Sam Bennett has logged some quality racing miles as he looks ahead to the bigger battles ahead. The Carrick man got a taste of what it was like to race alongside world champion Peter Sagan.
By Brian Canty
Sam Bennett has completed a successful first race of the 2017 season, helping his teammate Jay McCarthy make the GC podium at the conclusion of the six-day Santos Tour Down Under.
McCarthy came into the final leg three seconds off Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) in third; with that pair finishing in the breakaway just behind Richie Porte (BMC) on Willunga Hill on Saturday.
But with bonus seconds on the line in today’s city-centre criterium in Adelaide, there was still a remote chance of changing the final GC, with McCarthy remaining hopeful of getting onto that last step on the podium.
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It was a slim chance on the 20-lap, 90 kilometre, circuit race as there were only bonus seconds available on laps 8 and 12.
They may not have taken a stage win, but Bennett's team seemed to gel well in Australia; an important development with the arrival of such a big figure as Peter Sagan. And that team cooperation was what helped Jay McCarthy onto the final podium today.
But Bennett and his team worked exceptionally hard to control an early break that would have mopped up those bonuses.
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Another to the fore in patrolling the moves was world champion Peter Sagan and together with the rest of the team they reeled in any attacks and managed to set up McCarthy to take the intermediate sprint on lap 8.
And with the time he took for that, they were then satisfied to let a break go for much of the remainder of the event.
McCarthy managed to take back three seconds and leapfrog Haas who had to be content with fourth, albeit on the same time as McCarthy.
Bennett was 124th on the stage today just over a minute and a half back, though clearly trying to assist McCarthy on the final podium in his home tour was the key objective.
Caleb Ewan was just too fast again today; he took his fourth stage win of six stages. And compatriot Richie Porte took the other two and the overall, a terrific riding by the Australians.
The Carrick man finished the contest 118th overall some 28 minutes back but he won’t be at all concerned by that after getting in amongst it on the early sprint stages.
He was narrowly beaten on stage one by Caleb Ewan (Orica-Scott) who won a total of four stages, with fellow Australian and overall winner Porte taking the other two.
Ewan was victorious again today and for the second day in succession he got the better of Bennett’s teammate Peter Sagan with Marko Kump of UAE Abu Dhabi rounding out the podium in third.
Bennett will now turn his attention to the Cadel Evans Ocean race next weekend. He told stickybottle in recent days that while he had been in the mix in the sprints his form was not yet very good.
He added it was obviously still very early in the season and hoped there would be more to come in the months ahead.
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