victory. Stage 5 winner Miguel Ángel López (Team Medellin-EPM) leads overall by 30 seconds from Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and, barring incident, has the overall victory wrapped up.
